UnitedHealthcare's Baby Blocks Helps Expectant Mothers in Louisiana Deliver Healthy Babies

• Expectant mothers who enroll in the online program keep health-baby appointments and maintain healthy behaviors throughout pregnancy
• Interactive incentive program available to Louisiana residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicaid plan

Expectant mothers who enroll in UnitedHealthcare Community Plan’s Baby Blocks® interactive incentive program keep healthy-baby appointments and maintain healthy behaviors through their pregnancies, as well as deliver healthy babies.

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Sicquia Bryant and son Spencer Hill, Jr., meet with UnitedHealthcare's Brad Grundmeye during a community baby shower hosted by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana and March of Dimes at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center in New Orleans. At the baby shower, expectant moms were able to get answers to many of their questions about their pregnancy and received tips for taking care of their babies, including information on prenatal and postpartum care (Photo: Lee Celano).

Baby Blocks helps new moms manage doctor visits and other baby care during pregnancy and the first 15 months of their baby’s life. The interactive tool is available to women covered by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan in Louisiana and 15 other states. Expectant moms receive incentives for completing prenatal, postpartum and healthy-baby appointments. Users can access Baby Blocks via a mobile web application on their iPhones and Android smartphones.

“We know there’s a need to help moms and expectant moms keep up with the number of appointments related to their babies’ health. Baby Blocks is an award-winning resource that can help fill this need,” said Dr. Ann Kay Logarbo, chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana. “UnitedHealthcare is excited to be able to bring this technology to our customers and see the positive impact it will have on their health and the health of their babies.”

Louisiana ranks 49th in low birth weight, according to United Health Foundation’s 2014 America’s Heath Rankings®. Nearly 11 percent of children born in Louisiana weigh less than 5 pounds/8 ounces. Baby Blocks is designed to increase safe and healthy pregnancies and deliveries.

The program enables users to receive email and text message appointment alerts, connect directly with maternity nurses and earn rewards for keeping the appointments. Rewards include gift cards to retail outlets, and maternity-related items including teething rings, diaper bags and thermometers.

UnitedHealthcare serves 735,000 people in Louisiana with a network of 158 hospitals and nearly 13,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

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UnitedHealthcareBuddy Castellano, [e-mail]