OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – In 2022 in Nebraska, March of Dimes reports that 11.3% of babies were born preterm.

That number is higher than the 10.4 national average, and the highest rate Nebraska has seen in recent memory.

When it comes to mothers of color, the preterm birth rate is even higher.

State Senator George Dungan of Lincoln wants to address and prevent those numbers from growing.

“No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, one of the things that everyone seemed to agree on is healthy moms and healthy babies,” Dungan tells 6 News when asked about LB857, his priority bill this legislative session. “What we’re seeking to do is increase the access to and the availability of prenatal services for at-risk mothers who are low income.”

While Dungan says Nebraska’s current program is robust, he adds that it’s time to do more when it comes to tackling adverse birth outcomes, namely low birth weights and preterm births.

“There are certain things we know are integral in helping those moms and raising birth weights that are not currently able to be built on.”

If passed, Nebraska would adopt the ‘Prenatal Plus Program,’ which Dungan says states like Colorado have seen great success with.

While Nebraska would adopt the program, Dungan says it wouldn’t be a direct copy but would have the same idea: not just focusing on the medical side of pregnancy, but the socio-economic side, too.

“It’s also about making sure you have access to mental health care, it’s about making sure you have access to substance use disorder treatment, smoking cessation, a big one is dietitian and nutrition counseling, and that you have somebody that can do case management for you that sees you throughout the entire pendency of your pregnancy to make sure you have consistent services and that you have access to additional service down the road,” he adds.

The main aspects the Prenatal Plus program would add are targeted case management, nutrition counseling, and making services available to moms who have been identified by their doctors or practitioners as having potential birth outcomes.

Dungan says in Colorado, the program not only saw healthier moms and babies, but it also demonstrated Medicaid cost savings.

“For every dollar, for example, that was paid into for this Prenatal Plus program, they actually saved $2.48,” he says. “So you’re seeing massive net savings on Medicaid which I think is what we should frankly be investing in overall, is upstream investments so that way we’re saving ourselves money down the road while also ensuring we have healthy moms and healthy babies.”

Dungan adds that services like these are also necessary, especially in a state where abortion care is limited.

“In a world where we have now limited our abortion to 10 weeks in Nebraska,  think it’s imperative that we offer as many additional services as possible, and something I’ve been really encouraged by is conversations I’ve had with a number of colleagues, people that a prop choice, people that are pro-life, people that are somewhere in between, this is an issue they all agree on.”

Dungan’s bill originally sought to offer services to those on Medicaid and to those in the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as offer post-partum services for mothers.

An amendment to the bill in the Health and Human Services Committee limited the program to Medicaid users and prenatal care.

The bill was heard and supported by several healthcare professionals while in the HHS committee last Wednesday.

It passed the committee and will be heard on the legislative floor.

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