accessMedically reviewed by Sina Haeri, MD, MHSA, maternal-fetal medicine physician.
Yes. Virtual prenatal care is delivered by licensed physician practices, not only by apps, and a substantial share of a routine prenatal schedule can happen remotely when it is paired with home monitoring and local imaging. Ultrasound, labs, and delivery remain in person. The distinction that matters when choosing is whether the provider is a medical practice or a technology platform that refers out.
Can a prenatal ultrasound be done remotely?
Parts of it can. A remote prenatal ultrasound usually means one of two things: a sonographer performs the scan in a clinic, a mobile setting, or the patient's home and a maternal-fetal medicine physician reads it from elsewhere, or a patient uses a home ultrasound device with clinician guidance and the images are reviewed remotely. Ouma's MFM physicians read studies from partner sites in both models, including home scans through our work with Pulsenmore, and the report goes back to the patient's care team.
What can happen remotely
History, counseling, medication management, blood pressure and glucose review, mental-health screening, and most routine follow-up visits work well by video when the patient has a cuff and, where indicated, a glucose meter. Remote monitoring turns a scheduled snapshot into a continuous read, which matters most in hypertensive and diabetic pregnancies.
What does not
Ultrasound requires an imaging appointment, though the interpretation can be done remotely by a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist. Labs require a draw. Delivery is in person. A credible virtual program is explicit about this rather than implying that everything moves online.
Practice or platform is the question that separates providers
Some organizations employ physicians and midwives and carry clinical responsibility for the patient. Others are software that coordinates care delivered by somebody else. Both can be useful, and they are not interchangeable when the pregnancy becomes high risk.
Licensure decides who can actually be seen
Care is delivered where the patient is located, so the provider has to hold licensure in the patient's state. For an employer or a plan with members in many states, this is usually the first constraint to hit and the one worth confirming before anything else.
What to ask a provider organization
- Are you a medical practice, and do you employ the clinicians?
- In which states can you deliver care?
- What happens when a pregnancy becomes high risk?
- How is ultrasound handled, and who interprets it?
Where Ouma fits
Ouma is a physician-led practice providing virtual prenatal, high-risk, and postpartum care, licensed to practice in all 50 states. Where a pregnancy needs subspecialty input, maternal-fetal medicine is part of the same practice rather than a referral out.
Related: High-risk pregnancy care · Remote patient monitoring · Maternity care for health plans
