From insight to impact: How Barrett Pignone is driving change in postpartum health

ZS is committed to driving meaningful change by blending deep expertise in life sciences with human-centered innovation. The ZS Women’s Health Expertise Hub collaborates across the healthcare ecosystem to prioritize women’s needs. From launching campaigns that raise awareness of prenatal vaccines with Spanish-speaking mothers to understanding research gaps in women’s health, ZS applies data, science, technology and human ingenuity to improve life and how we live it.

ZS partnered with United States of Care, a nonprofit focused on creating equity in healthcare, to shape a data-driven strategy for improving postpartum experiences across the country. Led by Barrett Pignone, ZS strategy insights and planning manager in Washington, D.C., this project was rooted in personal passion, data analytics and transformative impact.

Having sought support for her own postpartum experience, Barrett brought personal insight into a system she knew was often failing new parents.

“People assume the biggest part of having a baby is being pregnant,” Barrett says. “But really, it’s the postpartum period where everything changes—your body, your mind, your world. And yet, that’s the moment when support drops off.”

Barrett’s perspective shaped the team’s approach to identifying meaningful, actionable measures for the United States of Care’s “100 Weeks” initiative, a program that redefines the postpartum experience as a sustained journey of health and well-being.

ZS partnered closely with the United States of Care to build an interactive map that helps identify where policy changes, funding and advocacy can make the greatest difference for postpartum individuals. Barrett and her team considered a range of qualitative and quantitative factors, including postpartum depression rates, local policies, healthcare access and demographic data.

“From population-adjusted insights to weighted indicators, we helped United States of Care move from intuition to evidence,” Barrett explains. “It wasn’t just about where the need was greatest—it was also about where they could drive change.”

The interactive map and data report highlight four key postpartum care gaps across the U.S.: Maternal mental health support, access to perinatal healthcare providers, postpartum service coverage and late-stage pregnancy loss. Data shows that these care gaps disproportionately affect areas in the South—with higher rates of postpartum depression, fetal mortality and fewer perinatal health workers—more than other geographic regions.

“These findings shine a light on the deep and persistent disparities in postpartum care across the country,” Barrett says. “By using data to uncover where support is needed most, we have a real opportunity to help shape smarter policies, strengthen care systems and ultimately improve the lives of mothers and families nationwide. It’s incredibly rewarding to see how ZS’s work can drive change in a space that’s so critical and personal.”

By 2030, United States of Care aims to have empowered all women in America to access postpartum coverage and benefits for a full year following their pregnancy. While ambitious, this vision centers on practical reforms within government policy and the healthcare system.

For Barrett, this was more than just a project, it was an opportunity to shape the future of care for others going through what she had just experienced herself. “Working on this as a new mom added clarity and urgency,” she says. “It pushed me to ask: What support would I want for someone in my shoes?”

Barrett’s story is a powerful reminder of what happens when personal experience, professional expertise and purpose collide. If you’re ready to work on projects advancing health equity, explore our open roles.

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