Recovery care is where the system is weakest
And where more than half of maternal deaths happen.
Of 1,018 pregnancy-related deaths reviewed across 36 states, 30.0% occurred between 43 and 365 days after birth and a further 23.3% between 7 and 42 days. More than half happened after the delivery admission, in the window when clinical attention has moved to the baby. 84.2% were judged preventable.
Meanwhile only about 72% of US women attend any postpartum visit at all, with reported rates across studies ranging from 24.9% to 96.5%.
ACOG's own guidance calls the postpartum period the "fourth trimester," says care should be an ongoing process rather than a single encounter, and recommends contact within the first 3 weeks rather than one visit at six.
Ask for the three-week contactIf you are only booked for six weeks, request the earlier contact and cite the guideline. It is their own standard.
Where this comes from:
258. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Obstetric Practice. Optimizing postpartum care. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 736. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(5):e140-e150.
259. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pregnancy-related deaths: data from maternal mortality review committees in 36 US states, 2017-2019. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2024.
260. Attanasio LB, Ranchoff BL, Cooper MI, Geissler KH. Postpartum visit attendance in the United States: a systematic review. Womens Health Issues. 2022;32(4):369-375.
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