Evaluation of the Prenatal Trip Assistance Pilot Project

The prenatal trip assistance project is a study comparing two methods of delivering transportation assistance to pregnant women living in communities with high rates of infant mortality. Franklin County, Ohio, home of the state's capital of Columbus, has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the U.S. at 8.2 per 1,000 live births.There have been many advances in "smart" applications in transportation over the past 10 years. However, despite the fact that the vast majority of impoverished women have a mobile phone, the transportation providers currently used by the Medicaid managed care plans are low tech with no mobile alerts or two-way communication with the woman. The purpose of the proposed study is to examine the preliminary efficacy of providing expanded and "smart" transportation services to increase communications, reliability, and customer satisfaction and reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes among women whose children are at high risk of infant mortality. The investigators aim to enroll and randomize 500 eligible pregnant women to either on-demand services or usual transportation services as provided by their Medicaid managed care organization. The primary outcome for the proposed trial will be overall satisfaction with transportation services as assessed by the final study questionnaire (i.e., two months after delivery or miscarriage) and secondary outcome measures will include: adequacy of prenatal care, preterm birth and infant mortality.