Supporting healthier beginnings: Expanding maternal care in Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, approximately 1 in 6 women report experiencing depression during pregnancy. Of those women, 45% report not receiving any counseling, and 60% report not taking prescription medication.^1,2 Depressive symptoms are closely tied to preterm birth, lower breastfeeding rates and avoidable emergency department use during the first year after delivery.^3,4,5

To help address these interconnected challenges, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Rhode Island is investing in three community-based initiatives that expand health literacy, strengthen the maternal workforce and integrate physical, behavioral and social supports. Together, these efforts aim to ensure that every Rhode Island family has the knowledge, care and connection needed for a healthier start.

Strengthening health literacy and connection through virtual baby showers

Preparation for a new baby often competes with work schedules, childcare needs and transportation hurdles. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Rhode Island’s virtual baby showers, offered in collaboration with South Providence Health Equity Zone, Providence Community Health Centers, Nowell Academy, Tides Family Services, Women & Infants Hospital and Asthenis Pharmacy, reimagine prenatal education in a format that fits real life.

Expectant parents join online, interactive sessions on prenatal care, breastfeeding and postpartum wellness. They meet care coordinators and doulas, learn how to access benefits and receive wellness kits and baby supplies that are delivered to their doors. By lowering barriers and honoring diverse languages and cultures, the virtual baby showers help strengthen parents’ confidence.  

Building a skilled maternal health workforce

High-quality maternal care depends on a workforce that is skilled, connected and equipped to address complex social needs. Through an investment in the Care Transformation Collaborative Rhode Island Maternal Health Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Learning Community, UnitedHealthcare is helping build that capacity statewide.

During 10 tele-mentoring sessions, obstetric and pediatric clinicians, doulas, community health workers, lactation consultants and women, infants, children (WIC) and family-visiting professionals learn side by side. The curriculum centers on equity-focused counseling, coordinated case management, breastfeeding support and referral pathways. Real, de-identified cases spark rapid problem solving and resource sharing across disciplines that too often work in silos. Continuing education credits and stipends encourage broad participation, while recorded didactics ensure the knowledge lives on.

Preventing postpartum depression through the ROSE Program

Implemented through a collaboration between Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island and Women & Infants Hospital, the Reach Out, Stay Strong, Essentials for mothers of newborns (ROSE) Program is an evidence-based model designed to prevent postpartum depression. UnitedHealthcare is supporting 100 pregnant and postpartum women, who receive structured mental health counseling and group sessions to build coping skills and social support. The ROSE Program includes four perinatal sessions and one postpartum booster session and can be delivered in Spanish and English by community health workers and public health practitioners.

Managed care enabling community-wide maternal health solutions

These investments show how managed care can impact the conditions in which families live and grow. Education that fits a parent’s schedule, a workforce that learns together and postpartum support that combines nutrition assistance with mental health can reduce avoidable complications and emergency visits. When hospitals, neighborhood organizations and health plans move in the same direction, Rhode Island parents gain a circle of support sturdy enough to hold the newest, smallest Rhode Islanders.

Learn more about our efforts to improve the lives of Rhode Islanders by visiting our Rhode Island profile page.

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