FamilyWell is a company that embeds comprehensive, insurance-covered virtual mental health services, including coaching, therapy, and psychiatric support—directly into OB-GYN clinics to support women throughout their reproductive journey, from fertility through menopause. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FamilyWell founder and CEO Dr. Jessica Gaulton to learn more.
Dr. Jessica Gaulton’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Dr. Gaulton said:
I’m a Harvard-trained neonatologist and public-health physician focused on improving care for mothers and babies. After experiencing postpartum depression myself, I founded FamilyWell to integrate mental-health support directly into OB/GYN care, meeting parents where they already are and ensuring no patient falls through the cracks.
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Dr. Gaulton shared:
I founded FamilyWell after living the problem myself. As a neonatologist and new mom, I struggled with postpartum depression. Despite my medical training and access to care, I quickly learned firsthand how fragmented and inaccessible maternal mental-health support is in the U.S.
I realized we needed a different model: one that embeds mental-health support directly into OB/GYN care, with affordable access to coaching, therapy, medication management, and care coordination so parents get timely, compassionate support where they’re already receiving their OB care. That personal experience, combined with my clinical background in newborn and maternal health, is what turned the idea into a scalable company.
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Dr. Gaulton reflected:
One of my favorite moments was when a former FamilyWell patient reached out wanting to join our Academy to train as a coach. She went from receiving care to delivering care — a full-circle moment that speaks to the heart of what we do. Watching our impact multiply through people we’ve supported is incredibly meaningful.
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Dr. Gaulton explained:
FamilyWell delivers an integrated, AI-powered mental-health solution built for women’s health practices and health systems. Key components of our offering for patients include virtual mental health coaching, therapy and psychiatry, along with care management and coordination for the entirety of their journey with us. For our provider partners, our offering includes EHR-integrated workflows, clinic-facing dashboards and reporting tools. Our model embeds into the existing clinical workflow, enabling OB/GYN providers to deliver comprehensive mental-health care, without adding operational burden.
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Dr. Gaulton acknowledged:
The greatest challenge is the sheer demand. Even as mental health stigma decreases, the number of women needing mental-health care continues to rise, and traditional systems can’t keep up. Provider shortages, long wait times, and fragmented access are reaching crisis levels.
We address this at FamilyWell by scaling thoughtfully and leveraging technology — expanding our coaching workforce, optimizing collaborative-care operations, and building tools that increase clinician efficiency so we can meet demand without compromising quality.
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Dr. Gaulton noted:
We began with a simple text-based coaching model and have grown into a fully integrated, AI-driven mental health care platform. Key developments include:
- Proprietary population-health registry capturing collaborative-care activity and integrating with EHRs
- A unified clinical tech stack including our EMR, patient engagement app, and CRM
- AI-driven analytics to generate insights for care quality and outcomes
- AI-powered revenue-cycle management tailored to collaborative-care billing
- AI-driven clinical workflow and patient engagement applications to improve enrollment, reduce cost of care, and streamline provider workflows, including ambient clinical documentation.
We’ve invested heavily in building technology designed specifically for integrated women’s mental-health care at scale.
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Dr. Gaulton cited:
Some highlights:
- Raising our Series A earlier this year.
- Launching the FamilyWell Academy, training the next generation of women’s mental health providers
- Expanding into peri-/menopause mental health care with the launch of our Menopause Hub, which includes free clinical guidelines for women’s health providers and a comprehensive behavioral health certification for coaches and clinicians
- Scaling across 20 new clinics and health-system partners in 5 states
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Dr. Gaulton highlighted:
One of our flagship partners, Essex OB/GYN Associates, led by Dr. Melissa Sherman, has supported nearly 1,000 patients through our integrated model. Their practice has seen dramatic improvements in access, patient engagement, and measurable clinical outcomes – on average, patients reached remission in just under 12 weeks, with 65% achieving remission and 72% demonstrating a clinically significant response. Essex’s success has become a model for our other partners.
Funding/Revenue
Are you able to discuss funding and/or revenue metrics? Dr. Gaulton revealed:
Yes. FamilyWell has raised $12.25 million in venture funding to date. We’ve achieved 3x year-over-year revenue growth, driven by health-system expansion, strong clinical demand and patient engagement.
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Dr. Gaulton assessed:
We’re addressing a $91B market opportunity by 2035, spanning perinatal, reproductive, and women’s behavioral health — categories with rapidly increasing clinical and payer urgency.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Dr. Gaulton affirmed:
FamilyWell integrates directly into OB/GYN clinics and health-system workflows. We’re not a bolt-on, standalone telehealth service. Our model wraps around existing providers, leverages collaborative-care reimbursement, and enhances the care patients already receive — creating better outcomes and new revenue for clinics.
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Dr. Gaulton emphasized:
Looking ahead, we aim to:
- Expand nationally with more women’s health clinics and health systems
- Grow the FamilyWell Academy to train more women’s mental health coaches
- Train clinicians to identify and support patients experiencing behavioral health symptoms related to menopause
- Advance our AI-forward tech platform to improve outcomes and reduce operational burden
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Dr. Gaulton concluded:
I can’t overstate the urgency of addressing women’s mental health at scale. Maternal mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related complications in the U.S., but they are also highly treatable. When care is truly integrated into existing clinical workflows—rather than bolted on—we see dramatically better outcomes for women and their families.
