06/07/2026
A Care Pathway is not a Referral List.
Handing a pregnant or new parent a sheet of phone numbers, websites, therapists, support groups, and community resources is not integrated care, it is information transfer. And too often, it places the entire burden right back on the person who is already overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, sleep-deprived, traumatized, financially strained, or simply trying to survive the day.
Real integrated care requires intentionality.
It means asking: Where does this person go next? Who is responsible for helping them get there? Is the provider accepting new patients? Do they take the patient’s insurance? Is there a waitlist? Does the parent have transportation, childcare, language access, privacy, or the executive functioning right now to make five phone calls and leave five voicemails?
A true Care Pathway shares the burden.
It creates warm handoffs, identifies who follows up, builds relationships between organizations before the crisis, defines what happens after a positive screen, and It accounts for barriers closing the loop.
Because “Here’s a list. Call someone.” is not a pathway, it’s a handoff of responsibility.
Pregnant and new parents deserve better than being screened, identified as needing support, and then left alone to navigate a fragmented system.