Group Prenatal Care: Review of Outcomes and Recommendations for Model Implementation

The intent and delivery of prenatal care have evolved since its formal inception in the early 1900s. Group prenatal care offers an alternative care delivery model to the currently dominant prenatal care model. The group model has been associated with a number of improved perinatal outcomes including decreased preterm birth, higher birth weight, improved breast-feeding initiation and duration, decreased cesarean delivery, and greater patient satisfaction. This article outlines the tenets of CenteringPregnancy, the current dominant form of group prenatal care, reviews literature regarding perinatal outcomes related to group prenatal care, suggests future research agendas, and highlights relevant considerations when implementing this alternate model of prenatal health care delivery. TARGET AUDIENCEObstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter completing this CME activity, physicians should be better able to identify the elements of the CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care model, evaluate which perinatal outcomes have been associated with CenteringPregnancy and similar group prenatal care models, and compare the benefits and risks to implementing a group prenatal care model.