PeriCare

Inspiration

We noticed women over 40 going through perimenopause had very little knowledge or resources to help them. Most apps or advice felt overwhelming, medical, or contradictory. We wanted to create an accessible, safe space where women could understand their own bodies without pressure or confusion.

What it does

PeriCare lets users track energy, mood, movement, nutrition, sleep, and symptoms quickly and easily. It visualizes progress through a growing plant and generates pattern-based reports that teach users about their own experiences. Instead of comparing to a standard, each woman can learn what works for her body, like discovering correlations between certain nutrition habits and energy levels. A friendly chatbot answers questions and explains patterns using the user’s own data, keeping everything strictly non-medical.

How we built it

We designed screens for quick daily logging, visual plant growth, a cycle tracker, monthly reports, and the AI chatbot. Each feature connects to the user’s data to provide consistent feedback and insights, keeping the experience simple and reflective. The app uses React Native/Expo for iOS, Android, and Web, an Express.js REST API backend, MongoDB Atlas for storage, Clerk for authentication, and Google Gemini for AI-powered insights and the chatbot. Deployment is handled through Railway and Vercel.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing meaningful insights with emotional safety was tricky. We wanted to provide useful information without medical advice, avoid overwhelming users, and design visual rewards that motivate without pressure.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created an end-to-end app that helps women learn from their own patterns instead of comparing to a standard. Women can discover what supports their body, habits that improve energy, and gain confidence in their own experiences. The app provides a safe space where all questions are welcome.

What we learned

We learned how to design for a sensitive user group, create a calm and motivating UI, and use AI responsibly to support reflection rather than prescribe or judge.

What's next for PeriCare

We want to add a community aspect, improve nutrition and movement tracking, and eventually connect users with the right medical resources and professionals for personalized support.