As high-risk pregnancies drive up healthcare costs, a simple digital reminder can help employers stay ahead of it

What you need to know:

• Preeclampsia affects roughly 1 in 30 U.S. pregnancies and is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. 
• Daily low-dose aspirin (LDA) is one of the most effective ways to prevent it in at-risk pregnancies — but it's widely underused.
• Maven built a short, well-timed digital nudge for at-risk members. Members who engaged with it were significantly more likely to report taking LDA than members who didn’t engage with it — 73.9% versus 53.9%. 
• Maven's new benchmark finds that among privately insured people at risk for preeclampsia, 63% report taking LDA, identifying a gap that employers can fill with the proper tools.  

At-risk pregnant women are far more likely to take a medication that helps prevent preeclampsia, one of pregnancy's most dangerous complications, with a strategically timed digital reminder, according to new data from the Maven Clinical Research Institute.

More than half of benefits leaders (57%) say high-risk pregnancy is increasing healthcare costs for their organization, according to Maven's State of Women's and Family Health Benefits survey. Preeclampsia is a significant driver of that cost. Daily low-dose aspirin has been a recommended preventive treatment for years, yet a meaningful share of people who should be taking it, aren't. Preventive aspirin reduces the risk of hypertensive disorders by 15–28%.

To close this gap, Maven built an in-app intervention module for at-risk members which delivers short-form content, timely nudges, and clear calls to action to start low-dose aspirin. Members between 12–28 weeks of pregnancy — the ACOG- and SMFM-recommended window for starting aspirin — were provided with brief education about preeclampsia, paired with a prompt to talk to a provider about low-dose aspirin. Those who engaged with the program were significantly more likely to report taking low-dose aspirin during pregnancy than members who didn't engage with it: 73.9%, compared with 53.9%.

To compare to larger population data around pregnancy habits and behaviors, Maven surveyed 1,093 privately insured people who recently gave birth. This benchmark data found that among women at risk for preeclampsia, 63% report taking low-dose aspirin nationally, compared to 73.9% of at-risk Maven members who engaged with Maven's digital reminder.

For benefits leaders, these findings reveal that by reaching employees with the right information at the right time can prevent more costly interventions. Employers can also better understand risks within their employee population.

Addressing the gaps in perinatal behavior

Preeclampsia affects roughly 1 in 30 U.S. pregnancies and remains a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Daily low-dose aspirin, started early enough in pregnancy, is one of the most effective ways to prevent it — yet the medication has generally believed to be an underused intervention. Lack of evidence around how many at-risk people use it and how big of an issue under-use is is something Maven's benchmark data was designed to measure and track the progress toward reducing it.

In general, research around preventive care for women is under-researched and continues to erode. PRAMS, the CDC's long-standing gold-standard survey on maternal and infant health, has had its entire oversight team on administrative leave since early 2025, with data collection paused and its future uncertain amid HHS staff cuts. The CDC and HHS also removed 203 datasets between January and February 2025, with cuts concentrated in racial/ethnic and gender identity variables.

But even before those disruptions, there was no population-level picture of what pregnant people actually do day-to-day — which medications they take, or which recommendations they follow. For preeclampsia specifically, healthy eating, doing enough exercise and monitoring their blood pressure are all ways to lower their risk. Understanding these behaviors can help employers intervene at the right times, reducing more costly interventions down the line.

Assessing your benefits strategy to optimize awareness

Maven's intervention wasn't a new benefit or more coverage. The Preeclampsia Intervention Module is one piece of Maven's maternity program built to identify risk early, deliver the right support at the moment it's actionable, and connect that support to real care — not just information. Ensure your maternity program is operating by this strategy by asking these questions:

Does it flag risk early enough to act on it? Low-dose aspirin only works if it starts between 12–16 weeks of pregnancy. A program that identifies preeclampsia risk at intake — rather than waiting for a diagnosis — is the only kind that can act inside that window at all. Maven's data, diagnostics, and predictive modeling surface risks sooner for timely care, alongside self-guided programs that drive behavior change, and are proven to reduce complications at scale.

Does guidance reach members at the moment it's actionable? A resource someone has to go looking for isn't the same as a prompt that reaches them during the specific week it matters. Maven's result came from timing their short-form educational content to the recommended window, not just making information available.

Does it connect awareness to an actual next step? The reminder didn't tell members to take aspirin — it prompted a conversation with their provider. A program that raises awareness without a fast path to that conversation has only solved half the problem.

Is the program measuring behavior, not just enrollment? This gap is only visible to an employer if their program is actually tracking whether people take a recommended medication, not just whether they've read about it or signed up.

Maven partners with 2,300+ employers and health plans to give members unlimited access to OB-GYNs, midwives, doulas, mental health providers, and care coordinators throughout pregnancy and postpartum, all built around that same logic of timing and follow-through. Across Maven's maternity population, that approach is associated with up to 15% lower c-section rates and up to 27% lower NICU admission rates.

For employers, the aspirin finding is a small, measurable proof point for a much bigger question: not whether your maternity benefit exists, but whether it's built to reach people while it can still make a difference.

CTA: See what connected maternity support looks like for your organization