Addiction medicine in pregnancy, delivered with dignity.
Treatment for substance use disorder in pregnancy should never cost a patient her privacy or her sense of self-worth. Ouma delivers evidence-based addiction care through telemedicine, in the privacy of a patient's own home, wrapped in a full care team. This is not a prescription handed across a counter. It is a program built around the whole person, and the pregnancy.
One of the widest gaps in maternity care
Fear of being judged is not a small barrier. For many, it is the barrier.
Addiction is one of the most stigmatized conditions in medicine, and pregnancy magnifies it. For many patients, the standard path to treatment means traveling to a clinic, in person, to receive a medication like methadone, and then walking back out.
Now picture doing that visibly pregnant, in a small community where everyone knows everyone. The judgment a patient anticipates, real or feared, is often enough to turn her away from care entirely.
This is a substantial gap in the health care system. The patients who most need consistent, expert care are frequently the ones most afraid to seek it, precisely when the stakes are highest for them and for their baby.
Ouma was built to remove that barrier. By delivering addiction medicine through telemedicine, we bring treatment into the privacy of a patient's own home. No waiting room, no visible clinic visit, no gauntlet. Care meets people where they are and treats them with respect.
It's a program, not a prescription
Every patient in the program is connected to a coordinated team that guides her through the whole pregnancy, not just the medication.
One patient. One team. Every visit, the same people, a group that knows her story and carries it with her. Around that team, each patient gets one customized care plan spanning MAT, prenatal care, postpartum support, mental health, and lactation.
How care begins
A provider or case manager refers the patient, and Ouma takes it from there. Members are seen for intake within 24 to 48 hours, and specialists are available on demand when urgent support is needed.
We can start treatment outpatient: no admission required
A patient doesn't have to be admitted somewhere to begin. Most programs will not do this, which leaves patients without a starting point, and it's one of the clearest ways this program lowers the barrier to care.
Evidence-based care, not a lesser option
For opioid use disorder in pregnancy, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine or methadone is the recognized standard of care, and it improves outcomes for both patient and baby.1 Ouma's program uses FDA-approved medications such as buprenorphine, paired with comprehensive behavioral support.
These medications are not a moral concession or a stopgap. They are the treatment supported by the evidence.
Our clinicians deliver this care consistently, expertly, and without judgment, inside a program of behavioral health, social support, midwifery continuity, and MFM oversight, so the whole person is cared for.
MAT with buprenorphine or methadone is the standard of care for opioid use disorder in pregnancy, and improves outcomes. Buprenorphine is associated with milder neonatal withdrawal.1
- ACOG clinical guidance on opioid use disorder in pregnancy; Jones HE, et al. (the MOTHER trial), NEJM. Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine or methadone is the standard of care for opioid use disorder in pregnancy and improves outcomes; buprenorphine is associated with milder neonatal withdrawal than methadone.
The part everyone forgets
Even when a patient is well-supported and stable on buprenorphine or methadone, one conversation is almost always missed: what happens to the baby after birth.
Because these medications cross to the baby during pregnancy, some newborns experience neonatal withdrawal (sometimes called neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS). They may spend several days in the nursery being monitored after delivery. This is expected, it is managed, and it does not mean a parent did anything wrong.
For patients already stable on maintenance therapy, Ouma continues prescribing through pregnancy and postpartum, and stays with them through labor or a cesarean, counseling about the anticipated neonatal course so no one is caught off guard.
A parent who understands what may happen is not blindsided in the delivery room.
Built for the partners who carry this population
Health Plans
A dignified addiction medicine program for members who otherwise go untreated. Designed for Medicaid beneficiaries: accessible, affordable, and aligned with state Medicaid requirements.
For health plans →Hospitals & Health Systems
Add a team-based perinatal addiction program without the regulatory lift of building controlled-substance telemedicine yourself, and keep members on maintenance therapy prescribed through pregnancy and postpartum.
For hospitals →The services that wrap around addiction medicine
Recovery in pregnancy is never only about the medication. These Ouma services share the same care team and plan, supporting the mental health, continuity, and coordination that make treatment hold.
Common questions about perinatal addiction telehealth
Our team can start eligible patients on treatment within 24 to 48 hours of referral.
Talk to our team →Let’s Talk
Perinatal addiction care your patients can reach.
Tell us about your population and we will show you the model.
Expert maternity telehealth, extending the reach of subspecialty clinicians to every patient who needs it.