Mom & Baby mobile clinic delivers care to communities in need

Oct. 20, 2025

Video

Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center

Video transcript

The video opens on a sunny day with a shot of a large, purple and blue mobile health clinic bus pulling away from a curb. A blue banner with white text appears in the lower left corner.

Upbeat, positive music plays throughout.

On-screen text: Washington, D.C.

The video cuts to the back of a purple bus it drives down a tree-lined road. The text on the back reads, "HEALTHY MOMS. STRONG BABIES." with the March of Dimes logo. Below, the UnitedHealthcare and Reckitt logos are also visible. A woman with short, styled hair, Katy, is interviewed inside the mobile clinic. She is sitting on a purple examination chair. A blue banner appears with white text.

Katy Welter: So you are on the mobile clinic itself. I think a lot of people are skeptical when they hear that it's a bus, but it really is a fully equipped healthcare office on wheels.

On-screen text: Katy Welter

Certified Nurse Midwife

Women's Health Nurse Practitioner

The video cuts to a bus driving down a city street, passing a green "Medical Center Dr" sign. A woman with long brown hair, Dr. Kielb, stands outside in front of the parked mobile health bus for an interview. A blue banner appears with white text.

Dr. Ellie Kielb: Sometimes public health can feel really abstract, but this is public health in action. It's going out into communities, it's building trust with families and organizations, and breaking down some of the barriers to accessing the care that families need.

On-screen text: Dr. Ellie Kielb

Director Maternal & Infant Health, March of Dimes

The video cuts to the mobile clinic parked in front of a modern, multi-story brick and glass building. Inside the mobile clinic, Katy consults with a patient. She then places a blood pressure cuff on the patient's arm.

Katy Welter: Do you usually have high blood pressure? Often the patients that we see on the unit don't have insurance or maybe from very low-resource situations or harmful situations. And we want to make sure that those barriers don't exist for the patients that we serve.

The video cuts to the interior of the mobile clinic's exam room, which is clean and modern with medical equipment mounted on the wall. A blue filter comes over the screen, and white text appears.

Katy Welter: The work that happens in this bus is life-changing and, in some cases, lifesaving.

On-screen text: From January to June, the DMV Mobile Health Program:

• Delivered nearly 300 visits

• Had 96% of visits focused on prenatal care

• Referred 14 patients to life-changing interventions

• Expanded with more services and added nearly 100 new patients

The video cuts to the back of the purple bus again, with the sponsor logos for UnitedHealthcare and Reckitt clearly visible. Katy smiles warmly while interacting with a patient inside the clinic. She is then shown in an interview shot.

Katy Welter: Seeing the impacts of providing good care to women throughout their lifespan, you can just see the impact that it has on their family, on their community for years to come and like the ripple effects of providing that care. I think going to places where families already are, trusted community spaces, whether it's faith-based organizations or community organizations, and accessing families in a trusted, low-barrier setting where it isn't as much of an obstacle.

Dr. Ellie Kielb: I mean, without support from UnitedHealthcare and our sponsors, we would not be able to do what we do in the communities. We wouldn't be able to serve families; we wouldn't be able to provide care to people who often would have otherwise gone without. And I mean, it's a huge, huge gift.

Katy Welter: From a healthcare economics perspective, it's smart. And it makes sense to provide preventive care and screening and care before people are sick.

Dr. Ellie Kielb: We also are always going to new locations and hoping to access new populations and provide more care to more families in need.

The video ends with the blue UHC logo on a white screen, with the blue text on screen. The music fades.

On-screen text: UHC

uhc.com

In communities across the country where access to maternal health care may be limited, a brightly colored bus is helping to bring care directly to patients in need — meeting them where they are.

Here in the U.S., more than 50,000 pregnant people receive inadequate maternity care each year, and 2 million women live in counties without obstetrics services.¹

The March of Dimes Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center is working to close that gap. The mobile unit is a fully operational health care clinic, specializing in maternal and infant care. It helps deliver vital health services to women and families across the D.C. metro area. The initiative is a collaboration between the University of Maryland Capital Region Health and March of Dimes, with funding support from UnitedHealthcare.

“I think a lot of people are skeptical when they hear it’s a bus. But it really is a fully equipped health care office on wheels,” said Katy Welter, a certified nurse midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner who provides care on the unit.

What services does the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center provide?

Staffed by certified nurse midwives, the mobile unit offers free prenatal, postpartum, sexual and reproductive health care to uninsured and underinsured women.

Services include:

Wellness exams
Pregnancy testing
Birth control consultations
Infant care
Maternal health education

“The work that happens in this bus is life-changing and in some cases, lifesaving,” Katy said. “The mobile clinic is designed to meet families in their most trusted spaces — whether at faith-based organizations, community centers or local events — breaking down barriers to care.”

The mobile unit also integrates telehealth and point-of-care ultrasound technology, allowing for real-time diagnostics and continuity of care — even converting missed appointments into virtual visits.

“Without support from UnitedHealthcare and our sponsors, we would not be able to do what we do in the community. We wouldn’t be able to serve families,” said Dr. Ellie Kielb, director of maternal & infant health for March of Dimes. “We wouldn’t be able to provide care to people who often otherwise would have gone without. It’s a huge, huge gift.”

How the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center is making a difference

In Washington, D.C. alone, the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center:

Serves more than 1,000 patients every year
Had 96% of visits from January-June focused on prenatal services
Referred at least 14 patients to life-changing interventions

“Seeing the impacts of providing good care to women throughout their life span, you can just see the impact that it has on their family, on their community for years to come, and the ripple effects of providing that care,” Katy said.

Joe Ochipinti, UnitedHealthcare E&I CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Region, is on the local Board of Directors for March of Dimes and works to ensure the mobile unit’s services reach all who need it.

“I know first-hand how the research, education and community outreach can make a difference in children’s lives,” he said. "My son Alec, who is a healthy 17-year-old now, was born over 11 weeks early and only weighed 2 pounds. Having this bus provide outreach on education and prenatal care to help prevent premature births is truly awesome.”

The program is continuing to expand, with new mobile centers launching in cities across the country — bringing vital care directly to the communities that need it most.

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