Bratelle, the bra that reduces lymphedema symptoms, is the fourth finalist for the National Healthcare Innovation Award. Founders Mariëtte Jilderda and Anita Schimmel know from personal experience how valuable this innovation is for a better quality of life after breast cancer.
Every year, some 17,000 women in the Netherlands are diagnosed with breast cancer. After treatment, many women experience lymphedema: a chronic and often painful accumulation of fluid, in the breast area, on the back or in the arms.
"Our bra helps women with an affected body. We do it for all those people who, like us, have this experience. We also just want to be able to put on what everyone else can, without pain or shame," said Anita Schimmel, one of the founders of Bratelle.
From negative experience to positive innovation
In 2015, Schimmel was diagnosed with breast cancer and as a result, she met Mariëtte Jilderda, who received the same diagnosis that year. Jilderda: "After two mastectomies, chemo, radiation and reconstructions, my lymphedema symptoms left me reliant on the most hideous bras. I thought: I'm going to make one myself."
Schimmel was also walking around with that thought. They joined forces, and so in 2021 the Bratelle came on the market: a bra made of soft 3D-knitted ribbing with massaging action that, combined with compression, stimulates the drainage of lymphatic fluid and thus reduces edema symptoms. "It's special to be able to do something positive for other people out of your own negative experience," Jilderda says.
Also read: National Healthcare Innovation Award finalist Phlecs: 'Eczema is more than a skin problem'
From full trunk to 34 pass points
Whereas Jilderda and Schimmel were still driving around the country with a fully loaded trunk with bras and mannequins in 2021, Bratelle now has 34 fitting points throughout the Netherlands where women with lymphedema complaints can go for bra fitting. The counter now stands at some 2,700 bras sold.
By wearing the Bratelle daily, lymphedema symptoms decrease and women experience less pain or heaviness. Scars and hard spots in the breast area also soften.
'I feel like a woman again'
The Bratelle goes beyond promoting physical health. It gives women with these symptoms quality of life again. "Women dare to show themselves again. 'I feel like a woman again,' we regularly get back from our clients," says Schimmel.
She herself is also experiencing this relief in her life thanks to the bra. "I no longer have to go to the edema therapist three times a week. I was always a 'patient' and I'm not anymore. I open my drawer, put on the bra and go to work. Period."
Hope for more awareness
Jilderda and Schimmel are committed daily to increasing knowledge about breast cancer aftercare. Says Schimmel, "Often people don't even know what lymphedema is. People think it's done after you're healed. Your environment sees you from the outside as a healthy person."
Healthcare professionals also still lack the necessary knowledge about lymphedema, according to Jilderda. "We would like to raise awareness in hospitals. Think of radiologists, surgeons and plastic surgeons. We still have a large group to reach."
Also read: J58 and Freequency win National Care Innovation Award 2025
Tips for healthcare entrepreneurs
In principle, Schimmel and Jilderda had no money, but that was not their motivation either. "We wanted to make the lives of all women around the world after breast cancer, with lymphedema symptoms, a little bit better," Schimmel said.
This focus has been essential for the two. "Focus on your goal and make sure you can survive the first three years without revenues. Trust your idea," Schimmel emphasizes.
A closing tip from Jilderda: "Don't get stuck endlessly in the development phase. Go to the market, gather feedback, and adjust your product."
About the National Care Innovation Award
In 2026, Zorginnovatie.nl will award the National Care Innovation Prize for the eleventh time for the most innovative care innovation in the scale-up phase. Participants have a chance to win the professional jury prize worth €10,000 and the public prize worth €5,000. They will also receive guidance in the further (further) development of their innovation.
Bratelle is in the final of the National Healthcare Innovation Award 2026 during the Health Valley Event on March 12, 2026 in Nijmegen. The presentation of the national professional jury award and audience award will be during Zorg & ict on April 15 at Jaarbeurs Utrecht.
