A postpartum intervention that prescheduled an annual primary care provider (PCP) appointment for pregnant participants increased their likelihood of visiting their PCP within the year after delivery, according to research presented at the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine 2025 Pregnancy Meeting.
Prenatal visits during pregnancy often comprise a period of “high health activation and motivation for self-care,” Arlin Delgado, MD, a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, told attendees. But after discharge from obstetric care, there’s often “a drop in patient engagement with the healthcare system, with many patients not reestablishing care with their PCP,” a phenomenon referred to as the “postpartum cliff,” she said.
“The postpartum cliff leaves an accountability limbo…