A Model of Group Prenatal Care for Patients with Prenatally Diagnosed Fetal Anomalies

Abstract

The model of group prenatal care was initially developed to include peer support and to improve education and health‐promoting behaviors during pregnancy. This model has since been adapted for populations with unique educational needs. Mama Care is an adaptation of the CenteringPregnancy Model of prenatal care. Mama Care is situated within a national and international referral center for families with prenatally diagnosed fetal anomalies. In December 2013, the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia began offering a model of group prenatal care to women whose pregnancies are affected by a prenatal diagnosis of a fetal anomaly. The model incorporates significant adaptations of CenteringPregnancy in order to accommodate these women, who typically transition their care from community‐based settings to the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment in the late second or early third trimester. Unique challenges associated with caring for families within a referral center include a condensed visit schedule, complex social needs such as housing and psychosocial support, as well as an increased need for antenatal surveillance and frequent preterm birth. Outcomes of the program are favorable and suggest group prenatal care models can be developed to support the needs of patients with prenatally diagnosed fetal anomalies.

CenteringPregnancy: A Review of Implementation and Outcomes

“…Patients in CP were also more likely to demonstrate social and emotional well-being and social support compared with patients in traditional individual prenatal care 56,57 . Similar results were observed in novel models of group prenatal care, such as the March of Dimes model for group care, which led to decreased rates of postpartum depression in groups with higher intermember contact 58 .…”

Group prenatal care for pregnant women with opioid use disorder: Preliminary evidence for acceptability and benefits compared with individual prenatal care

“…Clinical sites that are considering offering CenteringPregnancy to women with OUD may want to consider adapting the established format of the model to suit the specific needs of this patient population. Notably, the CenteringPregnancy model has been adapted for specific patient populations with unique needs, 36,47 which suggests that modifying the model is feasible and may be warranted for women with OUD.…”

First Feed Type Is Associated With Birth/Lactating Parent's Own Milk Use During NICU Stay Among Infants Who Require Surgery

“…However, because of the relationship between initiation of milk expression and lactation duration, the responsibility of providing evidence-based lactation support should not be placed entirely on NICU nurses and should also be provided by the perinatal nurses and other members of the healthcare caring team at the birth hospital 15. Further, nurse-delivered prenatal education—individually or in a group setting—is an optimal strategy for delivering quality, evidence-based lactation-focused education and maximize B/LPOM utilization among surgical infants 27,48…”

“…15 Further, nurse-delivered prenatal education-individually or in a group setting-is an optimal strategy for delivering quality, evidencebased lactation-focused education and maximize B/ LPOM utilization among surgical infants. 27,48 Limitations and Future Directions A limitation of this analysis is that birth/lactating parent's infant feeding intentions (ie, chest/breastfeed, express milk, or feed formula) were not available. Further, variations in feed documentation nurses have impacted our ability to discern between B/LPOM feeds with formula supplementation or formula fortification.…”