A 6-Week Checkup Should be the Beginning of Postpartum Care, Not the End.

You sit in a sterile, cold room, holding your crying baby in one arm, exhaustion in the other. You’re buzzing with postpartum hormones, hoping you don’t burst into tears in front of your doctor, all while trying not to leak through your bra or your adult diaper.

The nurse asks a few questions, checks your incision or bleeding, and says the words you’ve been waiting to hear — “You’re cleared.”

If you’re like me and had a more difficult birth than most, you’re probably thinking, “That’s it? Now what?”

Your provider will most likely proceed to ask if you want birth control, and send you on your way with no further instruction or assurance on what the next few months of your life will look like.

No one assures you that the night sweats you’ll have for weeks are totally normal.

No one tells you that you’ll have continuous contractions post-birth while your uterus returns to normal size.

No one explains that phantom kicks post-pregnancy are totally normal, and you’re not losing your mind.

Our current healthcare system sees a 6-week postpartum checkup as the final event in the marathon of pregnancy. It is viewed as the finish line, the final checkbox in their repertoire of maternity care.

The Biological Stress of Postpartum

What is currently seen as the end of care should be only the beginning of one of the most important healing seasons of your life - there is a reason that postpartum is called The 4th Trimester.

While that nomenclature implies an additional 3 months of healing for mom, data has shown that actual postpartum symptoms, including both physical & emotional changes, can last up to 3 years post-birth.

That means 3 years of uncharted territory - no roadmap for healing, no structured support - just a highly emotional & hormonal mind, combined with an exhausted, forever-changed body floating from day-to-day trying to figure out how to adapt to this new life, all while prioritizing the care of an incredibly vulnerable new life.

Currently, the Cleaveland Clinic (one of the leading names in medicine) describes postpartum in 3 phases -

• Acute phase: This is the first six to 12 hours after you give birth.

• Subacute phase: This phase begins around 24 hours after birth and lasts for about two to six weeks.

• Delayed phase: This phase lasts from about six weeks postpartum until six months postpartum. Changes during this phase are gradual and mainly consist of your muscles and tissues returning to their pre-pregnancy state.

According to the Cleaveland Clinic, after 6 weeks postpartum, you are considered “delayed” if you are still experiencing any of the hundreds of symptoms beyond muscle & tissue repair that women experience every single day, from 18 months - 3 years postpartum.

“The postpartum period is a critical time for new mothers, as the body undergoes significant changes and requires adequate nutrition to recover and support breastfeeding. During this time, nutritional deficiencies can occur, which may impact overall health, energy levels, [postpartum depression levels,] and mood.” (American Frontline Nurses)

What we often call “postpartum exhaustion” or “mom brain” can actually be postnatal depletion — a state where the body is deficient in key nutrients needed for healing, energy, and emotional balance.

Many women are depleted in up to nine essential nutrients, yet are told their fatigue and brain fog are simply part of motherhood. In reality, studies show that postpartum depression and even psychosis can be linked to these underlying nutrient deficiencies.

The long-term effects of unaddressed postpartum depletion are still not fully understood, but experts believe they may contribute to ongoing hormonal imbalance, chronic fatigue, and future health challenges.

What Postpartum Care Should Look Like

Let’s take a second and go back to the beginning of this article. You’re holding your crying baby in one arm, using every ounce of energy you have to get out of the house. You’re buzzing with postpartum hormones, hoping you don’t burst into tears in public, all while trying not to leak through your bra or your adult diaper.

Now picture you walk into a space full of other postpartum moms, and wellness professionals who completely understand what you’re going through - physically, emotionally, and mentally. You’re able to watch your baby receive play time and care in another room, while you’re able to fully get to know your new body, and plan an educated path of healing that includes movement, nutrition, healing, community, and support.

Movement

Once your OB gives you the ‘all clear,’ you’re technically allowed to return to moving your body. I know this may sound scary because you often still feel like your uterus could fall out at any moment.

Picture a space where you can choose from the movement that feels best to you - whether it’s a slow stroller walk with other moms all airing their grievances and lessons of the week together. Or maybe it’s a post-natal yoga class, gently ushering your body into movement. Maybe you worked out your entire pregnancy, and the idea of picking up a weight again, guided safely by an educated professional, gives you the motivation you need to get through the day.

Movement is not only incredible for your mental health, but when guided by professionals who understand your postpartum body, can expedite your healing tremendously, healing the tissue & muscle that the Cleaveland Clinic mentioned, while rebuilding your body stronger than before (you did just birth a human - don’t forget it!)

Nutrition

Having to strategically feed yourself in a way that replenishes your postpartum depletions, while trying to keep a tiny human alive, can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be.

Women should have access to easy-to-make, (or easy for your husband to make) recipes that can easily be thrown in the slow cooker or air fryer, saving time while maximizing nutritional benefits.

And for the nutrients you just can’t seem to stay on top of, there should be as much focus on postpartum vitamins and supplementation as there is on prenatal supplements.

Healing

The number of times I’ve said the word ‘pelvic floor’ since having my daughter should be documented. Whether it’s your pelvic floor, your hips, or your muscular system as a whole, our bodies are severely neglected postpartum, as we prioritize the tiny bodies we just birthed.

Having access to pelvic floor therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractors, and more should be a requirement for true physical healing post-baby.

Community

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but no one talks about the isolation and loneliness you feel when you don’t have that village. Or maybe you’re blessed with a community around you, but no one who understands the current season of life you’re in.

Mom friends are a different breed after you’ve experienced having a child. Mom friends understand the struggle of getting out of the house on time; they’ll never judge you for a messy living room, or reheating your coffee for a third time… there’s truly nothing like a good mom friend.

Our current society can be pretty isolating, which also contributes to postpartum mental health struggles. Finding a space that you can go to be around other moms, whether with your baby, or without, is one of the most underrated contributors to postpartum healing.

Support

Doctors are quick to administer a postpartum depression test that includes a handful of questions followed by a prescription for antidepressants. While the incredible biological and physical changes your body just went through may leave you depleted in dopamine or serotonin, needing that antidepressant, therapy is an extremely underutilized tool postpartum.

In one intervention study, mothers who participated in a peer support group had their mean postpartum depression score drop from ~14.06 before intervention to ~10.25 by 8 weeks postpartum (J Caring Sci.)

Not only does group therapy gives you a space to share the major emotional and mental changes you’re experiencing, but doing it in a group setting, surrounded by women all in the same season of life, reminds you that you are not alone, that this is all temporary, and that you will prevail.

A New Standard of Postpartum Care

I think back to that day in the cold exam room, tired, scared, and unsure of what came next.

I wish I’d had a roadmap, a team, a community, a space where someone looked at me and said, “You deserve to heal, too.”

That’s what postpartum care should be.

Not a single appointment, but a season of rebuilding.

Because a healed mother becomes the foundation for a stronger family, a stronger community, and a stronger future.