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The standard of care for new mothers is a joke – and not a funny one. For a population responsible for growing, birthing, and sustaining human life, prenatal and postpartum women are still getting scraps when it comes to care. As a prenatal and postpartum coach, I’ve spent years watching women get bombarded with attention during pregnancy – appointments, tests, classes, unsolicited advice from every direction – only to be dropped the moment the baby arrives. The cliff between prenatal care and postpartum care isn’t subtle; it’s a freefall. And for many women, that freefall comes with physical trauma, emotional overwhelm, and zero guidance for rebuilding their bodies or their confidence.
Let’s call it like it is: the current postpartum standard of care isn’t a standard at all. It’s a shrug. It’s a “good luck out there.” It’s a system that treats pregnancy like a medical event and postpartum like an afterthought. And women deserve far better.
During pregnancy, you get near-constant touchpoints: monthly appointments that turn biweekly then weekly, an array of screenings, birth prep classes, breastfeeding workshops, referrals to every specialist under the sun, and steady messaging from OBs and midwives about how to optimize this or monitor that.
Then postpartum hits and the support evaporates. Here’s the real “standard” most women face:
We would never accept this level of neglect in any other medical category. But women are expected to recover from one of the most physiologically intense events a human body can experience with a pat on the back and a handout about baby sleep.
If I could rebuild the standard of care from scratch – if we actually treated postpartum women as humans deserving of guidance, expertise, and continuity – here’s what it would look like.
Immediately After Birth: A Full Week of Supported Monitoring
Weeks 1–6: Consistent, Accessible Check-ins
Six-Week Mark: A True Evaluation, Not a Checkbox Appointment
Months 2–6 (and Beyond): Guided Rebuilding
As Needed: Hormone-Savvy Nutrition Support
We already have the experts. We already have the science. What we don’t have is a system that respects postpartum women enough to connect the dots. Instead, they’re left fighting through internet noise that either pressures them to “bounce back” instantly or shames them for not doing more during pregnancy.
It’s unnecessary. It’s avoidable. And it’s time for a change.
If we can monitor a woman weekly during pregnancy, we can support her weekly postpartum. If we can educate her thoroughly before birth, we can guide her intentionally after it. And if we truly value mothers – and the next generation they’re raising – then building a real, comprehensive postpartum standard of care isn’t optional. It’s overdue.
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