Equal Prenatal Care Access
for MaineCare Families
About the Issue
MaineCare families deserve equal access to prenatal care — regardless of where they plan to give birth.
Licensed Maine Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are legally authorized under Maine law to order prenatal labs and ultrasounds. Yet MaineCare is currently refusing to recognize referrals associated with planned home and birth center births, creating barriers to medically necessary prenatal care for families across Maine.
As a result:
MaineCare clients are experiencing delays in essential prenatal diagnostics
Families are being forced to seek duplicate care elsewhere
Licensed midwives are facing retroactive billing for previously covered services
Rural and underserved communities are disproportionately impacted
This is an issue of equitable healthcare access, provider recognition, and birth setting discrimination.
Every family deserves timely prenatal care, regardless of provider type or birth setting.
What Is Happening
MaineCare’s implementation of the Non-enrolled Ordering, Prescribing, or Referring (NOPR) system excludes licensed CPMs from referral recognition pathways currently available to other provider types.
Although CPMs are legally authorized to order prenatal labs and ultrasounds under Maine law, claims connected to these referrals are now being denied or reversed.
This has created immediate barriers to care for MaineCare clients planning home or birth center births.
What We Are Requesting
We are calling on MaineCare to:
Restore referral recognition pathways for licensed CPMs
2. End retroactive billing practices affecting midwives
3. Ensure equal access to prenatal diagnostics for MaineCare clients
4. Protect continuity of prenatal care across all birth settings
Why This Matters
This issue affects:
Maternal health equity
Rural healthcare access
Low-income families
Prenatal safety
Birth setting choice
Continuity of care
No family should lose access to prenatal care because they choose a licensed midwife or community birth setting.
Get Involved
Share Your Story
Have you experienced:
Delays in prenatal care?
Denied lab or ultrasound coverage?
Barriers related to home or birth center birth planning?
Financial or administrative burdens connected to MaineCare?
Example stories:
“Families should not lose access to prenatal care because they choose a licensed midwife.”
“MaineCare clients deserve equal access to ultrasounds and labs regardless of birth setting.”
“This is about equitable maternal healthcare access.”
We want to hear from families, midwives, and healthcare providers.
Campaign Resources
Read the Letter Sent to MaineCare
Press Release
Frequently Asked Questions
Social Media Toolkit
Contact Your REPRESENTATIVE
Tell Maine representatives that MaineCare families deserve equal prenatal care access regardless of birth setting.
Media and Press Inquiries
MaineCare families deserve equal access to safe, timely prenatal care — regardless of where they plan to give birth.
Licensed providers should be recognized equally, and no family should face barriers to essential prenatal diagnostics because of provider type or birth setting choice.