$1.3M Maternal Health Program Unveiled In Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A transformational $1.3 million maternal health program will be launched in Howard County. Designed to offer prenatal and postpartum care to uninsured and underinsured women in Howard County, doctors will be better able to spot and treat maternal health problems early and discuss with pregnant women how to give their unborn children a healthy start to life.

The program will expand care to approximately 300 women annually and includes:

• Training doulas to provide guidance and support to women during labor
• Providing direct support to pregnant women and new moms on breastfeeding, healthy eating, postpartum and more
• Expanding nurse home visits for new moms
• And supporting teen parents with educational, daycare and health needs

“Howard County is one of the healthiest communities in our nation, but we still have challenges to address. Hispanic mothers in Howard County are four times more likely to receive insufficient prenatal care as white mothers, putting their health and the health of their babies at risk,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said at a news conference. “That’s unacceptable and today we are doing something about it. Our innovative program will truly be lifesaving. We will help uninsured and underinsured access care and overcome obstacles. This is an important step in building a healthier community for all.”

The $1.3 million funding is included in Ball’s proposed fiscal year 2023 operating budget to develop a cohesive wrap-around model with partners and providers that will:

• Improve early access to a respectful prenatal care experience for reproductive-aged women of color
• Decrease disparities in preterm and low birth weight births
• Promote equitable access to bias-free and culturally congruent prenatal and post-partum support services

In the Howard County Community Health Needs assessment from 2019, data showed that almost 12 percent of Hispanic mothers and 8 percent of Black mothers in Howard County received late prenatal care or no prenatal care at all.

"Prenatal care should not be something you should only get if you are privileged – if you only have a certain job or come from a certain place,” Dr. Leia Medlock of Onyx Medical Group, and a member of the African-American Community Roundtable. “Prenatal is not just for moms and babies; it’s for our entire community. There are many insurance companies that will not take on a mother and cover prenatal services if she’s pregnant in the first year of insurance. So this is not just for those who are undocumented, but women who are hairdressers, work at fast-food restaurants, who are born in this country and still don’t have prenatal care because they can’t afford insurance because it is so expensive.”