Oregon Maternity Case Management:
How Can a Referral Help Women in Your Practice?

Maternity Case Managers (MCMs) are nurses, social workers, and other professionals trained to help pregnant women who have situations in their lives that could lead to problems with their pregnancies or childbirth. The goal of the Maternity Case Management (MCM) program is to lower risks for the woman and her baby and make sure she gets prenatal care by a health care provider such as a doctor, nurse practitioner, or midwife.

When a woman sees a Maternity Case Manager, she is helped to deal with health, social, economic, and dietary parts of her life that are important for a healthy pregnancy and in planning for her labor and delivery. MCM services include seeing the woman's strengths and referring her to community services she may need. There are seven required training topics of the MCM program:

• early childhood cavities (caries) prevention;
• immunizations (shots);
• lead exposure and screening;
• mother to child HIV infection prevention;
• tobacco use and exposure (secondhand smoke);
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS);
• maternal oral (dental) health.

MCMs conduct prenatal and postpartum (after the baby is born) visits with their client, usually in the client's home. They visit the home and determine safety, nutrition status, emotional needs, and relationship support, and provide education, counseling, and referral as needed. MCMs help clients set goals for making healthy lifestyle choices and fostering personal growth.

MCMs identify pregnancy problems or illnesses which the woman may have had in the past and might require immediate referral to healthcare. They offer drug and alcohol referral services, and offer the "5As" as brief interventions to help pregnant women quit using tobacco. Pregnant women are eligible for MCM services who have identifiable risk factors, use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

MCM services are covered by the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) for women who have incomes up to 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

To ask about getting services, contact your local county health department.