Every new parent should have care they can trust and support they can use. For many families, Medicaid is the foundation of care. In Maryland, it covers nearly 4 out of every 10 births. Strong maternal health programs are both helpful and essential.
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Community Health Plan Maryland (CareFirst CHPMD) focuses on early support, strong provider partnerships and real-life help that meets families where they are.
Our maternal health strategy is centered on family and community needs. It focuses on three key areas:
- Early identification: We find and support pregnancy members as early as possible. Members are grouped by risk level so we can connect them to the right care quickly.
- Provider partnerships: We work closely with doctors and care teams. This includes expanding access to doulas, using data to spot risks early and improving coordination through tools like electronic health records.
- Member support: We offer programs that go beyond medical care—because things like food, transportation and education matter too.
One place for support: Every Step of Your Pregnancy
To make things easier, we created Every Step of Your Pregnancy a mobile-friendly website designed for CareFirst CHPMD members.
This site helps families:
- Learn about pregnancy and newborn care
- Schedule rides to appointments
- Access nutrition support like Mommy Meals
- Find classes and rewards
- Prepare for delivery and life with a newborn
By bringing everything together in one place, the site helps remove barriers so families can focus on their health.
Connecting families before, during and after their pregnancies
CareFirst CHPMD offers comprehensive pregnancy benefits, including prenatal visits, vitamins, hospital care with no copays, free breast pumps and over-the-counter supplies, nutrition counseling, smoking cessation support, home visits, doula services and assistance for substance use or addiction challenges.
To go a step further for growing families, CareFirst CHPMD offers these supportive programs:
- Mommy Meals delivers healthy meals and groceries and one-on-one nutrition coaching to members between 20–28 weeks pregnant. This helps families combat food insecurity, stay nourished and reduce stress.
- Baby Steps automatically enrolls members when pregnancy is reported. Baby Steps helps schedule prenatal doctor visits, connects families to community programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and provides a gift card after birth for baby essentials and supplies.
- Bright Beginnings rewards members with a gift card for attending childbirth, breastfeeding or parenting classes to empower moms through health education.
- CenteringPregnancy offers group prenatal care where members can learn and share experiences in a supportive setting.
- Lactation support provides access to certified lactation counselors, both in person and online.
- MyHealth Rewards gives incentives for healthy actions like prenatal visits, education and newborn care.
Building stronger community connections
Good care is about more than doctor visits. It’s also about connection and trust.
Through programs like Moms Connect, powered by Wider Circle members can:
- Meet other moms and birthing individuals
- Share experiences
- Get support during and after pregnancy
We also help connect families to resources like housing, food and transportation. These connections reduce isolation and reinforce confidence during pregnancy and postpartum recovery to improve health outcomes.
Why this work matters
Too many families face barriers to care. By combining medical care with social support, we help close these gaps.
When families have access to food, education, transportation and support, they are more likely to have healthy pregnancy and healthy babies.
Moving forward, together
Medicaid Month is a time to reflect and bring awareness to the important work and care that exists for our members.
By investing in early support, strong partnerships and family-focused programs, CareFirst is helping build healthier futures for moms, babies and communities across Maryland.
To learn more, visit carefirst.com/medicaid