How can your company reduce maternity costs with family building benefits?

Self-insured companies can offer affordable family building benefits and still manage rising healthcare costs—with the right partner. Healthcare costs are expected to increase by more than 8% next year, with maternity-related claims continuing to rank among the top five cost drivers for employers. The key to lowering spend? Early, connected care across fertility, maternity, and postpartum.

Comprehensive solutions like Progyny help employers reduce healthcare spend and improve outcomes by starting care early, managing risk proactively, and supporting members through every stage of family building.

Why family building benefits matter for cost control  

Many of the most expensive aspects of maternity care (complications, late diagnoses, and high-intervention births) are linked to preventable conditions and missed opportunities for early intervention. When employees receive timely, coordinated support, employers see better outcomes and predictable costs. Download our maternity costs explainer.

Top drivers of maternity spend (and how to reduce them)

1. Late engagement in maternity programs

Traditional maternity programs often don’t engage until midway through pregnancy —  after the most critical window for prevention has passed. By then, opportunities to prevent complications and manage costs from the start are lost.  

Progyny’s approach: 

• Starts with preconception care and early engagement 

• Connects members with a Progyny Care Advocate (PCA) before they begin trying to conceive 

• Helps members manage risks and begin pregnancy from a healthier place 

Results:

• 12% more pregnancies per IVF transfer 

• 21% fewer miscarriages 

• 23% more live births 

2. Unmanaged or undiagnosed chronic conditions 

Chronic conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders are increasingly common among women of reproductive age. When left unmanaged before pregnancy, they drive higher rates of complications, high-risk births, and costly interventions.  

Progyny’s approach: 

• Simplifies care with a single point of contact 

• Connects members to an actively managed network of women’s health specialists 

• Enables earlier diagnosis and continuous management 

3. Fragmented fertility and maternity care 

Disconnected fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum benefits lead to poor handoffs, duplicated care, and unnecessary costs. 

Progyny’s approach: 

• Offers connected, continuous care across the reproductive journey, from preconception through postpartum  

• Includes access to doulas, lactation consultants, and return-to-work planning 

• Improves continuity, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes 

4. Delayed family building and advanced maternal age 

As employees wait longer to start families, they face increased age-related risks and complex care needs that can result in high-cost care.  

Progyny’s approach: 

• Builds personalized care plans for each member that address their unique needs 

• Pays for outcomes, so employer dollars toward high-value support 

• Ensures access to a network of fertility specialists  

5. Unaddressed mental health needs 

Emotional wellbeing directly affects health outcomes and costs. Untreated perinatal anxiety, postpartum depression, and infertility-related stress have financial consequences and can increase absenteeism. 

Progyny’s approach: 

• Embeds emotional and mental health support into every stage of care a member may be navigating, whether they’re in the midst of fertility treatments, pregnancy, or postpartum 

• Offers one-on-one guidance alongside medical treatment 

When to take action 

You don’t have to wait for maternity costs to surge before acting. Progyny’s solution delivers industry-leading results. Employers who invest in women’s health through Progyny are seeing a cost avoidance of 25 to 30%, along with:  

• More healthy pregnancies 

• Fewer high-risk births 

• Reduced NICU admissions 

The bottom line 

For self-insured employers, cost-effective family-building benefits aren’t about spending less — they’re about spending smarter. By partnering with Progyny, you gain a proactive women’s health strategy that improves outcomes, enhances employee satisfaction, and keeps costs predictable. 

Let’s connect to explore how leading employers are tackling maternity spend earlier and more holistically, as part of a larger cost containment strategy that delivers healthier outcomes, stronger engagement, and a better experience for employees and their families.