Veteran-Led Startup Uses AI to Close Gaps in Postpartum Care for Military Families

Postpartum care in the United States remains one of the most fragmented—and costly—gaps in the healthcare system. For military families, those gaps are often magnified by frequent relocations, limited local resources, and inconsistent coverage. A veteran-led health technology company is working to close that gap using AI, while also aligning postpartum care with the goals of hospitals, health systems, and payers operating under value-based care models.

Founded by former U.S. Army officer and tech leader Stephiney Foley, Yuzi Care is reimagining postpartum support as essential care infrastructure—not an optional add-on.

From Silent Struggle to Systemic Change

After the birth of her second child, Foley experienced postpartum depression without recognizing it as a medical condition. Living far from family support in Seattle, she internalized her struggle, assuming exhaustion, despair, and isolation were simply part of motherhood.

For military families, this experience is especially common. Service often means giving birth far from extended family, without the informal care networks many civilians rely on.

That realization reshaped Foley’s approach to postpartum care. Rather than reactive, episodic interventions, she envisioned preventative, continuous, wraparound support—care designed to reduce downstream crises before they reach emergency rooms, psychiatric services, or hospital readmissions.

Yuzi Care: A Modern Postpartum Care Platform

Yuzi Care launched in 2024 as a postnatal retreat near Seattle, offering structured recovery support for mothers and newborns. As demand grew, the company pivoted into a scalable perinatal care platform.

Today, Yuzi Care enables expecting and new parents to:

• Enter their due date, location, budget, and recovery goals
• Receive an AI-generated, personalized postpartum care plan
• Get matched with vetted providers, including doulas, lactation consultants, newborn care specialists, and night caregivers
• Coordinate care across the postpartum period in one integrated system

Foley describes this as a “modern-day village by algorithm”—one that replaces fragmented referrals and guesswork with continuity, accountability, and data.

Why This Matters for Hospitals and Health Systems

Postpartum complications are a major driver of avoidable costs for hospitals and health systems. Emergency department visits, untreated postpartum mood disorders, feeding challenges, and preventable readmissions all negatively impact:

• Patient satisfaction scores
• Quality and safety metrics
• Length of stay and readmission rates
• Maternal morbidity and mortality outcomes

Yuzi Care is designed to integrate upstream postpartum support into the broader maternal care continuum—bridging the gap between hospital discharge and long-term recovery at home.

For hospitals and health systems, this model:

• Extends care beyond discharge without adding clinical burden
• Improves continuity between obstetric teams and community-based providers
• Supports smoother transitions from inpatient to home care
• Reduces avoidable utilization driven by unmet postpartum needs

This is especially relevant for military and safety-net hospitals, where patients may face additional barriers to follow-up care.

Aligning Postpartum Support with Value-Based Care and Payers

As payers and health systems continue shifting toward value-based care, postpartum outcomes are no longer viewed as isolated events. They are increasingly tied to:

• Total cost of care
• Behavioral health utilization
• Long-term maternal and infant outcomes
• Member satisfaction and retention

Recent policy efforts, including TRICARE’s Childbirth and Breastfeeding Support Demonstration, acknowledge the importance of non-clinical postpartum services. However, coverage gaps and geographic limitations persist—particularly for families delivering at military treatment facilities or living in rural areas.

Yuzi Care’s model complements payer and health system goals by:

• Providing structured, trackable postpartum support
• Supporting early identification of risk factors
• Offering a standardized way to deploy community-based care at scale
• Generating data that supports outcomes measurement and quality improvement

For payers, including military and employer-sponsored plans, postpartum care coordination represents a lever to reduce high-cost downstream claims while improving member experience.

Military Families at the Center of the Model

To better understand military-specific postpartum needs, Foley surveyed nearly 250 service members, veterans, and military spouses across almost every branch of the armed forces. Responses revealed consistent stress points, with postpartum doula and caregiver support ranking as the most desired service.

Despite incremental policy progress, access remains uneven. Certification requirements, limited provider supply, and exclusions tied to delivery location leave many families without meaningful support during recovery.

Army officer and mother of two Amber Ortiz experienced this firsthand after delivering at a military installation hospital in a rural area.

“I would have loved to have a nurse come to my house—to check on my baby and make sure we were doing things right,” Ortiz said. “Civilian insurance often covers that. TRICARE should too.”

Expanding Access and Influencing Systems Change

Yuzi Care is currently available in Washington state and expanding into Texas, a state with a large military population and significant maternal health challenges.

Foley’s long-term vision extends beyond individual families. She hopes platforms like Yuzi Care will help hospitals, health systems, and payers recognize postpartum care as foundational infrastructure—not discretionary support.

“Postpartum care isn’t just about recovery,” Foley says. “It’s about outcomes, costs, and long-term family health. If we care about readiness, resilience, and value-based care, we have to care about mothers after birth.”

https://militaryfamilies.com/military-life/veteran-led-startup-uses-ai-to-close-gaps-in-postpartum-care/