Gemma Poole
Founder and CEO The Essential Baby Company Ltd
Gemma Poole is an award-winning midwife, lecturer, and innovation leader redefining how digital health systems are built, scaled, and trusted. Her work focuses on ensuring technology serves real people by design, not as an afterthought. As the founder of multiple health innovation ventures, her portfolio turns lived experience into digital health infrastructure, connecting underserved communities, frontline clinicians, and health systems to drive equitable, real world impact. Operating at the intersection of the NHS, government, academia, and health technology, Gemma influences national thinking on how emerging innovation can be applied safely, ethically, and at scale. Recognised as one of the UK’s first Clinical Entrepreneur Ambassadors, she has led and advised programmes across maternity, digital health, and equity, aligning community insight, clinical expertise, research, and technology to deliver measurable outcomes. As the first NHS maternity user researcher, Gemma brings rare dual credibility from frontline practice and end user research. Her work translates human insight into usable, inclusive, and resilient digital systems that improve care delivery without adding burden.