Progyny blog

How culturally responsive care is helping reduce disparities in fertility treatment

maefang — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:45:00 GMT

Fertility care is deeply personal. Every patient brings unique experiences, values, and cultural perspectives to their care. Yet many patients from historically marginalized communities report feeling unwelcome or misunderstood in healthcare environments where their lived experiences were not reflected in the care they received. While many factors contribute to these experiences, one is the longstanding lack of diversity within the healthcare workforce. Although women make up about half of the U.S. population and Black Americans nearly 14%, physicians remain disproportionately white and male-only 39% of practicing physicians are female, and just about 5% are Black.

For many people seeking fertility treatment, having the option to receive care from a provider who understands their background and respects their values, preferences and lived experiences can help foster trust, communication, and engagement during treatment. Choice in care matters.

In response, Janet Choi, MD, Progyny Chief Medical Officer, and other network physicians collaborated with Morehouse School of Medicine, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and EngagedMD to develop educational content focused on advancing culturally responsive fertility care. The FertilityEquity™ training program is comprised of 26 evidence-based learning modules combining educational content, practical guidance, and real patient stories illustrating care gaps. The curriculum explores disparities in fertility care and delivers actionable strategies to support more equitable patient experiences and outcomes. Providers and clinics completing the coursework are recognized in the Progyny Provider Search Tool, enabling members to identify practices that have demonstrated a commitment to culturally responsive care.

“Members can now more easily identify providers who have invested in culturally responsive fertility care, which is essential to improving both trust and outcomes. For many patients-particularly women of color-experiences of feeling dismissed or not fully heard remain far too common, and that can delay engagement with care at critical moments,” explains Dr. Choi.

The need for this type of support is reflected in persistent disparities in fertility care. Research shows that while Black women experience infertility at disproportionately higher rates, they often seek fertility care later and face greater barriers to accessing treatment. Black women may spend more than 1.5 additional years trying to conceive before seeking fertility support and are significantly more likely to report difficulty finding a preferred provider. Additionally, Black and Hispanic women are up to six times more likely to have difficulty finding a physician with whom they feel comfortable. By helping members identify providers who have completed culturally responsive care training, Progyny aims to make it easier for individuals to find care that aligns with their needs and fosters trust throughout the fertility journey.

“Age is a significant factor that influences the success of fertility interventions and pregnancy outcomes. It is critical that disparities-and resultant barriers-don’t contribute to delays in seeking care, particularly for historically underserved populations,” says Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, MBA, Regional Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine and Progyny Medical Advisory Board member. “With the opportunity to identify aligned providers, members can seek fertility care earlier and with greater confidence.”

Strong provider-patient relationships are foundational to high-quality fertility care. When patients feel heard, respected, and understood, they are more likely to engage in their care, make informed decisions, and feel empowered throughout their fertility journey.

The response to the coursework has been overwhelmingly positive; participants eager to pursue the recognized culturally competent care designation to better meet the needs of diverse patient populations.

Progyny’s partnership with Morehouse, Ferring, and EngagedMD reflects a broader effort to raise the standard of care-ensuring that more individuals can access providers who understand their needs, engage earlier in treatment, and ultimately achieve better outcomes. This is an important step toward a future where every patient feels seen, heard, and supported throughout their fertility journey.

If you’re curious to learn more or if you’re a provider looking to take the course, please visit FertilityEquity.

How PEOs can help smaller to mid-sized employers navigate fertility benefits

maefang — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) are hearing more questions from their smaller to mid-sized employer clients about fertility and family building support. At the same time, the legislative landscape continues to evolve, with states taking different approaches to fertility coverage, fertility preservation, eligibility, nondiscrimination, and access to treatment. Requirements vary by state and may also depend on how coverage is funded and structured, adding another layer of complexity for employers evaluating their options.

For smaller to mid-sized employers, those questions can quickly become more practical: What does the current medical plan cover? Do state requirements apply? How are fertility medications handled? And what kind of cost predictability can the employer expect?

That gives PEOs an important role in helping employers understand their options and evaluate what will work best for their workforce.

What should PEOs consider when evaluating fertility benefits?

Start by understanding what the employer is trying to solve.

They may be looking to introduce fertility coverage for the first time, strengthen an existing offering, support talent attraction and retention, or give employees more help navigating a complex care journey.

For smaller to mid-sized employers, the financial model can also be an important consideration. Understanding how coverage is funded, how risk is structured, and how predictable costs will be can help narrow the options that make sense for the organization.

How do fertility mandates affect PEOs and smaller to mid-sized employers?

State fertility requirements are one part of the benefits decision, and applicability can vary based on the state and how coverage is funded and structured. Employers should work with qualified legal and benefits advisers to understand what applies to their specific plan.

For PEOs, the broader opportunity is helping employers understand where compliance fits into a larger benefits strategy rather than treating it as the only consideration.

What should employers look for beyond IVF coverage?

When employers evaluate fertility benefits, the conversation often starts with whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) is covered. But a useful evaluation goes further.

Employers should consider how members will find high-quality providers, what support is available throughout treatment, how fertility medications are coordinated with medical care, and whether the benefit supports different paths to family building.

Those details can shape both the member experience and how effectively the benefit works in practice.

Evaluate the whole experience, not individual benefit components

Cost, care, and member support are closely connected.

Provider quality, treatment patterns, pharmacy coordination, utilization, benefit design, and funding can all influence how well a fertility benefit works for both the employer and the member. Employers should understand not only what care is covered, but also how the model manages financial variability and whether it provides the level of predictability they need.

A specialized fertility benefit can bring those elements together in a more connected way, which can be especially valuable for smaller organizations that may not have dedicated internal resources focused on fertility benefits.

Why does member support matter in fertility care?

Fertility care can involve testing, medications, treatment decisions, benefits questions, and personal considerations at the same time, making knowledgeable guidance an important part of the experience. Employers should look at whether members can get help understanding their benefits, finding appropriate care, navigating authorizations, and coordinating medications.

For smaller to mid-sized organizations that may not have dedicated internal resources focused on fertility benefits, having that support built into the experience can be especially valuable.

A fertility benefits option designed for smaller to mid-sized employers

Progyny Select brings together fertility treatment and medication coverage, access to specialized providers, and one-on-one support through pivotal life moments, including fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy and postpartum, parenting, and menopause. It is administered outside of the employer’s medical plan, with Progyny taking on the financial risk associated with utilization and service mix under a fixed-premium model.

For PEOs, working with a specialized fertility benefits partner can make it easier to bring that expertise to smaller employers without requiring those organizations to build that capability internally. Progyny Select gives PEOs another option to consider when employers want fertility and family building support but need an approach designed with smaller to mid-sized organizations in mind.

Interested in exploring fertility and family building benefits for your smaller to mid-sized employer clients?

Get in touch with the Progyny Select team

Frequently asked questions

Do fertility mandates apply to every employer?

No. Applicability can vary by state, plan structure, and funding arrangement. Employers should work with qualified legal and benefits advisers to understand the requirements that apply to their specific plan.

What should PEOs look for in a fertility benefits partner?

Consider how the partner approaches provider quality, fertility medications, member guidance, benefit design, financial predictability, and support across different paths to family building.

What is Progyny Select?

Progyny Select is a premium-funded benefit created for PEOs with 100+ medically enrolled employees across smaller to mid-sized employer clients with large group health plans. It includes outcomes-focused fertility and medication coverage for individual needs, access to a nationwide network of managed fertility specialists, and one-on-one guidance from Progyny Care Advocates through pivotal life moments, including fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy and postpartum, parenting, and menopause.

This content is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or medical advice.

Progyny Select must be presented alongside major medical based on its licensure and additional participation criteria established by Progyny Select. Individuals selling Progyny Select need to be licensed in the State of Washington. The benefit is implemented with an effective date that aligns with employers’ major medical coverage. However, there is no medical plan integration or variation by medical carrier. When groups add Progyny Select, all employees/members who are 12 years and older, and enrolled in medical will be automatically enrolled in Progyny Select.

Progyny Select Supplemental insurance plans are insured by Progyny Health Insurance Company of Washington. All limited insurance policies contain exclusions and limitations. For full details on coverage please refer to your specific plan documents, application, and certificate of coverage. Progyny Health Insurance Company of Washington is located in Tacoma, WA 98402.

Modernizing maternity care: Five questions payers should be asking about payment unbundling

Janet Choi, MD, Chief Medical Officer — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT

As an REI, OBGYN, and now a Chief Medical Officer, I have had the privilege to be part of thousands of paths to parenthood – both directly and indirectly. Stating the obvious, no two maternal journeys are the same. Yet for decades, bundled maternity payments operated under the assumption that pregnancy follows a standard path.

Recently, maternity CPT codes, which are used by health insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid to process claims, determine reimbursement, and more, were updated from one bundled payment to separate, itemized claims for every service. Although this change will inevitably evoke questions, this update is an overdue modernization of the coding system. Updating the codes used to document and bill for specificity will better reflect how care is delivered today: increasingly individualized, multidisciplinary, and supported by technology enabled care models.

Every pregnancy is different. Some are uncomplicated. Others may begin without major complications but then evolve into pregnancies with complex care needs whether from underlying or newly diagnosed medical conditions – diabetes, hypertension, depression/anxiety. And then there is postpartum – often a time when care of the birthing parent falls to the wayside – and a time when many women may fall through the cracks – a time when medical issues such as hypertension, preeclampsia, depression /anxiety/psychosis can occur. Modern maternity care is no longer defined by a fixed schedule of routine office visits with a single clinician; instead, it is personalized, multidisciplinary, and responsive, bringing together a care team across obstetric and specialty care, behavioral health, lactation, and pelvic floor support. This care can also require navigation across in-person visits, virtual care, and remote monitoring as clinical needs, circumstances, and preferences change. For employers and health plans, supporting maternal health means ensuring that the parents can access coordinated, individualized support as their needs evolve.

These upcoming coding changes around pregnancy and postpartum care raise questions and provide uncertainty among payors and employers, as well as patients and providers. The transition may also bring operational complexity, including more detailed claims, new reporting challenges, and the need for clear member communication.

But the positive side of change — is that it is an opportunity for progress.

So rather than viewing unbundling as a disruption, health plans are presented with the opportunity to see it as a chance to better align payment with individualized, high-quality care.

Why now is the time for maternity coding to catch up

Bundled payments were designed to simplify reimbursement by treating prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum care as a single episode of care.

While that approach reduced administrative complexity, it also assumed that every pregnancy required essentially the same services. Which couldn’t be further from reality.

Some patients need extensive care coordination, behavioral health support, nutrition counseling, or specialist consultations. Others experience uncomplicated pregnancies with relatively few interventions. A reimbursement model built around averages doesn’t reflect those differences.

Timing is important. In 2025, ACOG released guidance on Tailored Prenatal Care, emphasizing a more individualized approach based on medical risk, unmet social needs, patient preferences, and appropriate care modalities. The 2027 maternity CPT updates fit within that broader shift: a coding modernization that better reflects today’s maternity care and supports improved visibility and quality measurement. Unbundling creates an opportunity to better match care with individual patient needs rather than a standardized payment model.

The goal shouldn’t simply be itemizing reimbursements differently. It should be enabling better care.

Five questions every payer should ask when evaluating maternity reimbursement models:

1. Does payment unbundling support personalized maternity care – or standardized care?

While ensuring that providers are justly reimbursed for their skills and efforts, the true focus on examining the effectiveness of these coding changes is whether they translate to supporting the right care for each patient. Health plans should evaluate whether reimbursement allows providers to tailor care based on clinical risk factors, social determinants of health, and patient preferences rather than fitting every pregnancy into the same framework.

2. Will this improve access to multidisciplinary care?

Especially with the evolution and acceptance of virtual care models and the potential opportunities offered by remote patient monitoring devices, pregnancy care these days is more than a series of routine in-office prenatal visits.

Rather, many patients benefit from a variety of in-person as well as virtual services–behavioral health, nutrition support, doula, lactation counseling, maternal-fetal medicine, genetic counseling, as well as benefit and care navigation.

As reimbursement evolves, health plans should ask whether the new model makes it easier – not harder – for patients to access the broader care team they need.

3. How will success be measured?

Coding modernization only matters if it supports quality measurement and care improves. Health plans should define success by meaningful outcomes: healthier pregnancies, fewer maternal and fetal/infant complications, better patient experiences, narrower equity gaps, and a clearer understanding of cost drivers.

The goal isn’t a new way to pay for care – it’s a better way to deliver it.

4. Does this create flexibility for changing patient needs?

Pregnancy rarely follows a linear path.

A patient who seems to begin as low risk may develop complications later in pregnancy. Another may need additional postpartum support after delivery.

Payment models should allow providers to respond to changing clinical needs without unnecessary administrative barriers. Flexibility is a hallmark of patient-centered care.

5. How will patients experience this change?

Patients shouldn’t have to understand reimbursement models to receive excellent care.

Health plans should consider whether any operational changes remain largely invisible to patients while supporting smoother coordination, clearer communication, and more personalized care throughout pregnancy and postpartum.

Ultimately, success will be measured by whether families feel supported – not by how claims are processed.

Looking ahead

Healthcare continues moving toward more individualized care, and maternity care should be no exception. Health plans who stay cognizant of these evolutions, ask the right questions, and remain receptive to change will be uniquely positioned to support more personalized, coordinated maternity care while improving outcomes for members and their families.

No two pregnancies are identical. Payment models shouldn’t assume they are.

Unbundling represents more than an administrative change – it offers an opportunity to better align reimbursement with the realities of modern maternity care. When thoughtfully implemented, it can support more personalized care, strengthen care coordination, and create greater flexibility to meet patients where they are.

This is also where providers like Progyny complement provider care, through early engagement, proactive navigation, behavioral health screening, education, and postpartum support. More detailed coding can improve visibility, but visibility alone does not improve outcomes. Families need support before, during, and after pregnancy, especially as their needs change.

For payers, the opportunity isn’t simply adapting to a new reimbursement model, it’s helping build a maternity care system that recognizes what clinicians and patients have always known: the best pregnancy care starts with treating every individual as exactly that – an individual. And that is best accomplished with a partner who can help translate greater visibility into better care. By helping payers anticipate evolving needs and coordinate care around the individual, Progyny can help turn coding modernization into meaningful progress for members and their families.

Right care, right time: How fertility benefit design can support clinical judgment

Chandler Farrell — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Infertility is a disease, and the path to building a family is different for every patient. Diagnosis, age, medical history, prior treatment, partner evaluation when applicable, and family building goals all shape the appropriate next step. Care should be guided by the patient’s clinical circumstances, goals, and provider recommendation — not a fixed, predetermined sequence.

For some patients, the next step may be education, testing, medication, ovulation support, or intrauterine insemination (IUI). For others, it may be in vitro fertilization (IVF), fertility preservation, consultation with a reproductive urologist, donor tissue and/or gestational carrier support, adoption support, or another path to parenthood. The goal always is appropriate care based on evidence and individual needs.

Benefit design can either support or constrain that individualized approach. Rigid requirements may delay care or require treatment steps that are not clinically appropriate for a particular patient. Flexible, clinically grounded benefits give patients and providers more room to choose the care that best fits the clinical picture.

We spoke with reproductive endocrinologists and reproductive urologists in the Progyny network about evidence-based fertility care, clinical flexibility, and what helps patients receive the right care at the right time.

Why benefit design matters

A strong fertility benefit preserves access to clinically appropriate options without imposing a fixed treatment sequence or unnecessary administrative barriers. This allows patients and providers to make decisions based on clinical evidence, individual circumstances, and family building goals.

Peter Klatsky, MD, MPH, of Spring Fertility New York, described why that flexibility matters:

“The best outcomes happen when physicians and patients can make decisions together based on clinical evidence, the patient’s unique circumstances, and their goals for building a family. The best benefit design is one that allows us to recommend the care that is clinically right for the patient sitting in front of us, then move efficiently to enact that plan.”

That flexibility matters because fertility care is rarely linear. Some patients need additional diagnostic testing before treatment selection; others may benefit from evaluation by both reproductive endocrinology and reproductive urology. In time-sensitive situations — including advancing reproductive age, diminished ovarian reserve, cancer treatment, or other conditions affecting fertility — unnecessary delays can also matter clinically.

Evidence-based care is individualized care

Evidence-based fertility care starts with the full clinical picture. Depending on the patient, that may include age; medical and family history; ovulatory status; Fallopian tube patency; sperm parameters; sexual function; genetic risks for intended parents and potential offspring; prior pregnancy loss or treatment; and family building goals. When applicable, timely evaluation should include both partners.

Rashmi Kudesia, MD, MSc, of CCRM Houston, described evidence-based care as both comprehensive and collaborative:

“Evidence-based fertility care is highly individualized and sensitive to the patient or couple’s family building goals as they see them in that moment. We begin with thorough education on the fundamentals of fertility and infertility treatment, emphasizing comprehensive assessment of the patient or couple, and using a shared-decision-making model to match a patient to the right next step.”

The “right next step” will not look the same for every patient. It may range from less intensive treatment, such as IUI with fertility medication, to IVF or another specialized pathway. The care plan should reflect diagnosis, prognosis, preferences, and family building goals.

When is IUI the right treatment?

IUI can be a valuable option for appropriately selected patients, including some with unexplained infertility, mild male-factor infertility, or those using donor sperm.

Nicole Marchetto, MD, MPH, of Shady Grove Fertility, said:

“IUI is a valuable treatment for the right patient — unexplained infertility, mild male factor, donor sperm. Whenever I can help someone succeed with IUI, I do.”

But IUI is not appropriate for everyone. When benefit design incentivizes or requires IUI before IVF — even when clinical factors make IUI unlikely to succeed — it can delay timely, clinically appropriate care and add emotional and financial burden.

Dr. Marchetto added, “But IUI is not a box to check before IVF.” She also noted, “For tubal disease or severe male factor, IUI is simply not effective.”

Benefit design should support IUI when it is appropriate while allowing patients and physicians to pursue IVF or another pathway when the clinical picture supports a different approach.

IVF can be the right treatment — but it is not the default path

IVF is an essential treatment for many patients, but it is also physically, emotionally, logistically, and financially demanding. Providers recommend it when the clinical picture supports it—not simply because it is a more intensive treatment.

Dr. Marchetto explained:

“No one chooses IVF because it is easy. When I recommend it, it is because the clinical picture supports it — and I make sure patients understand exactly why.”

For some patients, IVF may be the most appropriate first-line treatment; for others, it may not be. The distinction matters because delaying an indicated treatment can have consequences, particularly when age, ovarian reserve, tubal disease, severe male-factor infertility, or genetic testing considerations are part of the clinical picture.

“The goal is never more treatment — it is the most appropriate treatment. The real question is not whether IVF utilization is too high, but whether the care pathway is clinically appropriate.”

Reproductive urology shouldn’t be overlooked

Individualized fertility care should include reproductive urology when male-factor infertility may be involved.

Akash Kapadia, MD, of Georgia Urology, identified equal access to male fertility care as an important remaining challenge:

“One of the important remaining and unmet challenges in infertility medicine today is equal access to male fertility care. It is still true that infertility medicine continues to be driven by female care with male partner evaluation being an accessory.”

Early involvement of a reproductive urologist can identify factors that may change the treatment plan, including sperm abnormalities, hormonal deficiencies, varicoceles, erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction, obstruction, and other conditions.

In some cases, reproductive urology evaluation may identify treatable issues; in others, it may help clarify whether IVF or another treatment is the most appropriate next step. In either situation, timely involvement of the appropriate specialist can improve the quality of decision-making.

How Progyny supports evidence-based decisions

Flexible benefits are most useful when they preserve access to clinically appropriate options and keep treatment decisions centered on patient needs. Dr. Kudesia described how Progyny’s model supports that work:

“The Progyny benefit is immensely helpful to me as a physician trying to practice evidence-based care. It allows me to offer realistic statistics and expectations of different levels of treatment without worrying that the patient may not be able to access the types of care that would ultimately benefit them most.”

In Dr. Kudesia’s experience, Progyny does not dictate whether a patient begins with basic or advanced treatment, and Progyny Care Advocates help patients understand evidence-based care pathways. That structure is intended to keep decisions focused on medical needs, preferences, and priorities rather than a prescribed sequence of treatment.

What employers, plan sponsors, and consultants should understand

Members enter fertility and family building care with different diagnoses, timelines, and goals. Benefit design should reflect that variation.

Some members may need help trying to conceive; others may need fertility preservation, reproductive urology, genetic testing, donor tissue or gestational carrier support, adoption support, or another specialized pathway. Some may achieve their family building goals without fertility treatment.

Supporting different paths to parenthood means reducing unnecessary friction across clinically appropriate options while preserving shared decision-making between patients and providers.

Dr. Klatsky said:

“Supporting family building starts with recognizing that every person’s journey looks different. A meaningful fertility benefit should provide access to high-quality, evidence-based care while allowing patients and their physicians to determine the path that best fits their needs. When benefits are designed around the patient rather than a predefined process, more people are able to access the care that is right for them.”

That patient-centered approach is what Progyny’s model is designed to support.

The right care isn’t one path

No single treatment pathway is right for every patient. An effective fertility benefit should neither push patients toward the least intensive option nor assume that more intensive treatment is preferable. It should support the treatment that is most appropriate at that point in time, based on diagnosis, medical history, prognosis, goals, evidence, and shared decision-making.

That may mean IUI, IVF, reproductive urology, fertility preservation, donor tissue, gestational carrier support, adoption, or another path to family. It may also mean additional education, testing, or support before treatment begins.

Progyny’s model is designed to support individualized, clinically grounded care led by patients and their providers — so the next step is determined by what is appropriate for each person, at the right time.

How Texas Capital responded to employee demand for comprehensive women's health benefits

Chandler Farrell — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Listening to employees is central to how Texas Capital approaches its benefits strategy. When employees expressed a growing need for women’s health and family building support, the company partnered with Progyny to deliver a more personalized care experience. Today, employees have access to comprehensive support across the women’s health journey, including family building, pregnancy and postpartum, parent and child well-being, and menopause and midlife care.

“We’ve seen lower multiple rates, quicker time to pregnancy, and improved efficiencies across medications, driving significant cost avoidance.

The addition of these benefits across the full spectrum of women’s health was meaningful for us.”

Postpartum and parenting: What to expect your first year

maefang — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:30:00 GMT

The first year of parenting can bring excitement, change, and a lot of questions. Postpartum recovery, feeding and sleep, developmental milestones, and returning to work, are all stages that can introduce new questions and lifestyle changes. Progyny was joined by experts in postpartum wellness, infant feeding, and mental health to discuss what parents can expect throughout the first year and how to find support along the way.

This webinar featured:

Audrey Schlote, RN, BSN, Pregnancy and Postpartum Member Services, Progyny

Angela Mizell, MSW, LCSW, Parent Wellness Expert, Progyny

Melanie Silverman, MS, RD, IBCLC, Chief Executive Officer, Pacify

Dr. Sipra Laddha, MD, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, LunaJoy Health

Early postpartum stages: emotional and lifestyle changes

The early postpartum period is a major transition. Physical recovery, hormonal changes, interrupted sleep, and adjusting to your new life can all affect your mood and energy.

It’s normal to experience emotional changes, which can be due to changes in hormones and overwhelming feelings of bringing a newborn home. Often referred to as the baby blues, you may experience crying, mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. These feelings typically peak around 3 to 5 days after delivery and should begin to return to baseline by about 12 to 14 days. If symptoms continue beyond two weeks or make it difficult to bond with your baby, consider reaching out for support. Your OB-GYN, pediatrician, or another medical professional can be a place to start.

Your support system matters, too. Rather than waiting until you’re overwhelmed, be specific about what would help. Consider keeping a list of household tasks that family or friends can take on when they visit, such as laundry or dishes, or watching the baby while you rest or do some self-care.

Sleep is also closely connected to emotional well-being. Newborns sleep in short stretches, which often means parents do, too. When possible, lean on your support network and delegate tasks to protect opportunities for rest. If you have an opportunity to sleep but consistently cannot, consider discussing what you’re experiencing with a medical professional.

Adjusting to feeding and newborn sleep

How you feed your baby is a personal choice and feeding does not have to look one way. Your needs and your baby’s needs may change over time, and the feeding approach you start with does not have to be the one you continue with. Your mental well-being can be part of that decision, too.

If breastfeeding, it can come with challenges such as pain, difficulty latching, or concerns about milk supply. When questions come up, a lactation consultant is a great resource to connect with to help navigate feeding challenges. If you find yourself worrying that your baby isn’t getting enough milk, lean on the available evidence you have such as diapers and pediatrician weight checks.

During the newborn stage, the wealth of information available online and opportunities for comparison can add to feeling overwhelmed around baby feeding and sleep. Try to focus on what is directly in front of you and what you and your baby need and take it day by day. Something that feels all-consuming today may look different tomorrow or next week.

Simple strategies can also help during stressful moments. This includes breathing exercises such as box breathing, sharing nighttime responsibilities when possible, and remembering basic needs to take care of yourself like eating regularly and drinking enough water. Setting realistic expectations is equally important. Babies’ sleep changes as they develop, and periods of progress can be followed by setbacks. Reminding yourself that each stage is temporary can help put difficult nights into perspective.

Developmental milestones and returning to work

Development happens within a range, and comparing your baby’s timeline with another can create unnecessary pressure. Keep regular appointments with your pediatrician and bring questions or concerns with you. Your pediatrician can help you understand whether your baby’s development falls within a typical range or whether additional support may be helpful.

As your postpartum journey continues, you may be planning a return-to-work strategy and childcare for your baby. Returning to work can bring a range of emotions. You might feel sadness or anxiety about leaving your baby, excitement about returning to a familiar environment, or several emotions at once. Give yourself space to experience those feelings and talk about them with someone you trust.

If you plan to pump at work, practice using your pump before you return. Once back at work, pumping on a schedule like your baby’s feeding schedule at home can help maintain milk supply.

Finally, talk with your partner or support system about the mental load of work, parenting, and household responsibilities. A constructive conversation about what needs to happen and who will handle each task can help make responsibilities more intentional, and less stressful.

If you are a Progyny member, know that Progyny is always here to support you across life’s milestones, and you can access additional resources at progyny.com/education.

Progyny members can contact Progyny at 888.597.5065 or via their organization specific phone number to learn more about your organization-specific benefit and available care options.

How TD Bank removed barriers to family building care

maefang — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT

TD Bank believes benefits should work for employees – not the other way around. When the organization evaluated its fertility benefit nearly a decade ago, leaders recognized employees were facing unnecessary hurdles before they could even access care. TD Bank partnered with Progyny to modernize this navigation and create a more inclusive approach centered on access, flexibility, and personalized support.

“Progyny is the perfect benefit to align to the TD Bank way. It really exemplifies the individuality of every one of our colleagues and how we want to support them wherever they are.”

Women's health benefits have gone mainstream. It’s time for a new standard of accountability.

Progyny — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:47:50 GMT

By Katie Higgins, Chief Commercial Officer

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months in rooms with HR and benefits leaders. At conferences, dinners, one-on-ones. And lately, the conversation has shifted.

A few years ago, much of that conversation was about making the case — that women’s health benefits were essential for recruitment and retention; that fertility coverage isn’t a perk but a clinical need. That argument has largely been won. These benefits are now table stakes.

The conversation today is different. With healthcare costs continuing to rise — and CFOs scrutinizing every line of spend — the question is no longer should we offer these benefits? It’s how do we know they’re working?

Is a benefit working if it’s “sticky” and employees like it? If utilization is high? Or does working mean something more specific — that members are getting the right care, that clinical outcomes are improving, and that the investment is delivering measurable economic value? Because those are very different standards. And right now, too few benefits are being held to the right one.

It’s time to rethink and redefine “value”

Progyny recently partnered with global survey leader Dynata to find out the latest priorities of employers, and the results from the 200 employers reflect the tension of this inflection point. Women’s health and family-building benefits are clearly going mainstream, with most employers now offering core benefits and planning to prioritize them in 2026.

But while 51% say their benefits meet employee needs “very well,” nearly as many (48%) report lingering gaps in depth, coordination, and consistency across different life stages. Employers have adopted solutions to cover discrete moments — fertility, maternity, occasionally menopause — but the full journey, as experienced by members, often remains fragmented.

61% point to lack of ROI as a persistent problem, and 74% report moderate to high point solution fatigue. The data shows employers plan nevertheless to keep adding solutions — but what I’m hearing on the ground is something different: growing impatience and demands for clear value.

Which raises the central question: what does “value” actually mean here?

I owe my working definition of value to Jim Winkler, chief strategy officer of the Business Group on Health, who captured it most succinctly: value means clinical outcomes that drive an economic impact that work well for the member. Three requirements, each essential:

It’s not enough for a benefit to be “sticky” and liked by members — though member experience is critical.
It’s not enough to point to enrollment numbers or app downloads.
What matters is whether the benefit produces better clinical results, whether those results translate into real economic impact, and whether the experience is good enough that members engage when it matters most.

At Progyny, value starts with clinical outcomes validated for every patient: a 23% higher live birth rate, 41% fewer retrievals per live birth, a 61% lower multiples rate — driving roughly 30% in employer cost savings. Results that are repeatable, backed by the industry’s largest sample size, and grounded in a decade of relentless commitment to the member experience.

And, while compounded costs for sponsored plans in the US rose 27% from 2022–2025, Progyny’s rose just 5% over the same timeframe. So, with HR leaders being called to the mat by their CFOs, I understand the pressure — but I feel confident Progyny’s clients are getting the year-over-year outcomes and value they’ve come to expect from us.

We’ve seen this pattern before in digital health

This moment in women’s health and family building benefits should look familiar to anyone who’s watched digital health evolve. First comes early adoption. Then proliferation of offerings as vendors stake out their piece of the lifecycle, and employers assemble best-of-breed portfolios hoping the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts.

And then the evidence catches up.

One of the most instructive examples comes from outside women’s health. In 2024, the Peterson Health Technology Institute assessed eight widely used digital diabetes management tools. Their conclusion was stark: most failed to deliver meaningful clinical benefits and even increased healthcare spending. Only one demonstrated genuinely differentiated clinical impact.

Among employers and health plans, the report validated what many had already suspected: engagement metrics are not outcomes. Member satisfaction is an important goal, but it is clinical impact that drives economic value. In a reality where employers are investing in health solutions to achieve a sustainable cost equation for their benefits, the burden of proof needs to be fundamentally higher.

After years of explosive growth, women’s health is now in a similar spotlight. And despite nearly 3 out of 4 employers reporting point solution fatigue…roughly the same number (76%) are looking to add point solutions with proven results.

How vendor sprawl opens accountability gaps

So, what’s the reality of how this plays out for an employer? Here’s one scenario I’ve seen more than once. A large employer invests in myriad solutions — a fertility benefit here, a maternity or parenting solution there. On paper, it looks comprehensive. In practice, costs keep climbing. And when they ask their vendors why, no one can tell them.

Why? The answer is as simple as it is complicated. When multiple vendors touch the same population, accountability diffuses. Whether outcomes are good or bad, it can be difficult to attribute the source of impact and the levers driving results. Despite all the investment.

The same dynamic compromises member experience. I’ve talked to employers sending hundreds of benefit-related communications a month — each vendor optimizing for its own engagement metrics, with no coordination. When everything competes for attention, what matters most gets lost. The member experience becomes noise.

Women’s health and family building are not episodic or transactional experiences. They are deeply personal lifelong journeys that require a whole-person, relationship-based approach to care. At Progyny, that differentiation shows up not just in our member-centric focus across the full journey — from preconception through menopause — but in how we measure and report it. Because you can’t improve what you don’t track, and you can’t be accountable for outcomes you don’t own.

Delivering value requires aligning every part of the care journey

It’s worth stepping back to recognize what this industry has accomplished. When Progyny was founded a decade ago, comprehensive fertility benefits were rare. Postpartum care was an afterthought. Today these benefits are mainstream and expanding into every corner of the economy. As our survey reveals, even slower moving sectors like manufacturing these benefits have increased in importance by 85% since just last year.

But sustaining that progress requires going deeper. Solutions can’t deliver patient-level outcomes if they don’t go deep enough to align all the stakeholders and components of the care journey. The clinical model, the member experience, the provider network — every piece has to be deliberately reworked and aligned for the cost equation to actually work. That’s what Progyny has spent a decade doing, and it’s why we can stand behind our outcomes and cost trend data with confidence.

The conversation in the rooms I spend time in has shifted because something real is changing. The reckoning is here — and for the women and families these benefits are meant to serve, that’s not a reason for alarm. It’s a reason for optimism, if we rise to meet the moment.

Interested in seeing how Progyny’s integrated care model delivers better outcomes and measurable value for employers and members?

Talk to our team

Brokers have a new opportunity in fertility and family building benefits

Progyny — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:38:09 GMT

By Charles Green, Vice President, Sales, Progyny

For years, many smaller to mid-sized employers assumed fertility and family building benefits were out of reach. The need was there, but the cost uncertainty often was, too. That’s starting to change.

Smaller to mid-sized employers are under growing pressure to offer benefits that help them compete for talent, support employees through major life moments, and close gaps in care. But traditional utilization-based models have often made those benefits difficult to adopt, especially for employers that need more predictable costs.

For brokers, that shift creates a real opportunity.

The challenge isn’t demand, it’s the model

Employees increasingly expect support across life stages, from fertility and family building to pregnancy, parenting, and menopause. Smaller to mid-sized employers are feeling the same pressure as larger organizations. TriNet’s 2025 State of the Workplace report, focused on emerging trends in small and medium-size businesses, shows that employers are placing more focus on benefits as a way to compete for talent and support retention.

The report also found growing employer recognition of fertility coverage, with “extremely important” responses increasing to 29% from 25%, and “moderately important” responses increasing to 31% from 28%.

Larger employers have already responded. More than 40% now offer fertility benefits. At the same time, 1 in 6 people experience infertility, reinforcing the scale of need.

But smaller to mid-sized employers often face a different reality. Even when they want to offer expanded benefits, unpredictable utilization, high-cost claims, and administrative complexity can make adoption feel risky. As a result, many employers either delay offering fertility and family building benefits or settle for limited solutions that may not fully meet employee needs.

A more predictable path forward

The biggest shift in the market isn’t demand – it’s benefit design.

Fully insured, premium-funded models are making fertility and family building benefits more accessible by giving employers a way to offer meaningful support at a more predictable cost.

Instead of variable utilization-based spend or limited coverage in carrier-based models, employers can access a model designed to support:

Fixed monthly costs
More predictable budgeting
Reduced financial exposure
Streamlined implementation
A guided member experience

That changes the conversation from, “Can we afford the risk?” to, “How can we offer a competitive benefit while controlling cost?”

Why this matters for brokers

For brokers, this creates a new way to bring value to smaller to mid-sized employer clients who may have been priced out of fertility and family building benefits in the past.

It can help you:

Identify clients with unmet needs in your existing book
Differentiate your offering in a competitive market
Start new conversations around talent, retention, and benefits strategy
Introduce a high-demand benefit category with a predictable funding model

Modern solutions, such as Progyny Select, are helping change what’s possible for smaller to mid-sized employers. Progyny Select is a first-of-its-kind, fully insured supplemental plan designed to bring Progyny’s proven fertility and family building model to smaller to mid-sized employers. It supports employees through pivotal life events, including fertility treatment, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, parenting, and menopause support.

Learn how to spot the opportunity

Curious which clients in your book may be a fit?

Download our guide, How to add a new revenue stream without adding risk, to learn how brokers are identifying opportunities, positioning the conversation, and helping smaller to mid-sized employers offer fertility and family building benefits with more predictable costs.

Progyny Select Supplemental insurance plans are insured by Progyny Health Insurance Company of Washington. All limited insurance policies contain exclusions and
limitations. For full details on coverage please refer to your specific plan documents, application, and certificate of coverage. Progyny Health Insurance Company of
Washington is located at 1102 A Street, Suite 300, Tacoma, WA 98402.

From startup vision to global scale: two years of Progyny Global

Progyny — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 15:57:31 GMT

By Jenny Saft, General Manager, Global Markets, Progyny

When we started Apryl, we made a very specific bet: fertility benefits would not stay a US-only conversation.

At the time, the US market was already moving. Employers were starting to understand that fertility and family-forming support was not a niche perk, but a benefit that mattered deeply to employees and could become a real differentiator for companies competing for talent.

Outside the US, the conversation looked very different.

In Europe and Asia, many employers had a different starting point. They were not used to funding healthcare directly in the same way US employers are, because public healthcare systems already existed. Fertility support was therefore often seen as something the healthcare system should cover – or, at best, something nice for an employer to add.

But when we looked closer, the gaps were obvious. The WHO estimates that 1 in 6 people globally experience infertility in their lifetime, a rate that holds consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries alike. Yet public coverage was often partial, narrow, or tied to specific eligibility criteria. In some countries, access depends on age, diagnosis, marital status, sexual orientation, or the type of treatment. In others, the treatment might be legal but expensive, difficult to access, or culturally sensitive to talk about. The result was a patchwork of support that left many women and families with unmet needs and employers without a clear way to bridge the gap.

That is why we built Apryl in 2019. We believed that global employers would eventually need a better way to support fertility and family forming outside the US – not by copying the US model, but by building something that understands local healthcare systems, laws, costs, and cultural realities. We knew that meaningful support would require deep regional expertise, because what works in one country can be inaccessible, inappropriate, or ineffective in another.

At the time, that required a lot of market education. We were fundraising, building the product, speaking to customers, supporting members, fixing edge cases, writing decks, and doing whatever needed to be done that day. It was intense and scrappy, but the conviction was clear: global companies would eventually need global fertility benefits, and those benefits would have to work locally.

When the buyer conversation changed

When Apryl joined Progyny two years ago, in June of 2024, one of the biggest changes was the buyer conversation.

Suddenly, we were much closer to U.S. decision makers responsible for global workforces. These were benefits leaders who already understood the value of fertility benefits because they had seen the impact in the U.S. Their question was not, “Why should we pay for this?” It was, “How do we make this work for our employees outside the U.S. as well?”

That shift mattered because it moved the conversation from education to execution.

Apryl had built the global-first foundation: the technology, local market knowledge, speed, and willingness to work through complicated country-by-country realities. Progyny brought employer trust, clinical expertise, operational discipline, and experience supporting large, complex clients.

Together, we were able to take something we had believed in for years and build it at a meaningful level of scale.

Why local reality matters

The reason global fertility and women’s health benefits are hard is that the details change everywhere.

By 2024, 55 percent of countries had fertility rates below the replacement level, according to the UN’s World Fertility 2024 report. Demand for fertility support is not a niche or future concern. It is already widespread, and public systems were not built to meet it at scale.

What is covered through public healthcare? Which treatments are legal? Which family structures are recognized? What does access actually look like? How much does care cost locally? How do culture, stigma, language, and regulation influence whether someone even feels comfortable asking for help?

A global benefit cannot answer those questions with one policy and a translated landing page.

That has been one of the biggest lessons from building Progyny Global: care only works when it reflects local reality. What works in Germany may not work in India. What is accessible in the UK may not be available in Brazil. Public healthcare coverage can look strong from the outside and still leave employees with real gaps when they actually need care.

For employers, this means fairness is more complicated than offering the same amount or the same policy everywhere. A meaningful benefit must account for local costs, laws, access, and culture.

For employees, it means they should not have to become experts in healthcare systems, reimbursement rules, treatment pathways, or country-specific regulations just to understand their options.

What changed in two years

Joining Progyny changed the pace immediately. It gave the original Apryl platform access to a much larger client base, deeper operational expertise, and the ability to build for global employers at a level we could not have reached alone.

In a short amount of time, we expanded from a fertility-focused platform into a comprehensive global women’s health offering:

Support in 120+ countries
Not as a theoretical global footprint, but as a benefit that works across different healthcare systems, legal frameworks, currencies, cost levels, and cultural expectations.
14 languages – growing to 30 by the end of 2026
We built language support into every layer of the experience, from the platform to live PCA consultations, because understanding your options clearly should never be a barrier to care.
Three connected programs: fertility and family forming, pregnancy and postpartum, and menopause
This has been an important evolution. Women’s health does not happen in isolated moments, so the support should not be built that way either.
The Progyny Card
One of the biggest barriers in fertility care is the upfront cost. The Progyny Card helps reduce that burden by making it easier for members to access care without paying large amounts out of pocket first.
Country-specific customizations
This is probably the least visible work, but some of the most important. Local compliance, cultural sensitivities, benefit design, reimbursement flows, and healthcare realities often determine whether a benefit actually works in practice.

This is where the Apryl-Progyny combination has been most powerful: we were able to move faster and build at greater scale, while staying close to the local details that made the original platform valuable in the first place.

What this means now

What should be clear by now is that global women’s health benefits are no longer an edge case. They are becoming part of how serious employers think about supporting their workforce.

But the answer cannot be a U.S. benefit exported into other markets. And it also cannot be a loose collection of local exceptions that becomes impossible to manage. It has to be something more practical: one global framework, with enough local intelligence to actually work country by country.

That is the space Progyny Global is building in.

What I love is that the original bet behind Apryl still sits at the center of the work. The difference is that it now has the scale, experience, and employer trust of Progyny behind it.

That is what Progyny Global represents today: a new standard for global women’s health benefits. And in many ways, we are still at the beginning.

Ready to learn how Progyny Global could work for your global workforce?

Learn more