Lyft & Babyscripts Offer Free Rides for Pregnant People
Published 04 November 2024
2 min read
In the US, 35% of counties are “maternal care deserts”, where pregnant people have no access to medical help or nearby birthing facilities (March of Dimes, 2024). To address this issue, American virtual maternity care programme Babyscripts and ride-hailing company Lyft have partnered to provide free rides to maternity care appointments, reducing the distance to accessing care.
- Lyft & Babyscripts’ Maternal Care Rides: In the Babyscripts app, users in Washington, DC, can self-identify risks, like transportation insecurity (not having access to private transport, such as a car). Based on the responses, Babyscripts and Lyft offer discount codes to “transportation-insecure patients”, covering the cost of Lyft rides to and from doctor’s appointments. According to the brands, 71% of pregnant users deemed transportation-insecure have already used the service, saving them an average of $173 over six rides (Femtech Insider, 2024).
- The Maternal Care Deficit: Access to knowledgeable doctors is a significant issue: 2.5 million American women of reproductive age live in counties without an obstetric clinician (March of Dimes, 2024). Living in such an area is associated with a 13% increased risk of preterm birth (March of Dimes, 2024). Additionally, travel distances pose significant issues in accessing care: 10% of pregnant people in the US have to travel more than 30 minutes to give birth in a hospital – double the 16-minute national average (Reuters, 2024).
- Telehealth Spotlights Pre- and Postnatal Care: More maternal telehealth services are popping up to expand access and make care more affordable for patients and care facilities (see Millennials Evolve Adulthood). New York-based start-up Pomelo Care gives users round-the-clock access to obstetricians/gynaecologists and midwives through text, phone or video calls, offering digital care to people in remote areas (who might be unable to travel to care facilities).