Ouma Health, a maternity telehealth platform, announced it is entering into a strategic partnership with Marani Health, a digital prenatal and postpartum care company.

The aim of the alliance is to offer an integrated solution that joins Ouma's 24/7 telehealth access to expert maternity clinicians with Marani's M•care platform for maternal remote management. 

The combination would create an end-to-end virtual maternity care model.

Currently, Ouma Health partners with more than a dozen Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) across the country. Some of those MCOs serve members in regions with restricted or no access to maternity care. 

Ouma provides prenatal and postpartum care working to ensure individuals get services without having to travel long distances.

Marani offers maternal technology aimed at playing a key role in managing pregnancies that could be complicated by comorbidities. 

According to Marani, its tools enable monitoring, data-driven risk profiling and proactive interventions with the aim of improving maternal and neonatal outcomes in underserved communities. 

"Our partnership with Marani Health marks a pivotal moment in the fight to eliminate disparities in maternity care," Dr. Sina Haeri, CEO of Ouma Health, said in a statement. 

"With Ouma's comprehensive maternity services and Marani's cutting-edge remote patient monitoring, we are equipping clinicians with the tools they need to deliver proactive, continuous care to the most underserved populations. By democratizing access to highly attentive and comprehensive maternity care, this partnership ensures that every pregnant person, regardless of their circumstances or location, receives the support they need and deserve."

Ann Holder, CEO of Marani Health, said the company is what ideal maternity care looks like by ensuring that every pregnant person has on-demand access to a team of clinicians and advanced remote monitoring. 

"Our partnership empowers MCOs and other government programs to offer comprehensive, patient-centered maternity services that are scalable, cost-effective, and truly impactful, delivering a level of care that was once only available in major metropolitan areas," Holder said in a statement.

THE LARGER TREND

In October, Marani Health and Ouma Health announced that their joint submission to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund critical research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Prevention Research Center, resulted in a $5 million grant being awarded.

In 2023, Ouma Health partnered with MedArrive to expand MedArrive's mother and fetal in-home care offerings to women on Medicaid. Through the partnership, MedArrive added Ouma Health's maternal healthcare services to its offerings for managed Medicaid health plan members. 

In 2021, Marani Health completed a $7.6 million seed funding round that included strategic investor OneAlphaNorth Capital and the addition of OneAlphaNorth Managing Director Brady Lipp to Marani's board of directors. One Alpha North joined existing investors SWL Healthcare Ventures and TFX Capital as investors in the round.

That same year, Marani Health raised another $3.7 million in seed funding in a round led by SWL Healthcare Ventures, with participation from TFZ Capital. The funds were used towards clinical research and development and to enhance a go-to-market plan.