The Truth About Maternal Health: What Happens After Birth Matters
- Michele Benoit-Wilson, MD, FACOG
- Aug 11, 2025
- 3 min read
August 11, 2025
The Myth of the Delivery Room Crisis and the Postpartum Danger Zone
We’ve all heard it: “Hospitals just aren’t safe for birth anymore.” The phrase echoes through birthing forums and whispered advice, painting a picture of clinical indifference and high-risk deliveries. And while it’s true that our maternity systems have work to do—especially for women of color—it’s time we set the record straight.
There’s a popular perception that hospitals, and the doctors who staff them, are the biggest risk factor in maternal care. And yes, there’s valid criticism:
Rushed appointments
Health care providers who don’t listen
Racism and bias in health systems
Bureaucracy that turns care into a maze
But here’s what’s also true: the most serious complications usually don’t happen in the hospital. They happen after a mother has gone home.
Yes, you read that right.
More than half of maternal deaths occur postpartum—after the baby has arrived, the flowers have wilted, and the “Congratulations!” texts have stopped. Many life-threatening conditions—like delayed hemorrhage, preeclampsia, and blood clots—don’t emerge until days or weeks after leaving the hospital. Warning signs often go unnoticed at home, especially when new moms are overwhelmed, sleep-deprived, and emotionally raw.
Far too many of these deaths are linked not just to visible issues like bleeding or infection, but to silent, under-recognized conditions such as mood disorders, drug use, and domestic violence.
Mental Health Is Maternal Health
Mental health challenges don’t pause for parenthood. In fact, the hormonal, emotional, and social shifts of new motherhood can ignite or worsen psychiatric conditions—even in people who’ve never experienced them before.
Most pregnant women and their families don’t know that mood disorders—especially postpartum depression– and drug abuse are the biggest contributors to maternal mortality.
Opioid and alcohol abuse, often fueled by untreated trauma or pain, cause over 300 maternal deaths per year—and that number is rising with increased fentanyl use.
Intimate partner violence is rarely part of the maternal health conversation, yet pregnancy is one of the most at-risk times for experiencing it.
These aren’t just emotional burdens—they cause physical crises with real consequences for real families.
What's a MMRC Got To Do With It?
Many states have eliminated or failed to fund Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs)—the very bodies that study every maternal death in their state.
MMRCs include obstetric health professionals and nonpartisan reviewers who analyze the causes of each maternal death. Their findings inform policy-makers and hospital systems to drive meaningful change.
Yet MMRCs have become political footballs—without even a decent halftime show. The bipartisan Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2018, which led to nearly every state establishing an MMRC, expired in 2023. Congress has yet to reauthorize it, despite widespread support from leading organizations like the American College of OBGYN. You can also read the March of Dimes position.
Let’s Not Slap Lipstick on This Pig
“Fixing” the maternal health crisis requires more than sound bites. It means having honest, tough conversations about what works—and what doesn’t. It means understanding how systems fail, and how people within those systems can do better.
And unlike many problems, this one does need more money thrown at it.
To reimagine maternal health, we must:
Understand how the stress of lived experience impacts health
Improve communication between patients and providers
Destigmatize mental health and addiction
Support systems that help communities recognize warning signs and speak up
Educate with evidence-based, reliable information while supporting ongoing research
Reform policies that don’t work for many of us—so they work for all of us
Looking at Health Through a Social Justice Lens
It doesn’t have to feel scary to acknowledge that health disparities—especially in maternal and infant health—are rooted in systemic inequities.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, regardless of education or income. That doesn’t mean doctors are horrible people. It doesn’t mean racism is the only reason for poor outcomes. And it doesn’t mean the solution lies in just one fix.
It means we must have the courage to ask why—and change the answers that got us here.
As taxpayers, we should expect policies that actually make sense and improve lives for everyone.
Our Commitment at HerHealthMD
At HerHealthMD, we’re committed to spotlighting the truths about health issues that affect us—especially the ones buried beneath stigma, bias, and broken systems. We believe:
Postpartum care is just as critical as prenatal care
Mental health deserves the same urgency as physical health
Safe birth includes what happens after you’ve left the hospital
Everyone involved deserves to be seen, heard, and respected
For too long, maternal care has been boxed into a delivery-room narrative. But birth isn’t a finish line—it’s the beginning. And it’s time we treat it that way
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