Turning My Maternal Instinct Into a MedTech Startup

A few months ago, an email from Business Wales dropped into my inbox. I nearly deleted it, thinking it was more generic noise, but one line caught my eye: “Business Accelerator Programme, designed to support founders with growth potential.”

At first I shrugged it off. I’m “just a mum” of 2 wild boys, trying to stay on top of a messy house and manage a very real obsession with why my son can’t sleep without sounding like Darth Vader.

But then that little idea started needling again. The one about diagnostics. About sublingual immunotherapy. About VitalAir.

Deep in my research fazes, when I have tried to find the answers I learned such things are available overseas. But here in the UK? Not so much. Especially not at-home testing kits, accessible to parents of all economic and social backgrounds.

So I applied.

I was under no illusion, I assumed I’d get a standard rejection and carry on doing what I do: Googling respiratory terms at midnight and ranting to anyone who’ll listen about glue ear and mouth breathing.

But I didn’t get a rejection. I got an interview.

They asked me to speak more about my idea. So I did. Probably not in the way you're supposed to, with stats and graphs and a neat little pitch deck. I spoke from experience. From the deep frustration and fear I’ve felt as a parent trying to navigate a system that doesn't seem to care.

I thought that I’d made it too personal. That I'd come across too emotional. That I should’ve talked more about revenue streams or supply chains instead of my son’s face when he can’t breathe properly.

But it turns out, they liked it. The messy, human part. Apparently, drive matters. Not just passion (because that fades), but purpose.

I didn’t have all the answers, but I knew the problem intimately. I knew the feeling of helplessness. Of banging your head against the system.

So, for the last 10 weeks I’ve been showing up tirelessly whilst juggling parenting two little lads to complete the program. Surprisingly, I even won an award.

VitalAir is the business. The vision is to bring accessible allergy testing, sublingual immunotherapy, diagnostics, treatments and environmental tools into the hands of parents. Tools to take agency over their child’s health. Not in five years. Soon.

The media arm of this dream is called Parents of Mouth Breathers (a catchier name has never existed ha-ha). It’s where I share. Where I learn from other parents, from specialists. Where I try to make sense of all the threads: airway health, mouth breathing, glue ear, chronic congestion, sleep disordered breathing. All of it.

Because here’s the thing:

Mouth breathing is not benign. It is not neutral. It is inherently damaging to your child’s health.

Some specialists don’t believe that. Some actively dismiss it. But while they argue semantics, our children suffer in silence. Sometimes with obvious symptoms, behaviour issues, facial structure changes, stunted growth. And sometimes with quiet, creeping consequences that take years to become visible.

That’s not good enough.

Especially not when other countries have tools and technologies that could spare so much of this suffering. Especially not when the answers do exist, they’re just buried under a pile of bureaucracy and disbelief.

Our case is complex, most cases are, and they require a multidisciplinary approach to treat:

• Allergy testing to remove hidden triggers.

• Environmental changes to reduce load

• Myofunctional therapy to re-train muscles

• Dental input.

• Possibly surgery.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all. It’s a puzzle.

Some parents will say, “Well, he’ll grow out of it.” But some of us can’t let it go. Can’t stop pulling at the thread.

Because what if he doesn’t just grow out of it?

What if this affects his ability to sleep, to breathe, to learn, to become who he’s meant to be?

What if it’s not just a phase?

What if our instincts were right all along?

Now I wait to hear whether I’ll progress to the next stage. If I do, it means I’ll be paired with people who actually know what they’re doing such as mentors from the world of med tech, diagnostics, manufacturing. People who can help me turn this from a gut feeling into a real, scalable solution.

That’s both exhilarating and terrifying. Because if I get through, then I have to do the thing. No more dreaming. No more “maybe one day”. I’ll have to stand behind this business and say: Yes. This matters. Yes. I’m building it.

So here I am. Waiting. Hopeful. Knowing that whatever happens, this process has already reminded me of something important: that my experience as a mother is valid. That my instincts aren't a liability. They’re what I tap into to lead the way.

Tasha x