Should we offer virtual postpartum care through our benefits platform?
Most maternity benefits are strongest in the trimester the employee is least likely to need them, and thinnest in the twelve weeks after delivery.
Medically reviewed by Sina Haeri, MD, MHSA, maternal-fetal medicine physician.
Usually yes, because postpartum is the part of the maternity benefit most often left thin. The twelve weeks after delivery carry the return-to-work decision, the highest risk of hypertensive and mood complications, and the lowest rate of clinical contact. A virtual benefit is well matched to that window because the barrier is getting out of the house, not distance.
The clinical case and the benefits case point the same way
Postpartum is when hypertensive disorders and mood disorders present, and it is also when a new parent has least capacity to attend an appointment. Care that reaches into the home closes a gap that scheduling alone will not.
It is the window employers can actually feel
Return-to-work timing, short-term disability duration and the decision to come back at all are all decided in this window. A benefit that supports it is doing something the employer sees, which is not true of most prenatal support.
Ask what the benefit covers after week six
Many programs taper at the six-week visit, which is where the traditional model ends rather than where the need does. Coverage through twelve weeks and beyond is a real differentiator and is easy to check.
Utilization depends on how the benefit is found
A postpartum benefit that requires the employee to remember it exists and go looking will underperform. The programs that get used are the ones that reach out on a schedule rather than waiting to be discovered.
What to ask a benefits vendor
- How far past delivery does the benefit run?
- Is contact proactive, or does the employee have to initiate?
- What is covered clinically, and who delivers it?
- In which states can care actually be delivered?
Where Ouma fits
Ouma provides postpartum care as part of a physician-led maternity practice, including behavioral health and lactation support, and is licensed to practice in all 50 states. Coverage does not stop at the six-week visit.
Related: Maternity benefits for employers · Perinatal behavioral health · Lactation support
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