A Convo with Victoria Thain Gioia of Perelel Health

As the co-CEO and co-Founder of the first OB/GYN-founded wellness company to offer dynamic prenatal vitamins and supplements, can you tell us what inspired Perelel Health, and how you got started?

In 2018, Alex and I both found ourselves pregnant and frustrated with our prenatal vitamins. We were chatting about this new motherhood chapter in our lives that we were both experiencing and realized that most brands really pushed women into the “mama” category and more specifically, vitamin brands use a one-size-fits-all approach to prenatal nutrition that fails to deliver targeted nutrients for each unique stage. Personally, my daughter was born with a cleft lip – though I had no risk factors or genetic link – it really knocked me off my feet because I felt I had followed all of the “pregnancy rules” using all clean beauty products, non-toxic cleaners and eating organic. I started doing a lot of research with my OB and learned that it was likely due to a folic acid deficiency during the first few weeks of my pregnancy, which tipped me off on the importance of targeted, high quality nutrition.

Alex & I wanted to create a brand with the mission to create a world with more healthy & supported women – starting with moms. We’ve partnered with our Medical Co-Founder, Dr. Bayati, a practicing OBGYN, to create the best formulations including all that this woman needs at each specific stage for her reproductive journey and couple that with the right credible content and a supportive community. 

"Alex & I wanted to create a brand with the mission to create a world with more healthy & supported women – starting with moms."

Tell us more about the Perelel Community that you’ve built digitally. What is it, how did you cultivate it, and how can people get involved?

We use a platform called Geneva to create a space for our woman centered around community, connection and conversation. There are specific rooms for her depending on exactly what she is going for and allows our Perelel woman to connect with each other while also getting unprecedented access to Perelel’s founding team of doctors and top experts. 

Is Perelel also taking into account pregnant trans & non binary folks?

We are and the mission of our brand is to help everyone feel seen for whatever they are going through. Right now we have focused on the biological function of the woman, but we’re open to any ideas on how we can also make the trans & non-binary community feel seen when approaching our products as well. For the most part, our product names focus on function – referring to our Conception Support Pack or 1st Trimester Pack, and keeping that fairly universal. We’ve also played around with sleeves that someone can use to make our packaging better reflect who they are.

How have you navigated the lack of regulation in the prenatal industry? What other challenges have you faced?

It is a bit surprising being in an industry where there truly isn’t as much regulation as there should be. We work hard in making sure that we only work with regulated, certified manufacturing partners and we take the first steps in strict compliance with any current or potential future regulations. We are moms too and want to ensure our products are safe, effective and at the end of the day, exactly what we say they are. We 3rd party test each and every batch to ensure safety and purity.

"It is a bit surprising being in an industry where there truly isn’t as much regulation as there should be. We work hard in making sure that we only work with regulated, certified manufacturing partners and we take the first steps in strict compliance with any current or potential future regulations."

What is the Perelel Panel? How is it advancing your work at Perelel Health?

Our Perelel Panel is basically our medical board of directors. It is headed up by our medical co-founder, Dr. Bayati, and is comprised of some of the country’s top medical doctors as well as more holistic practitioners that this woman may turn to during her reproductive journey. That includes two of the country’s top reproductive endocrinologists, a top maternal fetal medicine doctor as well as a nutritionist, an acupuncturist and a reproductive psychiatrist. Everyone on the panel reviews our products, develops our formulations and also creates the content to support this woman. We wanted to include the best group to develop products rooted in their clinical insights and the latest research, but then take that one step further by having them be a part of the brand and available for content and community activations.

What’s in store for the future of Perelel & where can the MATE community follow along?

Oh there is so much more for us to do! Our vision is to create a world with more healthy supported women and to create products, content & community for her from the start of her journey through the end. Please follow us along on Instagram @perelelhealth or on TikTok now @perelelhealth as well!