She Paid $20,000 For Her Own Pregnancy, Then Built The Fix For Medicaid Moms

LeadershipForbesWomenShe Paid $20,000 For Her Own Pregnancy, Then Built The Fix For Medicaid MomsByGeri Stengel,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Geri Stengel writes about the success factors of women entrepreneurs. Follow AuthorJun 08, 2026, 07:00am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Malama Health's free app tracks glucose, nutrition, and symptoms and connects women directly to their care team—available in every U.S. state and 20+ countries, in multiple languages.Malama Health is a Medicaid-first maternal care startup delivering doula-led, tech-enabled support for high-risk pregnancies.Mika Eddy still has the spreadsheet. Every line item. Every Explanation of Benefits. The total for her first pregnancy—an unmedicated vaginal delivery during Covid, while she was director of Clinical Product Innovation at UnitedHealthcare—came to just over $100,000 billed, and $20,000 out of pocket. Her third pregnancy, at Kaiser, cost $150. That gap, tracked by a healthcare executive who understood every billing code and still couldn't escape the damage, is the founding document of Malama Health.In March 2026, the Y Combinator-backed maternal care startup closed a $9.2 million seed round led by Acumen America, targeting the 42% of U.S. births covered by Medicaid—a population most digital health companies have never seriously tried to serve. If Eddy's model holds, she may have found the shortest path between a maternal mortality crisis and a market hiding in plain sight.The Insider Who Saw The Gap From Both SidesMalama Health co-founders Orlando Liand, CTO and Mika Eddy, CEOMalama Health is a Medicaid-first maternal care startup delivering doula-led, tech-enabled support for high-risk pregnancies. Eddy's grandmother was an OB-GYN who had fled a revolution and built a practice in rural Japan. Her father was a doctor. She joined Unit...