BestBeginnings from Premera Blue Cross is a comprehensive program that provides new and expecting parents the information and support they need for a happy, healthy pregnancy and beyond. 

Many plans provide access to the BestBeginnings program, including a mobile app so parents or parents-to-be can get expert, personalized support. It’s easy and convenient, because it’s linked directly to their health plan. With BestBeginnings, your employees get:

• The BestBeginnings app. New parents and parents-to-be can track medical milestones, prep for doctor visits, log health history and test results, and research questions before and after the baby comes.

• Additional clinical support. Premera clinical maternity specialists are available to offer expertise and support when needed. Their knowledge is especially helpful for moms who have a history of multiple births, pre-term birth, miscarriage, or complicating health conditions. The team can also help those dealing with difficult emotions during pregnancy or after the baby comes. 

• NICU support. In the event things don’t go as planned, BestBeginnings offers care management for families with a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit.

My Personal Experience with BestBeginnings

We just welcomed a baby boy to our family last month, and I used the BestBeginnings app all throughout my pregnancy. Here are some FAQs about the app and my experience with it, which overall, was great! 

What made you decide to use BestBeginnings?

It’s important for me to be familiar and well-versed with products and services offered under the WTIA program so I can share that knowledge with our community and sales partners. I had known about the BestBeginnings program for a while, but when I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I figured this was a great opportunity to use the service first hand so I could share my experience. 

What did you like most about it?

The BestBeginnings app has videos, articles, and a weekly baby size tracker, as well as other tools that I found useful. I really appreciated the “To-Do List.” Since this was my first pregnancy and there is so much information out there, it was nice to have an app that provided a pregnancy to-do list and to be able to check off items as I completed them. The list included important milestones like: buy a car seat, take certain screening tests, have specific conversations with my doctor, and even get postpartum care.

It was a nice feeling to be able to mark things off the list and have a sense of accomplishment and preparedness for a truly life-changing event I have never experienced. I also really loved that this app pairs with my existing health insurance plan with Premera Blue Cross. So if I needed to speak to a maternity specialist who is a licensed clinician, for example, I could do that and have additional support on top of my obstetrics team. 

How did BestBeginnings help you most during your pregnancy?

In addition to the To-Do List, the tools really helped me most. The app allowed me to store my birth plan and important phone numbers, track my blood pressure each week, and write down questions to ask my doctor so I didn’t forget them before my prenatal appointments. It was nice to be able to track all of these important things in one application. I also was able to invite my husband to the app so he could see all the information, too. It was a great shared resource for both of us. 

Is there any feature you wish the app had?

It would be nice if the app had a chat function to reach the maternity specialists, even if it was only for limited hours. If parents-to-be want that service, they have to call during certain business hours. Being able to engage an expert virtually through the app would be ideal, especially to get a more instantaneous answer to a quick question. Instead, I ended up noting my questions in the app and asking my doctor at my next visit. 

What advice would you give other expecting parents about using BestBeginnings?

If you or your partner is expecting and you are a member with Premera Blue Cross, I suggest downloading the free app as soon as you can. The articles and tools are so interesting and helpful. Not all of the app’s functionalities will be useful for everyone, but it offers so much that there will be something helpful for everyone. I also suggest going through the whole app so you know what’s on there; I missed many of the tools until I was in my second trimester just because I didn’t dig enough. There’s more to the app than you think, so be sure to explore! 

Let your employees know about the BestBeginnings program offered through Premera Blue Cross, provided under the WTIA Association Health Plan (AHP), so they can take advantage of all the great benefits, tools, and resources it has to offer for new and expecting parents. The BestBeginnings app is available by texting BABY to 29094, or from the Apple App Store or Google Play. To learn more about the program and the app, contact your broker, or the WTIA Benefits Team at hrbenefits@watech.org.