When we started Apryl, we made a very specific bet: fertility benefits would not stay a US-only conversation.

At the time, the US market was already moving. Employers were starting to understand that fertility and family-forming support was not a niche perk, but a benefit that mattered deeply to employees and could become a real differentiator for companies competing for talent.

Outside the US, the conversation looked very different.

In Europe and Asia, many employers had a different starting point. They were not used to funding healthcare directly in the same way US employers are, because public healthcare systems already existed. Fertility support was therefore often seen as something the healthcare system should cover – or, at best, something nice for an employer to add.

But when we looked closer, the gaps were obvious. The WHO estimates that 1 in 6 people globally experience infertility in their lifetime, a rate that holds consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries alike. Yet public coverage was often partial, narrow, or tied to specific eligibility criteria. In some countries, access depends on age, diagnosis, marital status, sexual orientation, or the type of treatment. In others, the treatment might be legal but expensive, difficult to access, or culturally sensitive to talk about. The result was a patchwork of support that left many women and families with unmet needs and employers without a clear way to bridge the gap.

That is why we built Apryl in 2019. We believed that global employers would eventually need a better way to support fertility and family forming outside the US – not by copying the US model, but by building something that understands local healthcare systems, laws, costs, and cultural realities. We knew that meaningful support would require deep regional expertise, because what works in one country can be inaccessible, inappropriate, or ineffective in another.

At the time, that required a lot of market education. We were fundraising, building the product, speaking to customers, supporting members, fixing edge cases, writing decks, and doing whatever needed to be done that day. It was intense and scrappy, but the conviction was clear: global companies would eventually need global fertility benefits, and those benefits would have to work locally.

When the buyer conversation changed

When Apryl joined Progyny two years ago, in June of 2024, one of the biggest changes was the buyer conversation.

Suddenly, we were much closer to U.S. decision makers responsible for global workforces. These were benefits leaders who already understood the value of fertility benefits because they had seen the impact in the U.S. Their question was not, “Why should we pay for this?” It was, “How do we make this work for our employees outside the U.S. as well?”

That shift mattered because it moved the conversation from education to execution.

Apryl had built the global-first foundation: the technology, local market knowledge, speed, and willingness to work through complicated country-by-country realities. Progyny brought employer trust, clinical expertise, operational discipline, and experience supporting large, complex clients.

Together, we were able to take something we had believed in for years and build it at a meaningful level of scale.

Why local reality matters

The reason global fertility and women’s health benefits are hard is that the details change everywhere.

By 2024, 55 percent of countries had fertility rates below the replacement level, according to the UN’s World Fertility 2024 report. Demand for fertility support is not a niche or future concern. It is already widespread, and public systems were not built to meet it at scale.

What is covered through public healthcare? Which treatments are legal? Which family structures are recognized? What does access actually look like? How much does care cost locally? How do culture, stigma, language, and regulation influence whether someone even feels comfortable asking for help?

A global benefit cannot answer those questions with one policy and a translated landing page.

That has been one of the biggest lessons from building Progyny Global: care only works when it reflects local reality. What works in Germany may not work in India. What is accessible in the UK may not be available in Brazil. Public healthcare coverage can look strong from the outside and still leave employees with real gaps when they actually need care.

For employers, this means fairness is more complicated than offering the same amount or the same policy everywhere. A meaningful benefit must account for local costs, laws, access, and culture.

For employees, it means they should not have to become experts in healthcare systems, reimbursement rules, treatment pathways, or country-specific regulations just to understand their options.

What changed in two years

Joining Progyny changed the pace immediately. It gave the original Apryl platform access to a much larger client base, deeper operational expertise, and the ability to build for global employers at a level we could not have reached alone.

In a short amount of time, we expanded from a fertility-focused platform into a comprehensive global women’s health offering:

• Support in 120+ countries
  Not as a theoretical global footprint, but as a benefit that works across different healthcare systems, legal frameworks, currencies, cost levels, and cultural expectations.
• 14 languages – growing to 30 by the end of 2026
  We built language support into every layer of the experience, from the platform to live PCA consultations, because understanding your options clearly should never be a barrier to care.
• Three connected programs: fertility and family forming, pregnancy and postpartum, and menopause
  This has been an important evolution. Women’s health does not happen in isolated moments, so the support should not be built that way either.
• The Progyny Card
  One of the biggest barriers in fertility care is the upfront cost. The Progyny Card helps reduce that burden by making it easier for members to access care without paying large amounts out of pocket first.
• Country-specific customizations
  This is probably the least visible work, but some of the most important. Local compliance, cultural sensitivities, benefit design, reimbursement flows, and healthcare realities often determine whether a benefit actually works in practice.

This is where the Apryl-Progyny combination has been most powerful: we were able to move faster and build at greater scale, while staying close to the local details that made the original platform valuable in the first place.

What this means now

What should be clear by now is that global women’s health benefits are no longer an edge case. They are becoming part of how serious employers think about supporting their workforce.

But the answer cannot be a U.S. benefit exported into other markets. And it also cannot be a loose collection of local exceptions that becomes impossible to manage. It has to be something more practical: one global framework, with enough local intelligence to actually work country by country.

That is the space Progyny Global is building in.

What I love is that the original bet behind Apryl still sits at the center of the work. The difference is that it now has the scale, experience, and employer trust of Progyny behind it.

That is what Progyny Global represents today: a new standard for global women’s health benefits. And in many ways, we are still at the beginning.

The post From Startup Vision to Global Scale: Two Years of Progyny Global appeared first on Progyny.

As employers prepare for 2027 renewals, many will default to another annual cycle without closely examining whether their current programs are actually delivering value. But in a period of rising healthcare costs and increased scrutiny from finance and executive teams, renewal without review has become a growing risk.

For years, many benefits strategies were designed primarily around access and retention. Today, that’s no longer enough. Rising healthcare costs are forcing employers to take a more disciplined approach – one that requires benefits strategies to be measurable, defensible, and actively managed.

The question is no longer, “What do we offer?” it’s, “What is it delivering clinically, operationally, and financially?”

Too many vendors still rely on access metrics, enrollment figures, app downloads, or satisfaction scores that do little to explain whether a program is improving outcomes or reducing costs. In today’s environment, employers need a clear view of performance.

As Progyny’s 2027 benefits guide advises, a strong potential partner should be able to demonstrate:

• Clear attribution of costs savings and avoided high-cost claims
• Measurable improvements in clinical outcomes
• Transparent reporting methods
• A direct connection between care delivery and long-term cost containment

More vendors doesn’t always mean more value

Women’s health benefits that layer fertility, maternity, menopause, and other point solutions may expand access, but it rarely improves coordination, accountability, or cost control.

The women’s health benefits market is increasingly crowded with vendors that address a single issue or life stage, and while each may solve an important problem, together, they often create a fragmented experience for employees and a difficult ecosystem for employers to manage.

Vendor sprawl can lead to:

• Overlapping costs and redundant programs
• Fractured member experience
• Reduced visibility into what is and isn’t working
• Unclear ownership and limited accountability
• Greater administrative burden for HR and benefits teams

The result is often a complex benefits strategy that looks comprehensive on paper but makes it much harder to understand where cost, risk, and performance truly sit.

Ask yourself:

• Is vendor complexity masking underperformance?
• Are multiple solutions working together or against each other?
• Are we managing so many vendors we can’t hold them all fully accountable?
• Are we adding programs without improving outcomes?

Your biggest cost drivers may be hiding in plain sight

Fertility, maternity, and menopause are among the largest and least visible drivers of healthcare costs. When these needs are managed through disconnected vendors, employers often miss opportunities for early intervention, coordinated care, and prevention of avoidable high-cost claims.

An integrated approach can reduce these costs by improving care coordination, surfacing risk earlier, and creating a more connected experience across every stage of women’s health.

Programs that actively coordinate care across fertility, maternity, menopause, and related health needs are better positioned to improve outcomes while reducing long-term cost and operational complexity.

Five questions every employer should ask before renewing

As you prepare for renewal conversations or evaluate new vendors, pressure-test your current strategy with these five questions:

1. What are the greatest sources of cost and risk within this program?
2. How do you attribute ROI and cost savings to measurable clinical outcomes?
3. Are your reported results based on all members, or only a subset of data?
4. How do you coordinate care across fertility maternity, menopause, and related needs to reduce fragmentation?
5. What ongoing reporting, benchmarking, and performance reviews do you provide between renewals?

The strongest partners should be able to answer these questions clearly and confidently.

What accountability should look like

Accountability isn’t a once-a-year conversation. Strong vendor partnerships should include:

• Standardized reporting tied to clear outcomes
• Member-level insights and benchmarking
• Ongoing performance reviews, not just renewal discussions
• Transparency into where costs are rising, risks are emerging, and intervention is working
• A commitment to continuous optimization over time

Employers should expect more than selective reporting and success stories. Strong partners provide transparent, member-level reporting, benchmark performance over time, and demonstrate results across their full population, not just a small sample. Progyny independently validates outcomes across all member data rather than relying on self-reported results or a subset of members. Transparency gives employers confidence that reported outcomes are real, repeatable, and directly connected to value.

Cost management requires active partnership, not passive purchasing

As healthcare costs rise, employers can’t afford a “set it and forget it” approach to benefits. The most effective strategies actively manage care delivery, simplify the vendor ecosystem, and focus on long-term sustainability.

Organizations that take a proactive, integrated approach are better positioned to control costs, improve clinical outcomes, reduce operational complexity, and defend benefits investments to finance and executive teams.

Before your next renewal conversation, ask whether your current partners are helping you control cost, reduce risk, and deliver measurable value – or are they making it harder to see what’s working and what isn’t.

Ready to test your current approach?

Learn how benefits teams are containing costs and transforming women’s health with Progyny’s integrated model.

And, when you’re ready to start evaluating your fertility and women’s health vendors, check out our strategic benefits planning guide.

The post Don’t just renew—review! Key questions for vendor accountability appeared first on Progyny.

It can start with waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to fall back asleep. Or suddenly feeling more anxious than usual. Maybe you’re forgetting words in the middle of a conversation, struggling to focus at work, or noticing your periods have become less predictable.

Symptoms aren’t always obvious, and, as a result, many women spend years wondering what’s happening to their bodies before realizing the answer may be perimenopause or menopause.

Could this be menopause? 

Menopause is officially defined as 12 consecutive months without a period, and it typically occurs between ages 45-55 though it can sometimes occur earlier in life for a certain proportion of women. The transition time leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, can begin years earlier — sometimes as early as your late 30s or early 40s. During this time, changing hormone levels can affect nearly every system in the body, and symptoms can include:

• Trouble concentrating, brain fog, or difficulty finding words 

• Anxiety, irritability, or depression 

• Difficulty sleeping, insomnia, or waking up in the middle of the night 

• Joint pain or body aches 

• Irregular periods or changes in your cycle 

• Hot flashes or night sweats 

• Vaginal dryness or discomfort 

• Heart palpitations or a racing feeling in your chest 

Many women don’t realize these symptoms may be connected. Instead, they can seem unrelated, and they’re treated that way.

Why so many women are left guessing 

Women often seek help symptom by symptom and specialist by specialist, spending months – or years – trying to get answers. Brain fog may lead to a neurologist. Anxiety or mood changes may lead to a therapist or psychiatrist. Sleep problems may lead to a sleep study. Irregular periods may lead to repeated OB-GYN visits. And heart palpitations may result in a visit to a cardiologist or even the emergency room.

The problem isn’t that these symptoms aren’t taken seriously – it’s that they’re rarely looked at together as one whole picture. Progyny refers to this as fragmented care, and it can create unnecessary costs, frustration, and delayed treatment.

Why menopause care often falls short 

One reason so many women struggle to get answers is that the healthcare system isn’t designed to support menopause care well. Despite affecting more than 50 million women in the U.S., most providers have very little training on how to diagnose and treat it. In fact, only 6.8% of primary care providers (including ob/gyn; internal and family medicine physicians) feel adequately prepared to help women manage menopause symptoms.

As a result, women are often told they’re simply experiencing stress, anxiety, burnout, or aging, and they’re offered treatment one symptom at a time. When care is provided through a system of trial and error, women often pay the price in time, cost, and quality of life.

Menopause doesn’t stay outside of work 

When menopause symptoms go unsupported, the effects don’t stay at home. Sleep disruption, anxiety, brain fog, and difficulty concentrating can make it harder to stay focused, participate confidently in meetings, or keep up with the demands of work.

Nearly 11% of women report missing work due to symptoms, and nearly 1 in 5 women have considered leaving their jobs entirely because of the impact menopause has had on their lives and careers.

Menopause isn’t just a health issue — it’s a workplace issue.  

What good menopause care looks like 

Good menopause care should help you understand what’s happening, connect you with providers who are trained in evidence-based best practice menopause care, and give you support between visits. It should include:  

• Access to menopause-trained providers who understand the full range of symptoms 

• A coordinated care plan that addresses both physical and emotional health 

• Coaching and support between appointments 

• Education that helps you recognize symptoms earlier 

• Treatment options that may include hormone therapy, non-hormonal medications, nutrition support, sleep support, and mental health care 

• Help navigating next steps 

Progyny’s Menopause and Midlife Care solution is designed around this comprehensive approach. Members have access to menopause-trained providers, ongoing clinical coaching, and personalized treatment plans that address the root cause of symptoms, not just the symptoms themselves. This holistic approach, combining education, access, and integrated care, results in faster recognition of symptoms, fewer misdiagnoses, and better outcomes.

You don’t have to figure this out alone 

If you’ve been wondering whether what you’re experiencing could be menopause, trust yourself. You’re not imagining it, you’re not alone, and you deserve care that supports you during this stage of life and helps you feel like yourself again.

Better menopause care may already be available through your employer benefits. Talk to your HR or benefits team to learn whether your organization offers Progyny’s Menopause and Midlife Care benefit.

Start the conversation in your workplace with these resources:

• Menopause support in the workplace: A guide for employers 

• Menopause: Frequently asked questions  

The post Is this menopause? Why so many women are left guessing, and what to do next appeared first on Progyny.

The women’s health benefits market has expanded rapidly and become increasingly fragmented. As workforce needs have evolved, many benefits leaders have found themselves caught in a cycle of adding new vendors in an effort to keep up. 

While well-intentioned, this approach has created new challenges. Vendor management has become complex, and the impact of these solutions is difficult to measure due to siloed platforms and a lack of member-specific outcomes data. 

This challenge is especially pronounced in women’s health — a complex, longitudinal area of care that spans multiple life stages, conditions, and care settings. Without a more integrated approach, it becomes even harder to deliver meaningful outcomes or understand what’s truly working. 

Why fragmented women’s health benefits are falling short 

While many vendors have expanded to offer broader solutions, most still operate within disconnected systems and experiences. The result is a fragmented ecosystem that places the burden of coordination on both employees and benefits leaders. 

For employers, managing these solutions can be complex: 

• Multiple vendor relationships, contracts, eligibility rules, and claims processes

• Limited visibility into outcomes and siloed data, making it difficult to assess value and ROI

• Increased administrative burden from managing disconnected experiences

For employees, fragmentation can make an already emotional and complex experience feel even more challenging. According to Progyny research, many report spending more time than expected trying to understand costs and coverage, navigate authorization requirements, and manage treatment logistics, all while facing the stress of potentially spending money on ineffective treatments or medications.  

Increased costs and reduced outcomes 

When care isn’t coordinated, employees are more likely to delay treatment, disengage from available resources, or miss opportunities for earlier intervention. Disconnected fertility and maternity support can contribute to higher-risk pregnancies, more avoidable complications, and increased medical spend.  

These poorer outcomes drive higher costs for both employees and employers. At the same time, siloed programs make it difficult for employers to identify trends, intervene earlier, and understand what is driving costs across their population. 

Integrated care models create a different dynamic. With connected care journeys, employers gain a more complete view of member needs and can better support earlier, more proactive care. 

The future is coordinated, outcomes-driven care

A unified women’s health benefit influences employee satisfaction, productivity, retention, and workforce participation. It also shapes how employees perceive their employer and whether they feel supported during critical life moments.  

The most effective models share several characteristics: comprehensive care across life stages, human-led support, transparent reporting, and accountability for outcomes. 

Progyny’s integrated solution delivers this through: 

• One trusted partner across fertility, maternity, menopause, and related care needs

• Access to specialized, high quality provider networks

• Human-led care, navigation, and coaching

• Technology-enabled navigation and insights 

• Robust, transparent data, reporting, and performance measurement 

• Accountability for both member experience and clinical outcomes 

Progyny members work with a dedicated Progyny Care Advocate who understands their history, helps them navigate care, and connects them to the right providers and support at the right time. 

The result is a better member experience and stronger outcomes. Progyny members experience: 

The future of women’s health benefits is not a collection of disconnected programs. It’s an integrated strategy designed to improve employee experience, strengthen outcomes, and deliver measurable business value. Employers that make the shift now will be better positioned to support their workforce — and compete for talent — in the years ahead.  

The post The future of women’s health benefits is integrated care appeared first on Progyny.

Healthcare is getting smarter.

AI is transforming how care is delivered, helping analyze data, identify patterns, and guide decision-making in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago. In women’s and family health, these technologies promise earlier insights, more personalized recommendations, and more connected experiences across fertility, pregnancy, parenting, and menopause.

That progress is meaningful. But it also raises an important question: as healthcare becomes more intelligent, is it also becoming more effective for the people it serves?

Because in women’s and family health, tech alone isn’t enough. It doesn’t account for what it feels like to navigate a pregnancy loss, to have symptoms dismissed for years, or to face the uncertainty and isolation when trying to conceive shifts from something expected to something uncertain.

Women’s health isn’t a point solution

Women’s and family health spans years, often decades, of evolving needs. From fertility and pregnancy to parenting and menopause, these aren’t isolated clinical events. They’re interconnected experiences that require coordination, continuity, and support over time.

For example, a fertility journey doesn’t end with a positive pregnancy test. It can carry into high-risk pregnancy care, postpartum recovery, and even long-term health considerations. Similarly, symptoms dismissed earlier in life can resurface later as more complex conditions, requiring a deeper understanding of a person’s history.

The complexity behind the clinical and emotional decisions people are making at each stage is best met with both tech and human-centered support.

When benefits treat these stages as separate events rather than a continuous journey, it can lead to missed risk signals, more reactive care, and a more fragmented member experience.

Where AI excels—and where human-centered care matters most

AI is improving access to information and helping streamline care. It can surface insights, identify patterns, and suggest the next best actions grounded in clinical guidelines and member-specific context. And while it certainly unlocks meaningful new capabilities and reach, it’s best done in connection with human expertise, care, and support.

1. Context

AI is great at recommending next steps based on data, surfacing signals, and suggesting the next best actions grounded in clinical guidelines and member-specific context. These recommendations are most effective when they’re interpreted and applied within the context of each individual’s needs.

Human expertise is critical to fully extend support and understand context—why someone may hesitate, what constraints they’re facing, or how personal, financial, and cultural factors shape decisions.

In women’s and family health, context directly impacts outcomes, and translating insights into the right action requires both technology and expert guidance.

2. Trust

Decisions across fertility, pregnancy, and menopause are complex and deeply personal. Trust isn’t built through recommendations alone. It’s built through consistent, informed guidance and the ability to ask questions, validate concerns, and make decisions with confidence.

3. Advocacy

AI is able to guide someone through options and surface the right next steps, and translating those insights into the right decisions and actions often requires an additional layer of advocacy and support.

In high-stakes moments, support is best when it can extend beyond direction to active guidance and advocacy.

Navigation is only part of the solution

AI has made it easier to navigate healthcare, helping people find providers, understand options, and move through the system more efficiently. That matters. But navigation alone doesn’t ensure better outcomes or better experiences.

Knowing where to go doesn’t mean someone feels confident in what to do next, especially when decisions are complex or emotionally charged. That’s where human support becomes essential—bridging the gap between insight and action.

The limitations of a purely digital model

As healthcare becomes more technology-driven, care is often treated as a coordination problem. How does women’s and family health best fit into these workflows? How are we creating the right workflows and environments for women’s health to thrive?

When care becomes too transactional, context can be overlooked, decisions can become oversimplified, and member experience can suffer.

Engagement alone isn’t a proxy for outcomes. Care models need to be designed to support both. Because no model can predict what matters most to a person in that moment.

AI works best when it supports care

AI has a clear role to play in improving women’s and family health. It can help identify risks earlier, streamline access to care, and surface insights that improve decision-making. Used well, it can make care more efficient, more personalized, and more scalable.

When applied thoughtfully, AI is able to surface signals earlier and anticipate member needs, enabling more proactive, anticipatory, and personalized care across the member journey. This creates an opportunity not just for better coordination, but for earlier intervention and stronger outcomes.

This also reduces the inefficiencies and added costs that often come from fragmented, point-solution approaches. Its value is maximized when it supports a broader care model, not when it replaces it.

The most effective approach combines technology with human-centered care:

• Continuous relationships: Dedicated support that understands the full member journey and provides continuity across life stages
• Integrated guidance: Clinical, emotional, and practical needs addressed together, not in isolation
• Active support and advocacy: Helping members navigate decisions, interpret care, and access the right resources at the right time

This allows care teams to focus on higher-value, human-led support—guiding decisions, building trust, and supporting members through complex moments.

In this model, technology enhances care delivery and frees clinical experts and care advocates to focus on what matters most: supporting the person behind the data.

The bottom line

AI will continue to play a growing role in healthcare, and in women’s and family health, better technology works best when paired with the right support. Because the most important question isn’t just, “What’s the next step?” It’s also, “Is there the right support in place to help someone take it?”

At Progyny, we believe the future of women’s and family health is both intelligent and deeply human, where technology helps anticipate needs, and people provide the context, trust, and advocacy that turn insight into meaningful outcomes.  

To learn more about how Progyny supports women’s and family health, connect with our team.

The post What AI gets right—and what it can’t replace in women’s and family health appeared first on Progyny.

By Russ Freyman, Group Vice President, Mid-Market Sales, Progyny 

Family building benefits have become table stakes. But for mid-sized employers, they’re also becoming a major source of complexity and risk, as benefit leaders are being asked to deliver enterprise-level benefits without enterprise-level resources.

If this isn’t difficult enough, today’s employee base is more informed and opinionated than ever about their health and wellness needs. I’ve spoken to candidates and former colleagues, for example, who won’t even consider joining an organization that does not adequately support family building.

Meeting the needs of employees while ensuring benefit programs do not break the bank has led many organizations to add a patchwork of point solutions, each of which comes with their own set of promises. Unfortunately, these additions also create unintended complexity, like:

• Operational strain, as HR teams juggle multiple vendors and solutions;
• Limited visibility into what’s actually driving healthcare spend;
• Inconsistent employee experiences, forcing individuals to navigate complicated, high‑stakes decisions on their own.

And when the data from various solutions doesn’t talk to one another, it becomes just about impossible to:

• Evaluate quality;
• Identify opportunities for early intervention;
• Predict and manage future costs.

Fragmentation doesn’t only create administrative burden for under‑sized HR teams; it also increases financial risk, limits cost predictability, and leaves employees searching for the right level of care during some of the most emotional and complicated moments in their lives—when clarity and support matter most.

Most mid-sized employers with whom I speak recognize these issues, but unraveling the status quo and finding something better is not necessarily simple. This is where an integrated approach makes a meaningful difference. By bringing women’s health, family building, and high‑risk maternity together, Progyny can help mid-sized employers reduce complexity and program spend while delivering a more seamless experience for employees.

Want a deeper look?

Dive deeper here and download The case for an integrated model explainer for a clear breakdown of today’s challenges and a framework for simplifying family building and women’s health benefits.

The post The growing complexity of women’s health and family building benefits for mid-sized employers appeared first on Progyny.

Childbirth has been a joyful event for generations. A range of celebratory activities from cultural and religious traditions to baby showers have long supported maternal and child wellbeing. Babies often evoke deep and overwhelming emotions that surprise parents and observers alike.

At Progyny, we built our foundation on helping women and families achieve their dreams of having children through our industry-leading fertility offering. But while society has long romanticized mothers’ swelled bellies and swaddled newborns, the joy is sometimes truncated by the sad reality of poor maternal health outcomes.

Looking at the reality   

As a woman, doctor, and informaticist, I have a strong passion for women’s health, and maternal health is an area I have explored widely since medical school. This interest was fueled by the unfortunate reality that most maternal deaths and complications are preventable. Globally, maternal mortality is “unacceptably high” with 92% of maternal deaths occurring in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Growing up in Nigeria, I witnessed many cases of maternal deaths, near misses, and complications firsthand. It was surprising to learn after moving here over a decade ago that the U.S. lags many of its counterparts in maternal health outcomes. For example, U.S. Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is double that of most OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. It’s critical that we increase awareness of the data and the reality of the situation so that we can then identify solutions for change.

A need for change

At the start of 2026, we were hit with the heart-wrenching news about Dr. Janell Green Smith, CNM, a Black midwife and maternal health expert in South Carolina, who died from childbirth complications, one of the outcomes she had dedicated her career to preventing. Her heartbreaking story is all too common. The most recent data for pregnancy-related mortality rates shows 18.4 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the U.S. and shows vast disparities including 45 for non-Hispanic Black women.

In 2025 I published an article that traces my origins in Nigeria through building a family, detailing stats on maternal mortality and morbidity and disparities. I’ve learned one thing for sure: we must do better! The research and becoming a mother myself have unearthed nuances of systemic successes and failures that I apply every day to do my part in elevating the standard of care, improving experiences, and shifting maternal health metrics in the right direction.

A hard look at morbidity 

Maternal mortality is a pressing issue, but morbidity has significant health consequences. For every pregnancy-related death, there are about 70 cases of severe maternal morbidity. Complex contributing factors, often interconnected, can be delineated as systemic (physician/midwife ratio, reimbursement, maternity deserts, hospital incentives, policies and procedures, bias and discrimination, and SDOH, to name a few), and individual health factors, e.g., poor health prior to conception including chronic diseases like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, and advancing maternal age. These health factors contribute to common pregnancy-related complications including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia/eclampsia, sepsis, hemorrhage, and preterm birth. Further, cardiovascular disease and mental health diseases are some of the most common pregnancy complications. With a need to improve care of both moms and babies, a stronger preventive and postpartum focus will ensure better outcomes.

Cost considerations for employers

Poor maternal health remains stuck in a vicious cycle with high costs. Care access challenges are prevalent amid high medical expenses and poor outcomes. Even as many U.S. employers provide medical coverage and leave benefits, care continues to lag with costs soaring. For U.S. births, it’s estimated that total maternal morbidity costs were $32.3 billion from conception through the child’s fifth birthday. And while Medicaid on the average finances 41% of U.S. births, the remaining costs fall on patients, charitable organizations, and – primarily – private health insurers, through which employers bear the brunt. A recent survey projects a 9.1% increase in healthcare expenses for 2026, with some employers facing double-digit hikes. Maternity and neonatal costs are the second highest cost driver for employers. Still, the outcomes show insufficient support for mothers.

Advancing and supplementing medical care options

The key to both improving maternal health outcomes and lowering spend is enabling early, connected care through innovative solutions across fertility, maternity, and postpartum with clinical and non-clinical support. Alignment among care providers supports health goals, chronic disease management, care navigation, education, social needs, and continuous provision of evidence-based care. Consistent, integrated care must span from pre-conception through postpartum so providers can proactively identify and manage risks, track results, and optimize health outcomes.

With training and work in health informatics, I also recognize the power of data and technology-enabled innovation to reshape the women’s health journey. Despite promises, disparate one-click health apps or solutions can’t successfully support end-to-end medical needs; they create more fragmentation in care. To improve outcomes, we must harness value at the intersection of research, health, and technology, solving issues relating to data fragmentation, education, and communication via durable, comprehensive solutions that make a lasting impact.

Intentional change for a more joyful future 

Growing families require the collective effort of healthcare providers, policymakers, and employers to close gaps in maternal health globally. Advocacy, technology, and action for health and equity have evidence for impact. Maternal health must be grounded in trusted, expert guidance, personalized for each patient’s needs throughout their entire journey. Through delivery of compassionate, comprehensive, connected care, let’s intentionally restore joy in childbirth experiences.

The post Advancing maternal health: turning awareness into action appeared first on Progyny.

As healthcare costs continue to rise at the steepest rate in more than a decade, employers are being forced to rethink how benefits strategies are evaluated, defended, and sustained. In this environment, women’s health has emerged as a critical employee priority and a significant financial lever, influencing maternity costs, chronic conditions, productivity, retention, and long-term medical spend. 

In the past, many benefits strategies were built primarily for access and retention. Planning for 2027 will require a sharper focus on performance. 

From access to accountability  

Women’s health is multifaceted, spanning reproductive years, family building, maternity, menopause, chronic conditions, and preventive care. Too often, employers address this complexity by layering solutions, which expands access without improving coordination, outcomes, or cost control.

This results in a fragmented ecosystem that increases administrative burden, obscures ROI, and allows risk to accumulate quietly rather than appear as an immediate crisis. 

For 2027, the question is no longer: “What do we offer?” It is: “What does this deliver (clinically, operationally, and financially)?” 

Why performance must be measurable to be defensible

In a budget-constrained environment, benefits decisions must be able to withstand review from finance leaders, consultants, and executive teams. Programs that rely only on engagement metrics or self-reported satisfaction are difficult to justify.

Strong women’s health strategies leave visible signals:

• Clear attribution of cost containment and avoided high-cost claims

• Measurable improvements in clinical outcomes and risk mitigation

• Simplified operational processes

• Accountable and transparent reporting that supports forecasting and long-term planning

These signals distinguish programs that actively manage cost and risk.

Where cost containment and high member value meet

The greatest opportunities for value in women’s health are in areas that influence the severity, duration, and downstream cost of care. Fertility, maternity, and menopause consistently represent outsized financial exposure when left unmanaged or fragmented across vendors.

Solutions that deliver high quality, equitable care across life stages while coordinating navigation, clinical oversight, and reporting are better positioned to reduce quiet inefficiencies that compound over time.

A framework for asking better questions in 2027 planning

To help employers and consultants navigate this shift, Progyny has developed a strategic planning guide that outlines 10 essential questions to ask during benefits planning sessions, along with guidance on what strong answers should include. 

Rather than focusing on features or access alone, the framework is designed to help organizations evaluate: 

• Where the largest cost and risk drivers truly sit 

• How outcomes and ROI are measured and attributed 

• Whether vendor sprawl is diluting performance 

• How care is delivered, coordinated, and supported at scale 

• What signals indicate readiness for sustainable cost control 

This guide supports disciplined, defensible decision-making and will help organizations pressure-test whether their current strategy is built for the realities of 2027.

The strongest benefits strategies are not defined by the number of programs offered. They are defined by how clearly performance, outcomes, and financial impact can be measured, managed, and sustained over time.

As employers prepare for 2027, asking better questions is the first step toward building a women’s health strategy that delivers both measurable ROI and meaningful employee impact. 

Sign up to get the guide

Download Progyny’s guide, Strategic questions for 2027 benefits planning: Driving value amid rising healthcare costs, and use it to support your next planning conversation.

The post What questions should employers ask when planning women’s health benefits for 2027? appeared first on Progyny.

The Motley Fool is committed to best-in-class benefits for their workforce. Since partnering with Progyny in 2022, they have celebrated 12 Progyny babies and continue to expand support for their employees across pregnancy, postpartum, and midlife care.

“At the end of the day, this is literally a life-changing benefit for someone….this is a way to offer [support for the] whole life cycle.”

The post How The Motley Fool empowers employees at every stage with Progyny appeared first on Progyny.

JM Family Enterprises partnered with Progyny to eliminate outdated fertility benefit limits and create a more supported, financially sustainable path to care. By offering a cycle‑based model with nationwide access and dedicated navigation, associates can pursue treatment without the fear of running out of coverage. The organization has expanded this commitment through inclusive women’s health support, including midlife and menopause care that helps associates feel their best. Together, these programs strengthen well-being while enabling smarter, more efficient healthcare spending.

“Progyny had a model that we liked: a national network with access to care for the majority of our associates nationwide [and] care advocates [supporting] the entire journey.”

The post How JM Family Enterprises connect associates to transformative fertility & midlife care appeared first on Progyny.