One employee is heading into yet another fertility appointment after weeks of medications, side effects, and waiting for answers. Another is newly pregnant after a previous loss, balancing excitement with anxiety. A new parent is returning to work, navigating sleep deprivation and the pressure to perform at home and at the office.

These experiences are common, and they expose a critical gap in how most family building benefits are designed.

Benefits often focus on procedures, providers, and outcomes, but family building isn’t just a clinical experience. It’s one of the most emotionally demanding periods in an employee’s life, where true resiliency and compensatory strategies are required as they navigate a complex medical process, sometimes for the first time in a member’s life. When that reality is overlooked, the gap between what employees need and what benefits provide becomes hard to ignore.

Family building is more than a clinical journey

Fertility treatment, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and early parenthood can come with intense emotional highs and lows. At the same time, employees are managing work responsibilities while navigating infertility, pregnancy complications, loss, complex decisions, changes to their relationship dynamics, and financial strain.

In a recent Progyny member survey, 75% reported they experienced increased stress during the family building journey without benefit support. The most common stressors included work-life balance, cost of care, the complexity of the healthcare system, personal health concerns, and finding the right provider.

Despite this, traditional benefits models often leave employees to manage the emotional side of the experience on their own.

Mental health affects outcomes, not just experience

Mental health support is often treated as an add-on. In reality, it plays a direct role in whether employees stay engaged in care and achieve successful outcomes.

Stress, anxiety, and emotional fatigue are often cited as the primary reason employees delay treatment, disengage from benefits, struggle with decisions, or drop out of care entirely.

At the same time, the mental load affects workplace performance. Employees are often managing complex treatment schedules, financial uncertainty, and shifting responsibilities – while coping with fear, disappointment, and constant uncertainty. The result is reduced focus, lower productivity, and decreased engagement at work.

Forward-thinking employers are starting to recognize that mental health isn’t separate from family building outcomes – it’s a key driver of them.

What whole-person care actually requires

This is where many benefits fall short. Support is often fragmented, reactive, or disconnected from care. The most effective family building benefits take a different approach – integrating emotional support into every stage of the journey, from preconception through early parenthood.

That means:

• Embedding emotional support alongside clinical care
• Providing continuous, proactive guidance, not only episodic interactions
• Identifying stress, anxiety, or depression early
• Helping employees navigate uncertainty and complex decisions in real time
• Connecting members to higher levels of care, e.g., EAPs and other Behavioral Health Solutions proactively

The impact of continuous, personalized support

Progyny’s model is built around this kind of whole-person care. Each member is paired with a dedicated Progyny Care Advocate (PCA) – a consistent guide who supports both the clinical and emotional aspects of the journey.

Unlike traditional models where support is fragmented, the PCA relationship is continuous and personal.

“Some members may not have a community, family, or friends to talk to,” says PCA Vanessa L. “When a member calls in to complete onboarding, their PCA helps them feel comfortable, confident, supported, and seen. That one-on-one connection can make a meaningful difference in their overall experience.”

PCAs go beyond logistics. They help members process decisions, understand what to expect, and stay engaged in care – even during the most uncertain moments.

“They’re managing medications, waiting for results, and trying to plan around an unpredictable timeline all at once,” explains PCA Corin T. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, and it can be mentally exhausting. We help ease that stress by talking through their worries, giving clear next steps, and being a steady source of support throughout the process.”

Just as important, support is proactive – not something members have to seek out on their own.

PCA Ashely D. explains, “Taking the responsibility of reaching out off of their shoulders helps members have a better experience. Even small moments of support can reduce stress and help them feel more confident.”

That support has measurable impact on Progyny members:

Closing the gap for employers

Employers have an opportunity to rethink how family building benefits are designed. When mental health is treated as separate, employees are left to carry a significant burden on their own, and that can lead to lower engagement, poorer outcomes, and higher drop-off from care. When it’s integrated into the experience, employees are more likely to:

• Stay engaged in treatment
• Make informed decisions
• Feel supported and confident throughout the journey
• Achieve better clinical and emotional outcomes

For employers, that translates into stronger retention, greater trust, and a more meaningful benefits experience. Progyny members report this kind of support changes how they experience care: 75% say they wish every healthcare experience came with a knowledgeable, trusted advocate like a PCA.

The benefits that matter most

The most effective family building benefits don’t treat mental health as an add-on, they build it into the foundation of care. When employees feel supported, seen, and confident during one of the most personal and uncertain times in their lives, they don’t just remember the outcome; they remember who supported them along the way.

If your current approach separates clinical care from emotional support, it may be leaving both outcomes and employee trust on the table. Learn how you can empower your employees with a seamless experience at scale, with empathy and measurable impact.

The post Why mental health is the missing piece in family building benefits 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.

I’ve worked in digital health long enough to have witnessed how positively transformative technology can be — when it’s done right. I’ve also seen just as many times how sideways things can go when innovation is rushed, untethered from purpose, and disconnected from the people it should serve.

Nowhere is this tension more visible than in today’s race to bring AI solutions to market. No company sets out to build AI that makes healthcare less human. No executive stands up in a boardroom and says, “Let’s dilute empathy. Let’s make this journey feel more transactional.” And yet, that’s what I see happening far too often. Chat-only front doors replacing relationship-based care. IVRs optimized for speed and deflection rather than continuity. Patients reaching out in vulnerable moments, only to start over with someone new every time.

But the issue isn’t the AI itself. It’s the absence of a North Star.

When technology is deployed without a guiding purpose, efficiency quietly overtakes empathy. What’s pitched as a pursuit of convenience and efficiency ends up eroding quality of care and member trust.

Progyny’s North Star: Member First, Always

For the past decade, every technology decision at Progyny has been run through the same lens: does this enable a more human experience and a better outcome?

We’ve been unwavering in our belief that all healthcare experiences require empathy and deep-seated trust. That trust has two dimensions: the human connection members feel with their care team, and the confidence that their most sensitive data is always protected. We view security, privacy, and thoughtful compliance as core to our member-first commitment — not just legal obligations. And nowhere is that more important than in women’s health and family building, where member experiences are deeply personal journeys requiring a trusted, relationship-based approach to care.

Mark Weiser, longtime head of Xerox PARC, captured something essential about technology that I’ve returned to often throughout my career. He said, “The most profound technologies are those that disappear, weaving themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” Technology, he insisted, “should create calm, not demand our focus.”

Today, AI that disappears — that doesn’t demand our focus — is almost hard to imagine. But that’s precisely what we’re building toward at Progyny: a platform where AI is woven into the fabric of care, bringing more empathy, clarity, and calm to every member interaction.

Too often in our industry, AI efforts fall for the allure of scale and speed, prioritizing what’s easy to measure over what actually matters. Automation rates become a core KPI. The result, ironically, is a model that moves us backward not forward: fragmented, low-touch, impersonal experiences that may appear to be modern but feel disappointingly familiar.

That’s not the experience women deserve. Or the kind of healthcare experience any of us want.

AI in Service to Relationship-Based Care

If we want healthcare to feel more human, can AI really help? Can we design it to bring people closer rather than push us apart? At Progyny, we believe we can – and must.

The beating heart of our care model is the Progyny Care Advocate, or PCA — a dedicated care partner who guides members through every step of their journey. Our investments in AI are squarely focused on enabling them to deliver the most human, most impactful care experience possible.

We’re currently pursuing that goal across three categories:

1. Alleviating administrative burden. Healthcare is mired in administrative work — authorizations, lab orders, leave policies. When AI supports those processes, the member experience improves and costs come down. We recently showed a large client that their utilization with Progyny increased while costs went down — not through revenue cycle machinations, but through a system that simply helps more people access the right care at the right time.
2. Making every conversation smarter. Our challenge in today’s data-rich environment isn’t access to information — it’s making it useful in the moment. AI can surface what’s relevant so our PCAs have a complete, timely picture of a member’s journey before a call even starts. The result: PCAs enter every conversation fully informed and prepared to help. We’ve talked forever in healthcare about enabling providers to work “at the top of their license.” This may be the moment when we move past talk and finally make it happen.
3. Reaching new levels of quality and accountability. Most so-called quality assurance is little more than a sampling exercise — a handful of calls reviewed weeks after the fact. AI enables clinical and service quality reviews across every interaction, in near real-time. That’s a radically different kind of feedback model for driving continuous improvement.

When you remove administrative noise, surface the right information, and create time and space for care partners to be fully present, something remarkable happens: real conversations, real moments of connection, real relationships built on trust.

Consider this story of a Progyny member who entered care with a history of pregnancy-related trauma. When her baby arrived early at 34 and a half weeks due to an infection and spent 2 weeks in the NICU, her PCA was there to guide and assure her. During a postpartum check-in, when her PCA took the time the moment called for — asking questions, empathizing, and offering thoughts, the member broke down — realizing for the first time that she’d been in denial about experiencing postpartum depression. Her PCA was again there for her, connecting her to resources and support. The member later wrote to the PCA to say she’s not sure how she would have made it through those dark days without her support.

That breakthrough moment would never have happened with a chatbot. And it didn’t happen because of AI. But it was made possible by everything AI was quietly doing in the background: clearing distractions, providing context, and “creating calm” and space for human connection.

Humanity: The True Competitive Edge

This is an exciting moment for women’s health and family building. We’re finally seeing the kind of investment, innovation, and healthy competition this critical space deserves. Across the industry, companies are moving fast to stake out their AI story with new copilots, chat interfaces, and automation layers.

This is great news — we’ll all be lifted by this rising tide of competition and investment. But without a North Star, I fear much of that innovation will yield more of what we don’t want and can’t afford: care that’s impersonal, transactional, and less effective. Impressive technology that, by removing the human connection we all crave, fails the people it is meant to serve .

The future of women’s health won’t be won by whoever automates the fastest or launches the most features. It will be won by whoever stays most relentlessly focused on the member — applying every technological innovation in service of moments like the one above: a member, at her most vulnerable, finally feeling seen and supported.

The post AI Can Make Healthcare More Human—If We Design It That Way 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.

When I started working at Progyny in 2016 as a human resource director, employer fertility support across the U.S. was scarce, at best. Fortunately, I knew that I was hired by a truly special company that was at the forefront of fertility benefits, providing remarkable opportunities for women and families. Progyny’s comprehensive benefits approach would not only change the entire industry; it would change my life—and my dreams.

Fast forward to ten years later, and now as Progyny’s chief human resource officer for more than 800 employees, I marvel at both the clinical care advancements and widespread expansion of benefits coverage we’ve seen. With a dedication to outcomes that matter so much, Progyny has been a passionate champion and leader in the fertility industry and for its clients and members. It’s been a privilege to be a part of building something so meaningful. At the same time, it’s been personally rewarding as I marvel at my two sons, deeply grateful for them and the unwavering support I’ve received in growing our family.

A journey of support

For those on the path to family building, each journey is unique, and many come with a mix of celebrations and setbacks. While our fertility story began with enthusiasm for our egg retrievals, we also experienced unsuccessful treatment rounds and loss. In those years, I sought different providers and strategies, and various mediations and treatments including preimplantation genetic testing. I was “all in.” While in some respects, 10 years seems not that long ago; in the world of fertility, so much has changed in terms of availably of access, information, and treatment advances.

When the quest for optimal fertility care led me across the country to a clinic in California, I was fortunate to have a built-in support system – including an understanding employer and manager. Working for Progyny also gave me the unique access to Dr. Georgia Witkin, a clinical psychologist and infertility expert, who I’m now happy to call a treasured confidant and friend. For anyone on the fertility journey, having your team of people is so critical in both making confident, informed decisions and staying grounded through uncertainty.

With the advanced fertility support and services my company provides, I experienced the joy of having my son, Emmett, the first ever Progyny employee baby, in 2019. His brother, Hudson, joined our family in 2021.

A decade down, forever to go

Over the past decade, employer-provided fertility coverage has evolved significantly. When I joined Progyny, the benefit was just emerging—only about 25% of large employers offered IVF coverage, and just 5-6% covered egg freezing. Even then, Progyny stood apart, leading with comprehensive, evidence-based benefits for both members and employees well before the support became mainstream.

Ten years later, Progyny has grown to over 800 employees serving more than 600 clients, providing family building and women’s health benefits through a managed network of top fertility specialists, member coaching and support, digital tools, prescriptions, and more. Others have followed suit. According to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ Employee Benefits Survey: 2024 Report, 42% of U.S. organizations now offer fertility benefits—up significantly from 30% in 2020.

While we have traditionally worked with large, self-insured employers, today we’re expanding into the fully insured market, allowing fertility benefits to reach a much broader group of employers through standard insurance plans. It’s an exciting time to be in benefits. As fertility coverage has expanded, clinical care options have also significantly advanced with better techniques, more clinics, and stronger outcomes.

Facilitating lasting support

As the expanding fertility industry reaches more women on their journeys, we must continue to support whole-person health. Fertility efforts are most successful when care begins before conception and considers physical, hormonal, and emotional health. Despite this, only about 20% of women have a dedicated preconception visit before pregnancy. Overall wellness requires appropriate screenings, chronic condition monitoring, and mental health management through child-baring years, menopause, and beyond. Comprehensive, personalized, continuous support is the key to healthier women and thriving families.

When women have access to the right care at the right time, outcomes improve. Along members’ fertility journeys, we celebrate their success stories with “Yeah Baby Day” on March 25^th. We hope you’ll share your baby story, and how trusted support has made a difference in your family’s life—this decade, and beyond.

The post A Decade in Fertility: The Progress, People, and Path Forward appeared first on Progyny.

Nine months of pregnancy build up to the delivery, the climax of a long period of anticipation, change, and growth. With so much focus on conceiving, then fetal development, weekly physical changes, and regular prenatal visits, 40 weeks starts to look a lot like the finish line. On the contrary, maternal care is only just beginning!

With the challenges and uncertainties the “fourth trimester” can bring, it’s essential that women receive physical, mental, and emotional support during this monumental transition. Postpartum care is a necessary extension of prenatal care, serving to support women’s bodily and mental health needs and grow their confidence through recovery.

In the U.S., one in every six dollars of employer spend on inpatient healthcare goes toward maternity services, and a single pregnancy episode (prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care) in the employer-sponsored insurance population costs on average about $25k per pregnancy, underscoring the importance of comprehensive postpartum care. Supporting birthing parents before, during, and after delivery improves maternal health and wellbeing and drives stronger outcomes like lower costs and reduced complications. And focusing on foundational, long-term health enables a more supported workforce.

Postpartum specialty support

In those first few months postpartum, women may experience both physical and mental health challenges. Physical recovery is compromised by complications such as infection, hypertension, or challenges with healing and breastfeeding, while about one in five experience a mental health disorder like postpartum depression or anxiety.

A trusted community is critical for empowering mothers with both clinical support and postpartum education.

Progyny anchors care in continuity and trust with a dedicated nurse Progyny Care Advocate (PCA), who has experience in labor and delivery and postpartum, for each member. The relationship provides personalized, one-on-one, ongoing monthly support for members through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond, guiding navigation and education about treatment, providers, and benefits. Members don’t have to retell their story—their PCA knows it, knows them, bringing both comfort and empowerment.

OBs and midwives

Members have options for OBs and midwives, which they select based on pregnancy risks, personal preference, hospital affiliation, or other factors. Postpartum, these providers monitor for preeclampsia and other health risks, as well as provide emotional support and information about contraception. Most importantly, these long-term providers listen, take concerns seriously, and explain things in a clear way to facilitate educated decision-making, ensuring mom and baby are healthy and getting the clinical support they need.

Doulas

Doulas provide additional support to postpartum moms, offering non-clinical guidance through regular check-ins via telehealth or in-person care. They offer newborn or maternal education, benefits and system navigation, and next steps on the care journey including postpartum visits. Doula care is associated with decreased rates of preterm births, C-sections, and postpartum depression. In fact, outcomes improvement has been so significant, a major insurance company just added a nationwide doula benefit, with plans to make access widespread for all its employer-sponsored plans in 2027.

Lactation consultants

Lactation consultants (IBCLCs) are also vital members of the postpartum care team, supporting and educating mothers on what I often see to be an emotionally charged journey. From initial instruction on latch, pumping, or supply issues, to returning to work and introducing formula or solid foods, these feeding experts are trained to collaborate with team members and support what is best for each mother. IBCLCs support breastfeeding goals, and new parents are relieved to discover that they also support reality. Whether it’s exclusive breastfeeding, combination feeding, or formula, the priority is ensuring parents are informed and feel confident in their decision-making.

Mental health matters

With the postpartum period’s major hormonal, emotional, and social shifts, mental health support from the care village is just as important as the physical recovery. In the U.S., approximately 85% of those affected by maternal depression during the postpartum period don’t get treated. This huge gap underscores why screening—and integrated care pathways that proactively connect members to support—is critical to improving outcomes.

Instead of treating mental health like something that “goes wrong,” Progyny believes in routine screenings built into the program structure. By removing the stigma, we don’t force anyone to raise her hand or remain in the untreated majority. One of our members was recently struggling, and a PCA assessment right away identified postpartum depression. Thankfully, because of this proactive screening and warm transfer to the appropriate care, she got the help she needed quickly. We can influence outcomes by addressing challenges before they escalate. By ensuring members feel cared for and supported clinically, mentally, and emotionally, a positive postpartum experience and stronger foundation for long-term family health becomes possible.

The team approach

While each care team member addresses a different aspect of postpartum health and recovery, the collaborative, cohesive nature of the village helps moms feel thoroughly cared for. Each specialty is connected and communicating, while listening to the patient at the center. The goal is for mother and baby to be healthy, and for members to be empowered to advocate for their evolving needs in the months after birth.

The entire postpartum experience is smoother when the birthing parent’s physical, mental, and emotional needs are integrated in the greater context of health and well-being. Progyny’s approach aligns not only pre-conception, prenatal, postpartum, and menopause care, it takes into context each member’s unique experience in the broader healthcare benefits ecosystem. In a crowded landscape of disparate care services and apps, we remain committed to supporting members through evidence-based, compassionate care—and helping members, providers, and employers navigate the incredibly meaningful time following the baby’s arrival.

For more information, view our webinar on postpartum care.

The post Postpartum Care: Supporting Health, Empowering Families, and Embracing the Value of Doulas appeared first on Progyny.

This webinar featured:

• Lissa Kline, LCSW, Senior VP at Progyny

• Dr. Whitney Booker, MD, MS, Maternal & Fetal Medicine

• Melanie Silverman, IBCLC, RD, Chief Clinical Officer at Pacify

• Rachel Carbonneau, CD, CPD, VP of Doula Programs at Pacify

Understanding Care Specialties

Each care specialty serves a different purpose with one shared goal: to ensure you and your baby are healthy, safe, and comfortable.

Your OB and picking the right one for you:

An OB is responsible for monitoring the health of both the birthing parent and the baby, identifying complications, and helping families understand what’s normal versus what’s concerning. Beyond medical checks, OBs also play a vital role in emotional reassurance and mental health support. When searching for an OB, finding a provider who you trust and can have open communication with is key. If something doesn’t feel right, getting a second opinion or choosing to switch providers is normal.

It’s important to note that there are different types of providers you may engage with, each bringing their own strengths and backgrounds. These include different levels of physicians (residents and attendings), nurse practitioners, physician assistants (PAs), and midwives. Understanding the strengths of each provider and how they’re supporting you can help you feel more confident and at ease. Your OB and clinical providers are also there to continue supporting you in the postpartum phase.

The role of a doula and the different types:

There are a wide range of doulas depending on the type of care you’re looking for and what part of your journey you’re in. From fertility, pregnancy, and birth to postpartum, doulas can provide both in-person and virtual services. Doulas offer emotional, mental, and physical support across your journey. They help families navigate the healthcare system, prepare questions for providers, clarify goals at each stage, and build confidence.

Doulas do not serve the same purpose as midwives. While midwives are clinical providers, doulas do not provide medical checks. Instead, they act as coaches who advocate for the birthing parent and families throughout each stage. They are compassionate guides who help clarify goals, and choosing a doula you trust and connect with is vital to feeling heard and supported.

The role of a lactation consultant:

Lactation consultants support families even before feeding begins by providing guidance on feeding basics, setting expectations, and connecting families to the right resources. Feeding can be an emotional experience, and having a compassionate professional guide can ease the mental burden. After birth, unexpected challenges may arise, and lactation consultants can help with latching issues, pain, milk supply concerns, and formula-related questions.

Lactation consultants are trained to support weaning and formula feeding and should never shame families for choosing a path different from breastfeeding.

Pregnancy: What should you expect and how can you prepare?

Pregnancy is a different experience for everyone, and the experience also differs for each pregnancy. Building your care village with a team of professionals is important but talking to trusted friends and family if you’re struggling emotionally, or talking to a therapist or counselor is valuable to support your holistic care. Check in early for your mental health and well-being, or if you’re the supportive partner, friend, or family member, offer a compassionate hand or listening ear when they need it.

What to expect at your first OB appointment, and throughout pregnancy:

Your first visit can be information-heavy, so bringing something to write with or coming in with questions can be helpful. Your provider will review medical history, explain testing options, ultrasound schedules, and set expectations for care. Being comfortable with your provider and not being afraid to openly communicate with them and ask what the purpose of a lab or test is for can help ease anxiety.

After the first appointment, your provider will monitor you and your baby’s health, including your mental and emotional well-being. New parents may develop anxiety or mood swings as a symptom of hormone fluctuations, sleep disturbances, or reminders of past grief. Along with routine blood pressure checks, ultrasounds, and labs, monitoring your emotional well-being is just as important as the physical.

How can families advocate for equitable, respectful care?

Advocacy starts with asking questions, requesting clarification, and speaking up when something doesn’t feel right. Key strategies include bringing a support person to visits, requesting a translator when needed, writing down questions between appointments, finding a provider who you feel comfortable and safe with to ask questions when something doesn’t feel right, and incorporating a doula who will help advocate for you throughout your journey.

Translating your birth preferences with the help of a doula:

Doulas help families figure out what their birth preferences are: whether that’s more intervention earlier, more medical oversight, delaying procedures that aren’t immediately necessary, and so on. A large part of the doula role is communication with your care team, who will help translate your preferences so you can receive care that feels good to you. There might be additional cultural barriers, language barriers, etc. where your doula can step in and make sure you are fully heard.

How expecting parents can prepare for feeding:

Getting the right resources and reliable education while pregnant is essential for managing expectations while feeding. Understanding milk physiology and newborn feeding patterns helps to alleviate early worries.

Postpartum: What should families expect in the fourth trimester?  

What postpartum medical care looks like, and acknowledging postpartum depression:

The postpartum experience varies widely based on delivery and number of births, and physical recovery may take anywhere from weeks to months. Your OB can help manage expectations and make sure you’re recovering well.

Having a newborn can bring a whirlwind of emotions. You might be sleep deprived, feel physically exhausted, feel overwhelmed, or feel isolated. If you’re struggling postpartum, reaching out to a mental health professional is completely normal, and letting your care provider know what’s going on can help you determine if you’re struggling with postpartum depression.

The doula’s role in postpartum:

Doulas are often recognized for the birth, but they’re here for every phase through pregnancy and postpartum. You can reach out to your doulas for virtual appointments, where they can offer encouragement, give you resources, help you connect with other resources within your community, and validate the feelings that you’re having. Postpartum doulas can also provide in-home care in certain cases, and help with guidance on newborn care, overnight support, and more.

Lactation support after birth:

After birth, lactation consultants help families take feeding “one session at a time.” They normalize early challenges, help parents problem‑solve, and prioritize mental health. Sometimes reassurance or flexibility, such as pausing breastfeeding or adjusting methods, brings significant relief. If you’re having anxiety about feeding your baby, going to your OB and pediatrician visits to know your baby is at a healthy weight can help ease unnecessary mental stress.

If you are a Progyny member, know that Progyny is always here to support you across life’s milestones, and you can access additional resources at progyny.com/education.

Progyny members can contact Progyny at 888.597.5065 or via their employer specific phone number to learn more about your employer-specific benefit and available care options.

The post Your Pregnancy and Postpartum Care Village appeared first on Progyny.

For most of us, the beginning of a new year is a time of both reflection and renewal. It’s a moment to take stock — as individuals, companies, and industries — of how far we’ve come, what we’ve learned and achieved, and to set new intentions for the year ahead.

In that spirit, I’d like to start this year with a call to action for all of us across the fertility and family-building ecosystem: to do better for those affected by infertility who want nothing more than the chance to build a healthy family.

Doing better means optimizing and personalizing the care journey for every individual and every family. Infertility is not a single pathway or a uniform experience. Each journey carries its own emotional, physical, and financial weight — and the care we deliver should reflect that reality. To truly personalize care, every clinical decision must be grounded in evidence, supported by data, and informed by outcomes we can trust.

But like all resolutions, following through requires more than good intentions. It requires rigorous data collection, transparent reporting, and shared benchmarks. It requires consistent clinical standards — and industry-wide accountability to those standards.

Last year, we published our annual, third-party-validated fertility outcomes report, continuing a decade-long commitment to openly sharing how our solutions perform for our members and employers. Once again, the data showed that Progyny significantly exceeds national benchmarks across key clinical measures of fertility success. But beyond the results themselves, there was a deeper message — one that feels especially salient as we consider where our industry needs to go next:

Because every outcome matters, how we measure and report those outcomes matters just as much.

For the 1 in 6 individuals affected by infertility, the path to parenthood can be emotionally draining, physically demanding, and financially burdensome. That journey requires an extraordinary level of trust — trust from members that their benefits partner is committed to the highest standards of care and outcomes, and trust from employers that their investment is delivering meaningful, cost-effective impact for their workforce.

Earning that trust depends on rigor and transparency. Yet today, standards for collecting and reporting IVF outcomes still vary widely. Some solutions rely on self-reported or selectively sampled data. Others use timelines or denominators that diverge from those established by CDC and SART, making apples-to-apples comparisons difficult and obscuring what results truly mean at scale.

Some variation in standards is expected in a field that has evolved as rapidly as fertility benefits in recent years. Nevertheless, we can — and must — do better.

If, as an industry, we truly want to personalize fertility care for all, we need shared expectations for outcomes reporting grounded in common standards:

• Count every member to eliminate selection bias. Outcomes reporting should be comprehensive and standardized — not based on self-reported samples. At Progyny, clinics are required to report outcomes for every treatment resulting in a pregnancy attempt. This approach enables complete, network-wide reporting across all members and clinics, representing more than 19,000 IVF transfers.
• Align with CDC and SART timelines. Outcomes can only be compared effectively when they follow consistent timelines for benchmarking. Progyny follows the standard 12-month reporting window used by both CDC and SART — a reasonable standard the industry should embrace.
• Be transparent about scale. When it comes to evaluating outcomes, scale matters. With any key metric, a 50% success rate for 19,000 IVF transfers is orders of magnitude more meaningful than a 50% success rate for 300 IVF transfers. Employers and members should be able to easily interpret and compare results in the context of scale and impact.
  

These standards are far from abstract; they directly affect people’s lives. When Progyny reports 41% fewer retrievals per live birth than the national average (as we reported in 2025), that means significantly less physical burden and emotional strain for members and families — and significantly lower costs for employers across their employee population.

At Progyny, our commitment to clinical excellence and transparency extends across the entire family-building and women’s health journey — from preconception through postpartum, return-to-work, parenting, midlife, and menopause. Personalization, accountability, and outcomes-driven care are not slogans; they are the foundation of how we design benefits, manage our network, and support our members. As a physician and clinical leader, I believe the trust of patients can never be assumed — it is earned through consistency, openness, and demonstrated results over time. Proud as I am of the progress we at Progyny have made to-date, I enter the new year with my Progyny colleagues both humbled and inspired to do better still — because individuals and families deserve nothing less.

The post Raising the bar for transparency and personalization in fertility care 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.