The Postpartum Check‐Up That Checks Nothing

This Week’s Signal

Postpartum is wild. One day you’re pregnant, the next you’re running on two hours of sleep and keeping a brand‑new human alive. Your brain rewires, your priorities flip, and somewhere in there, you forget you even have a body of your own. The world says, “We’ve got you, mama” — but they don’t really seem to mean it.

At six weeks postpartum, you shuffle into your OB’s office between feeds. The appointment? A quick check to see if you’ve stopped bleeding, maybe a glance at your C‑section scar, and then — surprise! — here’s your birth control script.

We’ve finally started talking about postpartum mental health — and we should. Up to 85% of new moms experience the “baby blues,” and 1 in 7 develop postpartum depression.

But here’s what we’re still not talking about: nearly half of new moms have at least one undiagnosed lab‑related health issue.

What We’re Missing

Postpartum labs are criminally underused. I’ll admit — I skipped them after my twins. But this time around, I marched myself into my PCP’s office three months post‑Mia. She asked how I was feeling (fine, tired, duh), then sent me to Labcorp.

A week later, I found out my LDL cholesterol was high. At 38. It shocked me, but it shouldn’t have — LDL often stays elevated after pregnancy because estrogen drops, your body is still recovering, and hello, postpartum lifestyle. Now I’m managing it… because I knew about it.

And I’m hardly alone in having a lab-related health issue postpartum:

• 50% of new moms have postpartum anemia

• 40–60% are vitamin D deficient

• 1 in 10 develop thyroid dysfunction

• Women with gestational diabetes (~6-9% of pregnancies) or preeclampsia (~5-8% of pregnancies) face sharply higher risks for future heart disease and diabetes

Making postpartum lab testing routine should be a no‑brainer. Instead, it’s a blind spot, and a massive missed chance to protect a mother’s health for life.

What We’re Seeing

Some companies are stepping up, recognizing that lab work is key to keeping women healthy and thriving, postpartum and beyond.

• Trellis Health (July 29, 2025): Launched the first FDA‑cleared at-home postpartum lab panel covering 30+ biomarkers, from thyroid and iron to inflammation and hormone balance, making proactive screening available before the standard six-week checkup.

• Ultrahuman (July 16, 2025): Expanded Blood Vision nationwide across 48 U.S. states, a third-party biomarker platform that analyzes 100+ blood and urine markers and ties them in real time to wearable-tracked lifestyle signals for deeper health understanding

• Frame Fertility × Labcorp (May 20, 2025): Announced a strategic collaboration to integrate Labcorp’s comprehensive fertility and endocrine testing directly into Frame’s virtual care platform, with results reviewed via a Frame provider for personalized planning

What It Means

Real change starts where women already go: the OB’s office.

OBs can order labs, and APPs and nurses can interpret them quickly via their office’s EMR or telehealth. If we align reimbursement with preventive screening, we can make postpartum lab work part of standard care, with innovators like Trellis leading on postpartum‑specific panels and platforms like Ultrahuman and Frame x Labcorp showing how comprehensive lab data can be integrated into women’s health journeys.

It’s doable.

We just have to decide it matters.

With more signal and less noise, Spotting is your weekly lens on what’s next in women’s health and why. See you right here next time, in your inbox.

With hugs, science & freedom,
Abby

P.S. Whether this hits or misses for you, I’d love to hear your thoughts — just hit reply. Thanks for being here 🤗

Reaching 20M women monthly and partnering with trusted brands like Pfizer, Kotex, BetterHelp, and Noom, Rescripted is the leading media platform for all women and her health, from first period to last period.