Maternity housing programs support a woman in need of a stable home environment to reach her goals in a variety of areas including education, employment, financial stability, prenatal care, and more.
Another sort of temporary housing for pregnant women are the maternity hostels that have become widespread in countries such as India where commercial surrogacy is big business.
In these homes, confidentiality was a priority due to the social stigma around unwed births and the policies reflected the adoption laws and practices of the time.
From these settings grew many of the narratives around maternity homes that continue to this day (e.g. women forced into adoption; preventing birth mothers from seeing their new borns; concealing placement details).
In the early 1970s, Anne and Jim Pierson were pioneers in the host home model and publicly recognized by President Reagan for their family-style method of welcoming pregnant women.