The Postpartum Recovery Project
A research-backed exploration of postpartum recovery in the United States.
Postpartum is not a six-week recovery.
It is a full-body, full-life transformation, and most women are left to navigate it alone.
This project exists to bring visibility to what postpartum recovery
actually looks like, to challenge outdated systems,
and to advocate for care that reflects what mothers truly experience.
Understanding the Postpartum Care Gap
For many mothers, the end of pregnancy is treated as the end of medical care. After months of frequent prenatal appointments, postpartum care in the United States often narrows to a single follow-up visit around six weeks after birth. At that appointment, women are commonly “cleared” to return to exercise, work, and normal activities, even though the body is often still in the early stages of recovery.
In reality, postpartum recovery is far more complex than a six-week timeline suggests. It involves physical healing, hormonal shifts, mental and emotional adjustment, nutritional rebuilding, and, for many women, a growing awareness of just how unsupported recovery can feel.
The Postpartum Recovery Project exists to examine that gap between medical clearance and lived experience, between what recovery is assumed to be and what mothers actually go through.
This project brings together research, personal stories, and community voices to help reframe postpartum recovery as a meaningful stage of care not just a brief transition back to “normal life.”
Postpartum recovery is not failing women.
The system is.
Explore Postpartum Recovery
Recovery doesn’t happen in just one area.
Postpartum changes the body, mind, identity,
relationships, and nervous system, often all at once.
This project explores postpartum recovery through multiple lenses
from the physical and mental changes after birth
to the gaps in care and what real support could look like.
The Postpartum Body
What actually happens physically after birth
The Postpartum Mind
Mental load, anxiety, identity, nervous system
Gaps in Care
Where the postpartum system falls short
Rethinking Recovery
What postpartum care could look like instead
Support & Community
Why mothers need more support after birth
Share Your Postpartum Experience
You don’t have to go through this alone
and you’re not the only one who has felt this way.
Postpartum recovery is often described as a six-week process, but many mothers experience something far longer and more complex. This project is not just about sharing information, it’s about understanding what recovery actually looks like through real experiences.
If you’ve given birth, your experience matters. Whether your recovery felt straightforward or overwhelming, your story can help bring visibility to what so many women go through.
It takes about five minutes to complete.
Take a few minutes to share your experience below.
Your responses are anonymous and will help bring visibility to real postpartum experiences.