Centering Pregnancy
Improving prenatal care through a structured learning environment
CenteringPregnancy is group prenatal care that brings women with similar due dates out of exam rooms and into a comfortable setting. It combines interactive learning, health assessments, and provides additional time and attention from health care providers. Centering helps to support positive health behaviors and drive better outcomes. This program improves prenatal care by leading groups of 8-12 expectant mothers through a structured process resulting in fewer spontaneous preterm births and less low weight babies, increases breastfeeding rates, and leads to better pregnancy spacing. Participants will meet with their healthcare provider and other expectant mothers for ten two-hour sessions during pregnancy, giving women ten times more time with their provider and creating lasting friendships and connections in ways not usually possible in traditional care.
This is a 2-year project plan with the intention of engaging other local partners throughout the project, considering the spread of service delivery by the end of the 2-years.
Prenatal Care
Our patient population at CMU Health represents a largely low-income, ethnically-diverse group of women who are at high risk of poor outcomes and who would stand to greatly benefit from group prenatal care.
Interested in viewing more data about preterm birth rates and other related indicators in the MiHIA Region?
CenteringPregnancy (CP), a model of providing prenatal care in small groups of 8 to 12 patients of similar gestational age, has been implemented in over 300 clinical practices in the United States and abroad.
CenteringPregnancy
This integrative approach to care fosters increased engagement and ownership of patients in their own healthcare, improved peer support, and substantially increased face to face time with providers (20 hours on average over the course of the pregnancy versus 2 hours with traditional care) leading to improved patient education and better outcomes. Perhaps the most powerful example of improved perinatal outcomes is the impact on preterm birth rates (overall risk reduction of 33% on average, with further increase of 41% among African American women). In addition, other trends have been observed, such as increased rates of tobacco cessation, return to clinic for post partum visits, breastfeeding intiation, and a lower risk of low birth weight infants.
Saginaw County has a rate of preterm delivery of 13.6% compared with the US median of 12.1%. The target for Healthy People 2020 is 11.4%. For low birth weight, our county reports 9.8% compared with 8.2 percent US median and target of 7.8%. Our patient population at CMU Health represents a largely low income, ethnically diverse group of women who are at high risk of poor outcomes and who would stand to greatly benefit from group prenatal care.
Saginaw County has a rate of preterm delivery of 13.6% compared with the US median of 12.1%. The target for Healthy People 2020 is 11.4%. For low birth weight, our county reports 9.8% compared with 8.2 percent US median and target of 7.8%. Our patient population at CMU Health represents a largely low income, ethnically diverse group of women who are at high risk of poor outcomes and who would stand to greatly benefit from group prenatal care.