Workflow Triggers: Delays, Gestational Age & Baby's Age

Workflow triggers determine when a task should be completed or an automated action should run. You can trigger tasks manually, after a specified delay, at a specific gestational age, or based on a baby's age.

Choosing the right trigger allows you to build workflows that automatically follow the timing of each client's journey, while still giving you the flexibility to manually complete or skip tasks when needed.

Available Workflow Triggers

When adding an automated task, you can choose from the following timing options:

  • When Manually Checked
  • After a Delay
  • At a Gestational Age
  • At a Baby's Age

When Manually Checked

A manually triggered task runs when you, or someone on your team checks the task as complete.

This option is useful when an action needs to happen based on something your team does rather than a specific date or timeline.

For example:

  • Complete an intake review and then send a welcome message.
  • Review a client's paperwork and then change their status.
  • Complete a consultation and then add the client to the next phase.

When a task is manually checked, it is completed immediately and the workflow can continue to the next task.

Note: Manually checking a task completes it immediately. For automated actions configured to run Immediately, the action will run during the next processing cycle, typically within about one minute.


After a Delay

A delay trigger allows you to run a task a specified amount of time after the client enters a phase or after the previous task is completed.

This is useful when you want to create a sequence of follow-ups without needing to manually track when each action should happen.

For example:

  • Send a welcome email 10 minutes after a client submits a lead form.
  • Send paperwork one day after sending an initial email.
  • Send a follow-up message three days after a consultation.

The task will follow the order of the workflow, so previous required tasks must be completed before the workflow can move on to the next task.


At a Gestational Age

A gestational age trigger allows you to schedule tasks based on how many weeks pregnant a client is.

This can be useful for automating educational resources, reminders, paperwork, and other pregnancy-related communications at specific points during care.

For example:

  • Send a pregnancy education resource at 20 weeks.
  • Send a third-trimester resource at 28 weeks.
  • Send labor preparation paperwork at 34 weeks.
  • Send a labor readiness email at 36 weeks.

When configuring a gestational age trigger, you can select a common milestone from the available options or enter a custom week.

How Gestational Age Triggers Work

Gestational age tasks will only be automatically scheduled if the trigger date is in the future when the workflow reaches that task.

For example, imagine a workflow contains a task to send a resource at 28 weeks. If the client enters that part of the workflow at 26 weeks, the task can be scheduled for when they reach 28 weeks.

However, if the client enters that part of the workflow at 30 weeks, the 28-week trigger has already passed. The task will not be scheduled automatically.

If you still want the task to occur, you can:

  • Manually check the task to complete it immediately, or
  • Skip the task if it is no longer applicable.

This is especially helpful when clients begin care later in pregnancy and may have already passed some of the milestones included in your workflow.


At a Baby's Age

A baby's age trigger allows you to schedule tasks based on how long it has been since the baby's birth.

This is useful for postpartum workflows where communications, resources, paperwork, or follow-up tasks need to happen at specific points after birth.

For example:

  • Send a postpartum resource one week after birth.
  • Send a follow-up message at two weeks.
  • Send additional educational resources at six weeks.
  • Send postpartum paperwork or reminders at a specific number of weeks after birth.

You can select a common milestone or enter a custom number of weeks when configuring the task.

How Baby's Age Triggers Work

Like gestational age triggers, baby's age tasks will only be automatically scheduled if the trigger date is in the future when the workflow reaches that task.

For example, if a task is configured to run at four weeks postpartum and the workflow reaches that task when the baby is two weeks old, the task can be scheduled for when the baby reaches four weeks.

If the workflow reaches the task after the baby is already four weeks old, the task will not be scheduled automatically.  If you still want the task to occur, you can manually complete it or skip it.


Understanding Task Timing

It's important to remember that a trigger does not necessarily mean the task will run immediately. Tasks are completed in the order they appear within a phase, and a task must be completed before the workflow can move on to the next task.

For example, if you have:

  1. Send an invoice
  2. Send a 24-week pregnancy resource

The 24-week resource will not be scheduled until the invoice task has been completed, even if the client reaches 24 weeks before the invoice task is completed.

This helps ensure that tasks happen in the intended order and prevents later automations from running before required steps have been completed.


Choosing the Right Trigger

When building a workflow, consider what should cause each task to happen:

  • Use When Manually Checked when your team needs to determine when the action should occur.
  • Use After a Delay when an action should happen a certain amount of time after another workflow event.
  • Use At a Gestational Age for pregnancy-related tasks tied to a specific week.
  • Use At a Baby's Age for postpartum tasks tied to a specific amount of time after birth.

Using these triggers together allows you to create workflows that adapt to each client's timeline while reducing the need for your team to manually track and remember routine follow-ups.