The Other Half: The Fourth Trimester Problem

What happens to women after the baby is born?In this episode of A Bit of Britt, I’m looking at the physical, hormonal, psychological, and systemic realities of postpartum care — from C-section recovery, perineal trauma, episiotomies, pelvic floor therapy, thyroid changes, postpartum depression, and weaning-related mood changes, to the treatment options and research gaps that still exist.We also zoom out to look at the history of women in clinical research, how women’s symptoms can be perceived differently in healthcare, and what those disparities mean for the care women receive today.If society places so much value on women having children, then we should be equally invested in what happens to the woman after she has them.This isn’t anti-motherhood. It’s pro-women receiving better care before, during, and long after birth.You don’t know what you don’t know till you know you don’t know it… so ask questions!