From prenatal care to preeclampsia: How payers can support more predictable pregnancies

Executive summary

Health plans that integrate early diagnostic screening with digital engagement can fundamentally shift maternity care from reactive crisis management to predictive risk mitigation. This approach directly impacts the metrics you care about most: 

• Reducing preterm births
• Lowering NICU utilization
• Improving quality scores

By combining advanced biomarker testing for genetic and hypertensive disorders with continuous member engagement through platforms like Ovia Health by Labcorp, health plans can identify at-risk pregnancies earlier, provide timely interventions, and address critical health equity gaps.

Early maternity care strategies for better health outcomes

Pregnancy risk is dynamic and can change from day to day and week to week. Continuous monitoring paired with diagnostic screening allows care teams to identify risk signals before clinical symptoms emerge and before health and cost complications escalate. 

For payers, this represents a fundamental shift in how maternity risk is managed. Key screening opportunities include:

• Genetic risk screening
• Hypertensive risk screening (preeclampsia)

When layered with engagement and coaching through platforms like Ovia Health by Labcorp, these tools help move care from reactive treatment to predictive risk management, directly supporting population health strategies and cost containment.

The importance of noninvasive prenatal testing to determine genetic risk for children OR Noninvasive prenatal testing: First-line genetic risk detection

Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPP), also known as cell-free DNA screening (cfDNA), analyzes fragments of fetal DNA circulating in maternal blood. This allows for early assessment of common chromosomal conditions without costly, invasive procedures that carry the potential for pregnancy loss.

Labcorp offers advanced genetic risk testing; even when fetal DNA fraction is low. NIPS is often the first major moment where members start actively managing pregnancy risk. 

When engagement platforms reinforce education around NIPS timing, interpretation, and follow-through, completion rates improve and members are better prepared for potential next steps. This reduces the likelihood of delayed diagnoses and late-stage interventions that drive costs.

The importance of carrier screening to determine genetic risk for mothers

While NIPS evaluates fetal chromosomal risk, carrier screening evaluates parental genetic risk before or early in pregnancy. Carrier screening identifies whether prospective parents carry genetic variants associated with inherited conditions, enabling informed reproductive decision-making.

Labcorp offers comprehensive carrier screening panels that support preconception planning and early pregnancy risk assessment for more informed reproductive decision-making. For payers, carrier screening provides:

• Early identification of high-risk pregnancies
• Timely referrals to genetic counseling
• Reductions in high-cost NICU hospitalizations

Labcorp supports a stronger population health strategy beginning with earlier insight into inherited risk and allowing for more appropriate care pathways for mothers and children.

Preeclampsia testing to reduce morbidity, preterm births, and NICU utilization

Preeclampsia remains one of the leading drivers of maternal morbidity, preterm births, and NICU utilization. Traditional detection relies on blood pressure readings and protein in urine, often identifying disease only after it has progressed and requires immediate intervention.

Labcorp's preeclampsia testing strategy introduces prediction at multiple gestational windows. The first-trimester screening test, available between 11 and 14 weeks' gestation, uses a combination of biochemical markers alongside biophysical markers. For years, Labcorp has invested in physician education and awareness around early detection of preeclampsia.

When all four biomarkers are combined with maternal factors in our proprietary algorithm, the test achieves up to 90% sensitivity at 90% specificity for predicting early-onset preeclampsia before 34 weeks. This represents nearly double the sensitivity of traditional screening based on maternal history alone.

During the second and third trimesters, Labcorp’s sFlt-1/PlGF ratio supports near-term prediction of progression to severe preeclampsia, enabling more precise triage decisions for hospitalized patients and helps avoid unnecessary admissions or delayed interventions.

The imperative of pre-eclampsia testing

The burden of preeclampsia and eclampsia falls disproportionately on Black women, who experience these disorders at rates five times higher than white women. Critically, these disparities persist across education and income levels, demonstrating that socioeconomic factors alone don’t explain the gap.

By identifying elevated preeclampsia risk in the first trimester before symptoms manifest, health plans can implement early aspirin prophylaxis and enhanced monitoring protocols, potentially reducing severe maternal events and narrowing outcome gaps.

For plans participating in value-based arrangements or measured on quality metrics like severe maternal morbidity rates, addressing preeclampsia risk represents both an ethical, clinical, and business imperative.

Screening alone isn’t enough

Advanced diagnostics only drive outcomes if members:

• Understand the screening
• Complete it on time
• Receive counseling
• Act on results

Digital maternity engagement platforms, such as Ovia Health by Labcorp, play a complementary role to drive outcomes and success. Ovia Health delivers continuous engagement through personalized education around screening windows, behavioral nudges to complete testing, care navigation support, and symptom monitoring. 

When diagnostics and engagement are integrated, plans can shift screening from simply offered to actually completed—a critical distinction when managing population-level risk and measuring quality performance.

Economic reality and strategic value for health plans

Maternity remains one of the most variable cost service lines, driven by preterm births, hypertensive issues, and NICU admissions. A single NICU stay can exceed $300,000, while severe maternal morbidity cases generate significant medical and liability costs. 

Early NIPS, carrier testing, and preeclampsia risk assessment collectively enable earlier intervention, more appropriate care pathways, and more stable cost forecasting.

Pregnancy screening represents one of the clearest demonstrations of how precision diagnostics, digital engagement, and care coordination work together to improve outcomes and support value-based care models. For payers, integrating advanced genetic and biomarker screening with engagement platforms is essential to:

• Reduce utilization variability
• Improve maternal outcomes
• Meet quality benchmarks
• Advance health equity