A New Era in Prenatal Care: How ACOG’s 2025 Guidelines Validate Hybrid Models

In May 2025, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) published forward-thinking guidance that reimagines what prenatal care can look like. Gone is the rigid, one-size-fits-all visit schedule. In its place? A more thoughtful, patient-centered, and digitally-enabled model that recognizes what providers have known for years: Not every pregnancy—and not every patient—needs the same care plan.

This shift is more than theoretical. It’s a green light for care teams and health systems to rethink how they deliver support—and a clear opportunity for digital health platforms like Medbridge Pathways, already built with these principles in mind, to meet the moment.

From Templated to Tailored: What’s New in ACOG’s Approach?

Prenatal care has long relied on a schedule with 12 to 14 in-person visits. But this approach often overlooks the complexity and individuality of pregnancy, especially for patients with low-risk profiles, access challenges, or concerns that can be effectively supported through education, monitoring, and self-guided strategies.

ACOG’s 2025 guidelines reevaluate that model in favor of a more flexible, risk-informed framework. The new approach calls for:

• Stratified care based on medical, psychosocial, and logistical risk factors

• Flexible visit models—in-person when needed, virtual when appropriate

• Shared decision-making that centers the patient's voice and context

• Team-based care that draws on OB-GYNs, midwives, nurses, behavioral health providers, and more
  

In short? It’s care that adapts to the person, not the calendar.

Digital Health Isn’t a Bonus—It’s a Critical Enabler

Here’s the headline: ACOG doesn’t just tolerate digital health—it affirms its role in delivering safe, equitable prenatal care.

The guidelines highlight digital tools as essential components of a modern care model. Specifically, they call for:

• Telehealth visits for low-risk touchpoints

• Remote monitoring using home devices to track vitals and trends

• Digital scheduling and education tools that keep patients informed and connected

• Technology-driven risk stratification to personalize care plans in real time
  

It’s the kind of hybrid care model many of us have been building toward for years—and now, it’s showing up in how the specialty is thinking about the future.

Where Medbridge Comes In: Supporting What Happens Between Visits

At Medbridge, we’ve been preparing for this shift long before the guidelines dropped. Our digital platform was designed to expand access, reduce burden, and give providers tools that work, without disrupting clinical workflows.

And nowhere is this alignment clearer than in our Prenatal Pathway.

This program supports patients with pelvic girdle, low back, and hip pain—symptoms that fall along a spectrum and can often be effectively addressed between visits, without adding to packed prenatal calendars or cutting into saved time off. The Pathway offers:

• Evidence-based exercises and movement strategies tailored to prenatal needs

• Progress tracking and patient-reported outcomes to inform care

• Bite-sized education that empowers patients without overwhelming them

• Integration into existing care models, so clinicians stay informed, connected to their patients, and in control
  

The result? Patients get timely support. Providers stay connected. Systems gain a scalable, modernized model of care that reflects where prenatal support is headed.

Closing the Gap Between Guidelines and Real Life

Let’s be honest—new guidelines don’t change care overnight. But they do provide a critical opportunity. For clinical teams looking to modernize care delivery, the 2025 ACOG recommendations offer both a roadmap and a catalyst for change. And with tools like Medbridge Pathways, the infrastructure is already in place.

Hybrid care is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s the future—and we’re here to help build it.

Ready to learn more about Pathways? Take a closer look or request a demo to see it in action.