Pregnancy and family support

It’s extra important to take care of your teeth and gums during pregnancy! Hormone changes can affect your gums and untreated tooth problems can affect your baby.

Going to the dentist is safe during pregnancy. OHP covers extra dental care for pregnant people, like more cleanings and some crowns.

Dental care can help you:

• Avoid or treat cavities and gum problems
• Stay healthy during pregnancy
• Have a healthy baby

Need a dentist? Check your Member ID card. Call the number under “Dental Health Plan” and say you’re pregnant. They work hard to schedule pregnant people quickly.

Your vision may change during pregnancy. Your eyes may feel dry, your contacts might not fit right, or things may look blurry. These changes usually go away after birth, but sometimes they are signs of a health issue—so it’s a good idea to get an eye exam.

OHP offers extra vision care when you’re pregnant, including an eye exam and maybe glasses.

Call NationsVision Member Services for questions about your coverage or claims:

Tell them you are pregnant and be ready with:

• Your Social Security number
• Your Member ID card

If you need help getting to a doctor, dentist or mental health appointment, CareOregon and Ride to Care can help. You may be able to get:

• Help paying for gas
• Discounted bus or train passes
• A ride to your appointment

Call Ride to Care at least two days before your appointment.

Visit our Transportation assistance page for more information on how to plan your ride.

Talk to your PCP or pregnancy provider about any medicines, vitamins or supplements you take. They’ll help you know what’s safe and help you get any refills or changes you may need.

Prenatal (pregnancy) vitamins

Your provider can give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins, which help your baby grow strong and reduce the risk of birth defects. These vitamins often include:

• Folic acid
• Iron
• Calcium
• Vitamin D

OHP covers many prenatal vitamins for free with a prescription. You can get them from an in-network pharmacy. Keep taking your vitamins for six months after your baby is born, or longer if you are breastfeeding.

Visit our Find a provider page to search for a pharmacy near you.

Vaccines

Ask your provider when to get the right vaccines. These shots can help protect you and your baby from getting sick. Common vaccines during pregnancy include:

• Flu
• COVID-19
• RSV
• Tdap (whooping cough)

Visit our Vaccines page for more information and to search for locations to get vaccinated.

A doula is a trained birth helper who supports you during pregnancy, birth and after your baby is born. A doula is not a doctor or a nurse, but can partner with your pregnancy provider to provide:

• Emotional support
• Physical comfort
• Helpful information

Doulas can make your birth experience healthier and less stressful.

CareOregon covers doula services if your doula is certified and on the Oregon State Registry. You can search for a certified doula using either of these directories:

• Oregon Health Authority - Traditional Health Worker Registry
• Oregon Doula Association Directory

Under OHP, doulas are considered a type of Traditional Health Worker (THW). A traditional health worker is a person who has life and cultural experiences like the people they help. They make it easier to get needed care and services to stay healthy. You can learn more about different types of Traditional Health Workers (THWs) and how they can help you on our Traditional Health Workers page.

If you feel uncomfortable during pregnancy, there are natural treatments that might help. CareOregon covers some of these:

• Acupuncture: We need to approve it before treatment (get an authorization).
• Chiropractic care: No approval needed for an exam. Approval needed for treatment.
• Physical, occupational, speech and osteopathic therapy: Exams are covered. Some treatments need approval depending on the reason. If it is not on the state’s Prioritized List of Health Services, you need an authorization.

Visit Find a provider to search our directory for a provider with one of these specialties.

You might be able to take childbirth classes for free with certain clinics or hospitals. Ask your provider for suggestions. Before you pay for a class yourself, call Customer Service to ask if we can help with the cost.

Being pregnant and having a new baby can bring both happy and stressful feelings. It’s normal to feel a little nervous, but some people also feel very sad, worried or overwhelmed. These feelings can happen during pregnancy or after the baby is born.

If you need to talk to someone, counseling is free for all Health Share/CareOregon members. Ask your pregnancy provider if the clinic has a counselor you can see.

You can also call CareOregon Customer Service. Have your Member ID card available when you call. Here are more ways to get help, anytime and for free:

• National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: Call or text 833-TLC-MAMA (833-852-6262)
• Postpartum Support International: Call 800-944-4773 Text “Help” to 800-944-4773
• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call 988 or Text 988

Visit our Mental health page for more details about these benefits.

Tobacco, vaping and other substance use

 If you smoke, vape or use other substances, your baby is affected. But you both can be free of tobacco and other harmful substances. Quitting is one of the best things you can do for your baby.

Talk to your primary care provider (PCP) or pregnancy provider about programs that can help you quit.

You can also contact Quit For Life, a free quit-smoking program:

• Call 800-784-8669 (800-QUIT-NOW)
• Visit quitnow.net/Oregon

Getting help for alcohol or drug use

If you're using alcohol, marijuana (cannabis), opioids, meth or other drugs, there is help. These treatment services are completely covered by your plan. Your pregnancy provider or PCP can help you:

• Find a counselor or therapist
• Get medical treatment to stop using substances
• Stay healthy during and after pregnancy

Check the back of your Member ID card and call the number listed under “Mental Health & Substance Use Plan.” Or visit our Substance use treatment page for more details about these benefits.

Other places that can help:

• Lines for Life: call 800-923-4357
• Recovery Network of Oregon

If you’re pregnant and need help with food, housing or climate devices (like heaters and air conditioners), you may qualify for the Health Related Social Needs benefit.

To learn more about eligibility and apply for this benefit, please visit our Social needs assistance page.

You have the right to a free interpreter for your doctor visits or phone calls.

Good communication with providers is very important—especially during pregnancy.

How to ask for an interpreter: When you make your appointment, let the clinic know you need an interpreter. Try to call at least 48 hours before your visit so they can schedule it. Visit our Language services page for more information.

As a CareOregon member, your medical care is covered during your pregnancy, and for at least 12 months after your baby is born.

At the beginning of your pregnancy, you might see your primary care provider (PCP). This is the provider you usually go to for checkups. Your PCP might be a:

• Nurse practitioner
• Physician assistant
• Medical doctor (MD) or osteopathic doctor (DO)

Your PCP can help you decide when to start seeing a pregnancy provider—a doctor or nurse who focuses on pregnancy and delivering babies. These include:

• Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs): Specially trained nurses who care for pregnant people and deliver babies.
• Community Midwives (CPMs or LDMs): Midwives who help with births at birth centers or at home.
• Family medicine doctors (MDs): Doctors who take care of your whole family. They may deliver babies and also can take care of you and your baby after birth.
• Obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs): Doctors who specialize in pregnancy and birth.

Even while you’re working with your pregnancy provider, it’s important to keep seeing your primary care provider (PCP) during and after your pregnancy. Your PCP helps you with all your other health needs.

Visit Find a provider to search our directory for a provider with one of these specialties. You can also contact our Customer Service team to help you find the right provider.

Most pregnancies last around 40 weeks, or nine months. If you are healthy and have a low-risk pregnancy, you will usually see your doctor once a month at first. As your due date gets closer, you will have checkups more often, until your baby is born. The schedule may be different if you have a condition like high blood pressure or diabetes. Also, your health care provider may change your schedule based on your situation.

After your baby is born, you should see your doctor within six weeks. If you want, your regular doctor (PCP) also can help take care of you after your baby is born. Either way, you should also see your PCP sometime in the first year after giving birth. Your schedule may be different depending on your health.

CareOregon pays for births at in-network hospitals and partnered birthing centers. If you want to give birth at home, the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) may cover it—but only if your pregnancy is low-risk and meets certain rules. Call OHP early in your pregnancy to learn more. Ask your pregnancy provider which locations they work with.

The Oregon WIC Program helps families get healthy food, nutrition education and more. It’s for: 

• Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding members
• Children under the age of 5
• Fathers, grandparents, foster parents or guardians who care for young children

To apply for WIC, go to the OHA website and fill out this form.

Multnomah County’s Healthy Birth Initiative addresses the needs of African American women and their families during pregnancy and after the baby is born. To apply, call 503-988-3387.

Their services are Afrocentric and include:

• Individualized, in-home case management
• Access to community health nurses and other specialists
• Help with goal planning
• Respite care
• Breastfeeding support
• Discount car seats
• Family planning
• Transportation for medical care and health education classes
• Coordination of care with health care providers and community agencies
• Ongoing classes and groups

They also serve African immigrant and refugee families through a partnership with African Family Holistic Health Organization (AFHHO).

If you ever feel unsafe in your relationship—either physically or emotionally—please reach out for help. Healthy, respectful relationships help you and your baby live safer, happier lives.

Talk with your prenatal provider if you feel unsafe. Or contact these free resources:

• Call to Safety: call 888-235-5333 (toll-free, every day, 24 hours a day) to talk to kind, trained staff who will listen and won’t report what you share.
• Loveisrespect.org: text “loveis” to 22522 (every day, 24 hours a day) to text with trained advocates about relationships.
• myPlan app: download this private smartphone app to help with safety decisions if you or a loved one is experiencing abuse in a relationship.

Using seat belts and air bags

Yes, keep wearing a seat belt! Get tips about the proper way to buckle up during pregnancy.

Child safety seats

Information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about infant and child car seats.

As a CareOregon member, you still have health coverage for at least 12 months after your pregnancy ends. That includes:

• Physical health care
• Dental care
• Mental health care

Even if your income or situation changes, your coverage stays active. You can still get extra benefits like glasses, dental care and counseling.

Take care of yourself!

You’ll be taking your baby to well-child checkups, but don’t forget—you need care, too.

After giving birth, your body and emotions go through a lot of changes. You might feel:

• Tired
• Sore
• Stressed
• Happy and excited—but also overwhelmed sometimes

These feelings are normal, but it’s important to talk to your health care provider. There can also be new health issues after birth that your provider needs to check for.

Make a postpartum appointment

Within six weeks after having your baby, set up a checkup for yourself—not just your baby. This appointment is called a postpartum visit, and it helps make sure you’re healing well and feeling OK. If you had a cesarean (C-section) to give birth, you may have an extra check-up to make sure you’re healing from the surgery.

At this visit, your provider can:

• Check how your body is healing
• Help you decide when it’s safe to be active again
• Talk about birth control options
• Connect you to support if you need it

The weeks after your baby is born are very important for both you and your baby. This is a time when your baby starts growing, and you are healing and adjusting to many changes.

Most people who give birth recover without problems. But complications can happen, and knowing what to look for may save your life. The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) created a helpful list of things to look out for after you childbirth. Using the acronym POST BIRTH, here are reasons you may want to call 911 or your provider.

Call 911 for:

• Pain in your chest
• Obstructed breathing or shortness of breath
• Seizures
• Thoughts of hurting yourself or someone else

Or call your provider if you have: 

• Bleeding, soaking through one pad per hour, or blood clots the size of an egg or larger.
• Incision that is not healing
• Red or swollen leg that is painful or warm to the touch
• Temperature of 100.4°F or higher
• Headache that doesn’t get better, even after taking medicine, or a bad headache with vision changes

After you have your baby, your body needs time to heal. It’s a good idea to talk with your provider about birth control before the baby is born, so you’re ready when the time comes.

At your six-week postpartum visit, your provider may say it’s OK to return to sexual activity. That’s an important time to start using birth control. Even if you want more kids later, waiting between pregnancies helps your body recover. Talk with your provider about:

• Your plans for the future
• What’s safe while breastfeeding
• What birth control is best for you

Birth control options covered by CareOregon include:

• Condoms
• Birth control pill
• Birth control shot (Depo)
• Birth control patch
• IUD (like Mirena or Paragard)
• Arm implant (Nexplanon)
• Vaginal ring
• Tubal ligation (a surgery for women to prevent pregnancy)
• Vasectomy (a surgery for men to prevent pregnancy)

Your baby is not automatically signed up for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP). You or the hospital must add your baby to OHP within 30 days from birth. This helps make sure your baby gets all the health benefits they need.

How do I sign my baby up for OHP?

• Many hospitals will send a Newborn Notification Form to OHP for you.
• If the hospital doesn’t send it, call CareOregon Customer Service and ask for a copy.
• You can bring this form to the hospital or your baby’s first doctor’s visit.

You can also update OHP by:

• Call OHP toll-free at 800-699-9075. Choose “Report a change in your information” or “Apply for Oregon Health Plan Benefits.”
• Go online to one.oregon.gov and log in or create an account 
• Send an email to: oregon.benefits@dhsoha.state.or.us in the subject line, write: “Birth of baby”. In the message, include:
  • Your full name
  • Member ID number
  • Mailing address
  • Phone number

Your baby needs to see a primary care provider (PCP) within the first week after birth. This might be:

• Your own PCP, if they also see children
• A pediatric provider, who takes care of babies, kids and teens
• A family practice provider, who takes care of people of all ages

It’s a good idea to find a pediatrician (baby provider) before your baby is born. If you need help finding a pediatrician, you can visit our Find a provider page. Or you can call Customer Service.

In the hospital and during the first weeks of life, your baby will get several important health checks. Some are required by the state. These include:

• Hepatitis B vaccine—protects babies from the hepatitis B virus now and for life
• Vitamin K shot—helps your baby’s blood clot normally
• Eye ointment—prevents eye infections
• Newborn blood test—checks for over 40 health problems
• Heart screening—checks for heart defects
• Hearing test—required in the first month so that if your baby doesn’t hear, care can be given right away and allow speech to develop
• Circumcision—CareOregon does cover circumcision. If you’re thinking about it for your baby, talk to your provider.

Breastfeeding (also called chest feeding or body feeding) gives your baby the healthy nutrients they need and helps protect them from getting sick. If you need help with feeding, CareOregon covers feeding support by an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). These are trained helpers who can support you if you have any problems or questions.

Breast pumps are also free with your health plan. Call Customer Service to learn more.

Sleep is often a big focus during your baby’s first months. Is your baby sleeping enough? Are you sleeping enough? How can you take care of your baby when you’re so tired? Lack of sleep and getting your baby into a sleep routine can be frustrating.

Here are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics to help everyone sleep better: 

• Babies should sleep on their back. The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) grows when babies are not on their back.
• Swaddle your baby. Many babies (but not all) enjoy the comforting feeling of being wrapped snugly in a baby blanket. Make sure you don’t wrap (swaddle) your baby too tightly or too loosely. Too tight and it may be difficult for your baby to breathe, too loose and they may get out of the blanket.
• Create a routine. As early as 2 months old, you can start a bedtime routine to get your baby used to the idea that there is a time for sleeping. This might be a bath, a special song, darkness in the room — anything that signals to your baby that it’s time for sleep.
• Nap when they do. If your schedule allows, take a nap when your baby naps. Even a short nap can help refresh you.

You might hear different terms about safe sleep. Here’s what they mean:

• Co-sleeping is when your baby sleeps in the same room or bed as you, not in their own room.
• Room sharing means your baby sleeps in your room with you, but not in your bed. For example, they might have their own crib in your room.
• Bed sharing is when your baby sleeps in your bed next to you.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends room sharing with your baby — but not bed sharing — for the first year of life, or at least the first six months. We want parents and their babies to be safe.

If you practice bed sharing, keep these tips from the Charlie’s Kids Foundation in mind:

• Put your baby on their back when they sleep.
• Use a firm mattress, and remove unneeded/loose blankets, pillows and stuffed animals.
• Don’t let your baby get too hot.
• Do not share a bed if you’re under the influence of alcohol, drugs or strong medicine.

Babies get fevers, colds and rashes—and it’s normal to worry.

If you’re not sure what to do, call your baby’s provider first. Someone is available by phone day or night to help.

Call your provider when any of these occur with your child: 

• Baby is 0–3 months old and has a fever of 100.4°F or higher
• 3–6 months old with a fever up to 102°F and seems sick or has a fever over 102°F
• 6–24 months old with a fever over 102°F for more than one day
• Baby of any age has a fever 100.4 F or higher for more than three days
• Not pooping normally or seems constipated
• Trouble breathing from a cold
• Ear pain for over a week
• Cough that lasts more than a week
• Sudden rash

If it’s an emergency (such as trouble breathing, baby not waking up or a head injury), call 911 or go to the emergency room right away.

SIDS is sometimes called crib death, and it refers to the unexplained death of a baby less than one year old, generally during sleep at night. Most often, SIDS happens to babies between 2-4 months old.

According to the CDC, there are important things you can do to help prevent SIDS:

• Put your baby to sleep on their back. It is unsafe for a baby to sleep on their stomach and can increase the risk of SIDS. This is the most important thing you can do to protect your child from SIDS.
• Use a firm mattress and tight-fitting sheets. Loose bedding, extra pillows or blankets should be removed from your baby’s crib. Blankets should be thin and tucked around the crib mattress. Or, you can use a one-piece sleeper that a baby wears instead of a blanket.
• Keep your baby cool. If a baby gets overheated by extra blankets, hats and so on, it can lead to apnea (breathing problems) that can, in turn, cause SIDS.
• Use a pacifier. A pacifier at night can help prevent SIDS.
• No smoking. Neither you nor anyone else should smoke near your baby. If you smoke, it’s best to change your clothes before holding your baby. Don’t smoke inside your home.
• No drug or alcohol use if you are co-sleeping with your baby.

Your baby should have regular checkups to make sure they’re growing and staying healthy. These are called well-child visits.

At each visit, the provider will:

• Check your baby’s weight, length and growth
• Listen to their heart and lungs
• Look at their skin, eyes, ears and mouth
• Test reflexes and movements
• Give vaccines to protect your baby
• Ask how your baby is doing and answer your questions

The provider may also do a developmental screening to check how your baby is learning and growing.

Usually, well-child visits will be scheduled as follows (your baby’s provider may recommend more visits if needed):

Newborn: first 6 months

• A few days after birth
• 1 month old
• 2 months old
• 4 months old

Infant: 6-12 months old

• 6 months old
• 9 months old
• 12 months old (1 year)

Toddler: 1-3 years old

• 15 months old
• 18 months old
• 24 months old (2 years)
• 30 months (2½ years)
• 36 months (3 years)
• After that, once a year

• English 
• Spanish 
• Arabic 
• Simplified Chinese 
• Traditional Chinese 
• Russian 
• Somali 
• Vietnamese

Taking care of your baby’s teeth helps them stay healthy. Your baby should see a dentist when their first tooth comes in.

You and your baby have free dental care through OHP.

To learn more about what dental services your baby can get, call the number under “Dental Health Plan” on your baby’s Member ID card.