title: Group prenatal care: has its time come?
abstract: Group prenatal care is an emerging trend in obstetrics, and for medically low-risk women has been shown to result in lower rates of preterm birth, higher rates of breastfeeding, and higher rates of participation in postpartum family planning. Significant cost savings to the health care system are seen when the lower rates of preterm birth and neonatal intensive care unit admissions are considered. More research is needed about patients' health outcomes as well as the economic and workforce implications to outpatient obstetric practices before widely transitioning prenatal care into group settings.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Greenville Health System, Greenville, South Carolina †Department of Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picklesimer
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heberlein
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Covington-Kolb
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017046:Cost Savings; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D010358:Patient Participation; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000517:prevention & control; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D064186:Prenatal Education / Q000379:methods*; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States