Fourth Trimester Health: A Connected System for Postpartum Care

A capstone project by Carnegie Mellon’s Rapid Prototyping of Computer Systems course in collaboration with 99P Labs, Fourth Trimester Health is a full-stack system designed to support new mothers during the critical postpartum period. The platform combines wearable and environmental sensors, cloud-based data infrastructure, and machine learning models to monitor vital signs, emotional health, and home conditions.

A mobile app provides real-time alerts, emotional tracking, and communication with care providers, while a provider-facing web portal enables efficient clinical oversight. The system’s anomaly detection engine uses Isolation Forests and LSTM Autoencoders, with outputs translated into human-readable insights using GPT-4. A custom severity scoring framework helps contextualize alerts for both patients and providers.

Hardware teams built a modular home sensor network and wrist-worn health tracker. Design teams focused on intuitive interfaces, emotional sensitivity, and minimizing cognitive load. From fall detection and medication adherence to mood tracking and secure data sharing, every component was co-designed with stakeholders including new mothers and OB/GYNs.

Fourth Trimester Health reimagines maternal care with a systems-level approach, turning raw data into meaningful support during a life-changing transition. The solution not only addresses a known care gap but also offers a scalable model for future digital health systems.