title: Introduction of CenteringPregnancy in a public health clinic.
abstract: CenteringPregnancy is a promising group visit prenatal care innovation that provides substantial health promotion content. Elements unique to group care include peer support and self-management training and activities. CenteringPregnancy was introduced at a large public health clinic serving predominantly low-income African American pregnant women. All prenatal care at this clinic was provided by certified nurse-midwives, and all providers were trained in the CenteringPregnancy model. One hundred and ten women received prenatal care in CenteringPregnancy groups. Focus groups of pregnant women, providers, and health center staff reported that the program benefited women despite implementation challenges such as scheduling changes. Compared to women in individual care, women in CenteringPregnancy had significantly more prenatal visits, increased weight gain, increased breast feeding rates, and higher overall satisfaction. This pilot project demonstrated that CenteringPregnancy can be implemented in a busy public health clinic serving predominantly low-income pregnant women and is associated with positive health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago, Centering Pregnancy and Parenting Board of Directors, USA. cklima@uic.edu
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klima
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Norr
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vonderheid
authors.forename: Arden
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Handler
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010379:Peer Group; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D019037:Urban Health Services