Rides to Care
Rides to Care
The Issue
Proposal to Preserve the Detroit Health Department’s Rides to Care Program
To Mayor Sheffield and Detroit Health Department,
We would like to tell you the story of a patient who we will call RJ, who at 33-weeks presented for a follow-up fetal growth ultrasound. At her initial anatomy and growth ultrasound at 22 weeks' gestation, there was concern that the fetus was measuring small, and a repeat growth ultrasound was recommended in four weeks. Unfortunately, RJ did not return as scheduled. Instead, she showed up 11 weeks later.
As she was escorted to the ultrasound room, she was visibly distressed—drenched in sweat and short of breath. When we asked if everything was okay, she shared that she had walked 45 minutes from her home to the clinic because she had no transportation. Tearfully, she told us she felt like she had been "a terrible mother" because she had missed multiple prenatal appointments and her follow-up ultrasound. She explained that she did not own a car and had no one available to bring her to her appointments. Her greatest fear was that she had put her baby's health at risk.
After completing the ultrasound, we asked her if she had heard of the Rides to Care program. She had not. We connected her with the program that day and helped arrange transportation for her future appointments. From that point forward, she attended every remaining prenatal visit, all recommended fetal surveillance appointments, and her postpartum visit with the support of Rides to Care.
This patient’s story is not unique. It reflects the reality faced by many pregnant patients throughout Detroit. Unfortunately, Detroit continues to fall well behind the national average and faces some of the highest adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. Per the Perinatal Epidemiology Report published by you, the Detroit Health Department in 2022, the three year moving average infant death rate for Detroit was twice that of Michigan’s average (1). Additionally, The March of Dimes 2024 Report Card identified Michigan as having a 10.6% preterm birth rate, with Black-identifying individuals facing a 2.1x greater infant mortality rate (2). The disproportionate burden in Detroit reflects the intersection of socioeconomic inequities, structural systemic factors and segregation. Though dismantling these factors is a large feat, Rides to Care was a start.
Closing the gap in health inequities is a twofold process: long term investment and policy change for systemic inequities; and immediate and measurable interventions that overcome physical barriers. In multiple systematic reviews, transportation is consistently cited by patients as barrier to prenatal appointments (3,4). Lack or inadequate prenatal care is associated with increased risk of prematurity, still birth, low birth weight, increase in maternal postpartum depression and maternal morbidity (5,6).
The Detroit Health Department’s Ride to Care initiative provided an impactful solution to a large barrier to prenatal care in the Detroit community. By December 2025, Rides to Care provided 20,000 rides to prenatal appointments. Approximately 1,200 Detroit residents used the service with an average of 8 rides per pregnancy. And resulting in a 65% reduction in missed pediatric appointments, demonstrating that reliable transportation improves continuity of care beyond pregnancy (7).
As obstetric providers, we have experienced firsthand the impact of Rides to Care on the outcomes of our patients and the pregnant persons in the Detroit community. Many of our patients face a lack of personal transportation, reliable transportation, and reliance on public transportation around inflexible work schedules or childcare. Transportation isn’t just an inconvenience, for our patients it determines their ability to access the care they deserve and require to improve health outcomes. Rides to Care transformed missed care into opportunities to diagnose hypertensive and glycemic disorders in pregnancy, fetal pathologies and allow for earlier interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality. It allowed for opportunities for us to repair generations of mistrust with the medical system. Most importantly, it allowed patients to receive their fundamental right to access care during an instrumental time in their life. We are concerned that the elimination of Rides to Care risks to reverse all these gains.
As Obstetrics providers in Detroit and members of the community, we respectfully urge the Detroit Health Department and Office of the Mayor to reconsider discontinuing the Rides to Care program. Investment into transportation is an investment into maternal and infant health. The simple investment into transportation is minimal compared to the physical and societal cost of fetal and maternal health complications.
Every pregnant person deserves access to health care. We respectfully request that the City of Detroit prioritize continuation of this program and work with healthcare systems, community organizations, and state partners to ensure that transportation is never the reason a Detroit resident is unable to receive prenatal care.
1. Detroit Health Department. Perinatal Epidemiology Report 2022. Published June 22, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2026. Detroit Health Department Perinatal Epidemiology Report 2022
2. March of Dimes. 2024 Report Card: Michigan. Published November 2024. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/michigan/report-card
3. Bellerose M, Rodriguez M, Vivier PM. A systematic review of the qualitative literature on barriers to high‐quality prenatal and postpartum care among low‐income women. Health Services Research. 2022;57(4):775-785. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.14008
4. Appiah‐Kubi R, Iradukunda F, Perry M, Bazile W, Muwanga P, Roberts SC. Transportation barriers to prenatal care among black/African Americans: A scoping review. Public Health Challenges. 2025;4(4). doi:10.1002/puh2.70128
5. Partridge S, Balayla J, Holcroft C, Abenhaim H. Inadequate prenatal care utilization and risks of infant mortality and poor birth outcome: A retrospective analysis of 28,729,765 U.S. deliveries over 8 years. American Journal of Perinatology. 2012;29(10):787-794. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1316439
6. Heaman MI, Martens PJ, Brownell MD, Chartier MJ, Derksen SA, Helewa ME. The Association of inadequate and intensive prenatal care with maternal, fetal, and infant outcomes: A population-based study in Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 2019;41(7):947-959. doi:10.1016/j.jogc.2018.09.006
7. Catolico E. In a city with a high rate of preterm births, a Detroit program gives moms and caregivers free rides to vital care. Planet Detroit. Published December 16, 2025. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://planetdetroit.org/2025/12/in-a-city-with-a-high-rate-of-preterm-births-a-detroit-program-gives-moms-and-caregivers-free-rides-to-vital-care
85
The Issue
Proposal to Preserve the Detroit Health Department’s Rides to Care Program
To Mayor Sheffield and Detroit Health Department,
We would like to tell you the story of a patient who we will call RJ, who at 33-weeks presented for a follow-up fetal growth ultrasound. At her initial anatomy and growth ultrasound at 22 weeks' gestation, there was concern that the fetus was measuring small, and a repeat growth ultrasound was recommended in four weeks. Unfortunately, RJ did not return as scheduled. Instead, she showed up 11 weeks later.
As she was escorted to the ultrasound room, she was visibly distressed—drenched in sweat and short of breath. When we asked if everything was okay, she shared that she had walked 45 minutes from her home to the clinic because she had no transportation. Tearfully, she told us she felt like she had been "a terrible mother" because she had missed multiple prenatal appointments and her follow-up ultrasound. She explained that she did not own a car and had no one available to bring her to her appointments. Her greatest fear was that she had put her baby's health at risk.
After completing the ultrasound, we asked her if she had heard of the Rides to Care program. She had not. We connected her with the program that day and helped arrange transportation for her future appointments. From that point forward, she attended every remaining prenatal visit, all recommended fetal surveillance appointments, and her postpartum visit with the support of Rides to Care.
This patient’s story is not unique. It reflects the reality faced by many pregnant patients throughout Detroit. Unfortunately, Detroit continues to fall well behind the national average and faces some of the highest adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. Per the Perinatal Epidemiology Report published by you, the Detroit Health Department in 2022, the three year moving average infant death rate for Detroit was twice that of Michigan’s average (1). Additionally, The March of Dimes 2024 Report Card identified Michigan as having a 10.6% preterm birth rate, with Black-identifying individuals facing a 2.1x greater infant mortality rate (2). The disproportionate burden in Detroit reflects the intersection of socioeconomic inequities, structural systemic factors and segregation. Though dismantling these factors is a large feat, Rides to Care was a start.
Closing the gap in health inequities is a twofold process: long term investment and policy change for systemic inequities; and immediate and measurable interventions that overcome physical barriers. In multiple systematic reviews, transportation is consistently cited by patients as barrier to prenatal appointments (3,4). Lack or inadequate prenatal care is associated with increased risk of prematurity, still birth, low birth weight, increase in maternal postpartum depression and maternal morbidity (5,6).
The Detroit Health Department’s Ride to Care initiative provided an impactful solution to a large barrier to prenatal care in the Detroit community. By December 2025, Rides to Care provided 20,000 rides to prenatal appointments. Approximately 1,200 Detroit residents used the service with an average of 8 rides per pregnancy. And resulting in a 65% reduction in missed pediatric appointments, demonstrating that reliable transportation improves continuity of care beyond pregnancy (7).
As obstetric providers, we have experienced firsthand the impact of Rides to Care on the outcomes of our patients and the pregnant persons in the Detroit community. Many of our patients face a lack of personal transportation, reliable transportation, and reliance on public transportation around inflexible work schedules or childcare. Transportation isn’t just an inconvenience, for our patients it determines their ability to access the care they deserve and require to improve health outcomes. Rides to Care transformed missed care into opportunities to diagnose hypertensive and glycemic disorders in pregnancy, fetal pathologies and allow for earlier interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality. It allowed for opportunities for us to repair generations of mistrust with the medical system. Most importantly, it allowed patients to receive their fundamental right to access care during an instrumental time in their life. We are concerned that the elimination of Rides to Care risks to reverse all these gains.
As Obstetrics providers in Detroit and members of the community, we respectfully urge the Detroit Health Department and Office of the Mayor to reconsider discontinuing the Rides to Care program. Investment into transportation is an investment into maternal and infant health. The simple investment into transportation is minimal compared to the physical and societal cost of fetal and maternal health complications.
Every pregnant person deserves access to health care. We respectfully request that the City of Detroit prioritize continuation of this program and work with healthcare systems, community organizations, and state partners to ensure that transportation is never the reason a Detroit resident is unable to receive prenatal care.
1. Detroit Health Department. Perinatal Epidemiology Report 2022. Published June 22, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2026. Detroit Health Department Perinatal Epidemiology Report 2022
2. March of Dimes. 2024 Report Card: Michigan. Published November 2024. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/michigan/report-card
3. Bellerose M, Rodriguez M, Vivier PM. A systematic review of the qualitative literature on barriers to high‐quality prenatal and postpartum care among low‐income women. Health Services Research. 2022;57(4):775-785. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.14008
4. Appiah‐Kubi R, Iradukunda F, Perry M, Bazile W, Muwanga P, Roberts SC. Transportation barriers to prenatal care among black/African Americans: A scoping review. Public Health Challenges. 2025;4(4). doi:10.1002/puh2.70128
5. Partridge S, Balayla J, Holcroft C, Abenhaim H. Inadequate prenatal care utilization and risks of infant mortality and poor birth outcome: A retrospective analysis of 28,729,765 U.S. deliveries over 8 years. American Journal of Perinatology. 2012;29(10):787-794. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1316439
6. Heaman MI, Martens PJ, Brownell MD, Chartier MJ, Derksen SA, Helewa ME. The Association of inadequate and intensive prenatal care with maternal, fetal, and infant outcomes: A population-based study in Manitoba, Canada. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada. 2019;41(7):947-959. doi:10.1016/j.jogc.2018.09.006
7. Catolico E. In a city with a high rate of preterm births, a Detroit program gives moms and caregivers free rides to vital care. Planet Detroit. Published December 16, 2025. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://planetdetroit.org/2025/12/in-a-city-with-a-high-rate-of-preterm-births-a-detroit-program-gives-moms-and-caregivers-free-rides-to-vital-care
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Petition created on July 9, 2026