Leading Maternal and Child Health Platforms Xiaodoumiao and Mami Know Forge Strategic Alliance to Expand O2O Integrated Services

In the maternal and infant sector, the strategic layouts and collaborations of leading platforms have consistently warranted attention, as they serve as bellwethers for industry trends.

Xiao Dou Miao is a childhood vaccination management platform. Centered on the entire vaccination process, it links children with parents, doctors, and clinics to form a closed-loop service ecosystem, providing users with a one-stop solution for scientific, intelligent, and personalized childhood vaccination management.

In 2014, Xiao Dou Miao launched its “vaccination + internet” service and expanded along the industry’s upstream and downstream sectors. Within just four years, it has become China’s largest child vaccination management platform, connecting offline with 27,000 standardized vaccination clinics and achieving a coverage rate of approximately 55%. As of December 2018, Xiao Dou Miao had amassed over 17 million users, with 6.3 million monthly active users, and was adding 20,000–40,000 new users daily.

As an Internet-plus healthcare service platform dedicated to the field of children’s health, Mami Zhidao has adhered to its philosophy of “compassionate healthcare” since its establishment in 2014. Its online maternal and child health consultation platform has secured exclusive contracts with over 3,000 obstetricians and pediatricians from top-tier (Grade A tertiary) hospitals in key cities, handling an average of 20,000 consultations per day. By integrating eight Mami Zhidao pediatric clinics in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the platform provides new, integrated online-to-offline medical services to more than six million urban middle-class families.

Currently, Xiao Dou Miao has entered into a strategic partnership with Mommy Knows, jointly announcing multi-dimensional in-depth cooperation in the field of maternal and child health services. This collaboration covers various areas, including online pediatric consultations, pediatric health courses, and popular science education on children's health. Together, they aim to upgrade internet-based maternal and child health services and create a new ecosystem for maternal and child healthcare.

Xiao Dou Miao Co-Founder Song Jingwei (left) and Mommy Knows Founder and CEO Liang Liang (right)

During the “2018 Top 100 Future Healthcare Companies” Forum held in Beijing, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) conducted exclusive interviews with Song Jingwei, Co-founder of Shenzhen Sandairen Technology Co., Ltd. (brand name: Xiao Dou Miao, hereinafter referred to as Xiao Dou Miao), and Liang Liang, Founder and CEO of Mommy Knows. The two guests shared insights on how these two leading enterprises are joining forces to expand the boundaries of services in the maternal and child health sector. In the following section, you will learn:

1. What changes have occurred on the supply and demand sides?

2. Why the integration of online and offline services is a major trend;

2. Several Ways to Expand Boundaries.

The maternal and child health industry has always been vibrant, driven by robust demand, while the habits and psychological profiles of its mainstream consumer base are rapidly evolving.

Furthermore, changes in communication channels and information access methods, coupled with national policies regulating both supply and demand in the maternal and infant health sector, are continuously creating new scenarios and development opportunities for the industry. We are currently navigating this wave of industry transformation driven by the new healthcare reforms and mobile internet technologies, where the strong grow stronger and the Matthew Effect becomes increasingly evident.

First, from the supply-side perspective, with the introduction of a series of new healthcare reform policies, including multi-site practice, medical resources on the supply side are being unleashed. The accessibility and mobility of core scarce resources, such as physician resources, are increasing, creating new opportunities for the market.

From the demand side, the post-90s generation is emerging as the mainstream consumer group. As heavy users of mobile internet, this young demographic has undergone significant shifts in the channels and habits through which they access products and services. Consequently, online-to-offline (O2O) scenarios and channels have become the primary battleground for competition in the maternal and child health market.

Against this broader industry backdrop, Song Jingwei stated, “The precise matching of demand and supply has become an unavoidable issue, particularly in the current era when the dividends of internet traffic are no longer available. Whether it is suppliers seeking out consumers or consumers searching for high-quality products and services, both parties incur substantial costs. Information asymmetry persists, and the likelihood of mismatching has increased. Xiaodoumiao remains committed to building a bridge that facilitates precise matching between users and providers of high-quality health products and services.”

Mami Zhidao, which boasts a complete industrial loop spanning both online and offline sectors, is also building new medical service scenarios that integrate online and offline resources. Reporters have learned that its online platform focuses on three core functions: online consultations, original popular science content, and parenting courses, with services provided by a team of more than 3,000 pediatricians and experts from top-tier (Grade A tertiary) hospitals.

Liang Liang stated, “Mami Zhidao is committed to conveying the concepts of scientific parenting and evidence-based medicine to its users. Our online consultation services can basically cover common health inquiries and healthcare issues. For more in-depth disease diagnosis and treatment, users can visit Mami Zhidao’s offline pediatric centers to receive medical care and services.”

Amid transformations on both the supply and demand sides, the maternal and infant industry has entered an era of comprehensive competition, necessitating the establishment of deep trust with users. The integration of online and offline channels is an inevitable trend. Liang Liang concurs with this view, summarizing: “Mommy Knows is a new medical service brand that combines online and offline elements. Once patients develop trust in the brand and its services, follow-up consultations can be conducted remotely, offering greater convenience and efficiency. The online-offline integration model, already prevalent in sectors such as food and beverage, will also take root in the healthcare field.”

Most maternal and infant platforms are primarily centered around online communities and e-commerce, giving rise to numerous unicorn-level enterprises. Xiaodoumiao has taken a different approach by entering the niche market of vaccination services. By providing professional and convenient one-stop services for childhood immunizations, it has rapidly emerged as a leader among maternal and child health service platforms. Xiaodoumiao consistently prioritizes user experience and exercises great caution in pursuing commercialization through avenues such as e-commerce and advertising partnerships. Its integrated resources remain firmly focused on the theme of maternal and child health, thereby fostering stronger brand trust among its users.

Having cultivated the maternal and child healthcare sector for many years, Mommy Knows has established an integrated online-to-offline service model, delivering professional medical services to over 6 million families. To ensure high-quality healthcare delivery, Mommy Knows has consistently consolidated pediatric resources by founding the Mommy Knows Medical Group. This group comprises online physician studios that recruit multidisciplinary pediatric specialists, transcending temporal and geographical constraints to expand both the breadth and depth of its services. Furthermore, by introducing a physician partnership program, it extends care to offline settings for issues that cannot be resolved online.

How to Expand Boundaries and Empower Industrial Upgrading? Song Jingwei stated: “Xiao Dou Miao is a professional platform dedicated to the vertical field of vaccination. Leveraging the founding team’s extensive experience in the immunization industry and their profound understanding of industry pain points and needs, we are the first service provider in China to launch an integrated ‘vaccination + internet’ application solution. We have gained recognition from grassroots physicians and parents, and have evolved into a maternal and child health service platform characterized by rigid demand, high frequency, precision, and broad coverage.”

In addition to its “Internet+” professional vaccination services, Xiaodoumiao has expanded into maternal and infant health management services, even recommending scientific and healthy solutions to users. By developing social features such as “Ask a Doctor,” “Mom’s Classroom,” and “Micro-Courses,” the platform has enhanced user engagement and stickiness.

Mami Zhidao even established a dedicated Business Enablement Division last year, aiming to provide comprehensive support across operations, systems, teams, and funding, thereby continuously delivering high-quality maternal and child healthcare services to the industry.

As is well known, China has only slightly more than 90,000 pediatricians, indicating a severe shortage. However, over 3,000 of them have become exclusively contracted physicians with “Mommy Knows.” Liang Liang shared his vision for the future: “As we expand our offline network, more outstanding pediatricians will join us. In addition to providing online practice platforms, Mommy Knows helps physicians build their personal brands and establish their own pediatric clinics. We also provide operational support teams and incubation funds to accompany them in their growth and development. Our goal is for Mommy Knows to become the partner of choice for pediatricians seeking opportunities outside the public healthcare system.”

Regarding the Parent-Child Classroom, a key section that Xiao Dou Miao is vigorously developing, Song Jingwei stated, “On one hand, Xiao Dou Miao will further upgrade its existing Mom’s Classroom by intensifying efforts to curate premium, rigorously selected courses. On the other hand, we will collaborate with authoritative pediatricians and education experts to create higher-quality content, aiming to provide users with more value-added health services and an enhanced user experience. We also welcome experts, influencers, and high-quality content institutions from various fields to partner with Xiao Dou Miao in co-creating high-quality online maternal and child health knowledge services.”

As a vaccination platform, what are the expansion directions for Xiao Dou Miao? Song Jingwei believes there are several key directions:

First, extend services across broader scenarios. “We currently begin providing services with the administration of the first vaccine dose after a child’s birth. However, health interventions can be initiated even earlier, such as during the perinatal period, pregnancy, and even the preconception phase.”

Second, the target population can be expanded. “Xiao Dou Miao serves children, but we connect with the decision-making hub for family health—namely, the parents, especially mothers, who serve as the central managers of their family’s health. By connecting with families, Xiao Dou Miao has the opportunity to serve three generations within a household.”

Third, extend the scope of services. “Beyond routine childcare health and physical disease management, we can also intervene in mental health and healthy lifestyle management. This requires us to expand our reach and integrate a broader range of health services.”

With so many directions for service expansion, each one reveals a vast space for service development. Xiaodoumiao’s strategy is to pursue open collaboration and build alliances. Currently, this is primarily implemented in three forms: First, collaborating with experts in various vertical fields to co-create rigorously selected health products across categories and provide users with health education courses. Second, partnering with high-quality health service and product providers to integrate their offerings into the service platform. Third, leveraging Xiaodoumiao’s precise user profiling and demand analysis, jointly customizing services and products with third parties that better meet user needs and improve efficiency, thereby delivering tailored solutions.

Liang Liang also expressed his willingness to collaborate with enterprises that share common values, are technology-driven, prioritize user experience, and maintain a focused yet open approach. Guided by the aforementioned health management development strategies and partnership frameworks, Xiaodoumiao and Mommy Knows have joined hands to establish a strategic partnership under the strategy of jointly building a new ecosystem for maternal and infant health services.

Under this strategic partnership, both parties will engage in resource exchange, sharing, and complementary advantage integration across a broad spectrum of areas—including channels, expert resources, and content—to deliver superior health service products and experiences to users. On this basis, they aim to achieve sustainable, healthy, and reliable commercial or value monetization.

Regarding the collaboration between the two parties, Liang Liang stated, “First, Mommy Knows and Xiao Dou Miao share a consensus on promoting the upgrade of China’s maternal and infant health service ecosystem. Furthermore, both sides have maintained excellent communication over time, with a clear understanding of each other’s strengths and value in the field of maternal and infant health services, enabling resource sharing and complementary advantages. Xiao Dou Miao has deeply cultivated the ‘Internet + Vaccination’ sector and serves as the first essential health application for newborns. Pediatric health services are a natural extension based on the platform’s attributes, making the partnership with Mommy Knows a logical and inevitable step.”

“The integration of Mami Zhidao’s pediatric consultation services has enhanced Xiaodoumiao’s comprehensive child health service capabilities, including knowledge base sharing, curated products and courses for mothers and infants, and family parenting support. This will enrich the child health service features on the Xiaodoumiao platform and further improve the overall user experience. Mami Zhidao will also leverage its physician group to integrate high-quality medical resources, strengthen its medical service capabilities, and deliver more professional maternal and infant healthcare services to the industry. With the official announcement of this strategic partnership, there is considerable anticipation within the industry regarding such a significant development in the maternal and infant health sector,” said Liang Liang.

In vertical domains, companies should continue to excel in their core competencies while expanding the breadth and depth of their coverage. In horizontal expansion, they should strive to offer a richer array of health services. As each enterprise has its own specialized expertise, platforms like Xiao Dou Miao and Mommy Knows also have their boundaries. Therefore, from a strategic perspective on cooperation, future enterprises must remain open, embracing high-quality service providers across various vertical sectors. Only through strong alliances and mutual empowerment can they jointly break through development boundaries.

In 2019, Xiao Dou Miao will establish a system to empower industry upgrading. By implementing supporting measures for standards and management, it will select higher-quality health services and products. Ma Mi Zhi Dao will also open up its technical system resources, provide training, and export systematic standards to help more doctors achieve professional fulfillment. This will ensure the continuous provision of high-quality pediatric medical services to the industry, enabling more families to access compassionate healthcare.