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November 5, 2015

Centering® Pregnancy: A Familiar Home for Our Patients

Every Wednesday a group of about 8-12 women meet in the MNHC Shotwell Clinic conference room. A room busy with meetings, Zumba, and various events, quiets down to provide a relaxing space for these women to talk about their experiences during MNHC’s Centering® Pregnancy prenatal class.

Susana Molina, a patient of MNHC since 2014, decided to join our group prenatal care class when she was referred to the clinic by her sister. Since coming to the United States two years ago from El Salvador, MNHC was the first clinic she received medical services from.

Susana left El Salvador to escape the violence in her home country and came to the Unites States with her sister. When she found out she was expecting her first child, she knew that MNHC would be the best medical home for her prenatal care.

“Living here is not the same as your own country, in your country you have all your family. Here you have to survive on your own. Group prenatal care helps me connect with other women and learn from their experiences”, said Susana. Undoubtedly, many of our patients who come to the United States leave their families behind. MNHC responds to the needs of the community by providing models like Centering® Pregnancy that bring the best and most relevant care possible to our patients.

The idea of group care in the clinical setting did not come into practice without hesitation. Research shows that women who receive prenatal care in a group setting have healthier birth outcomes in pre-term birth, breastfeeding, and post-partum depression compared to women who receive standard care.[i][ii][iii]

Angeles Hafiz, our Health Educator in Women’s clinic, has worked in MNHC’s Centering® Pregnancy program since 2013. Angeles, like many of the women in the program has most of her family outside of the country. “Community programs like the ones MNHC provides its patients, help build long lasting relationships in a place where one can feel alone,” said Angeles.

Angeles first interaction with the participants in Centering® Pregnancy begins during the patient’s first orientation in Women’s Clinic. A patient is given the option of individual or group based prenatal care. Once women join Centering® Pregnancy they receive group care every week from 12 weeks to 40 weeks with a midwife, co-facilitator, and a nutritionist. The class focuses on women creating a small community with each other, where they can learn together about prenatal care, and engage in the changes their bodies are going through.

Along with Centering® Pregnancy, all women in our prenatal program have the opportunity to go on field trips, prenatal yoga, belly casting and other fun and educational activities.

“This has been a beautiful experience because we learn from each other. Even though we all are in the Latino community we all have different traditions and cultural practices. I love to see how women get involved in their pregnancy and learn from their current and previous experiences,” explained Angeles with joy.

 

[i] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2276878/
[ii] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23855366
[iii]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3489125/

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