Title: A Comparative Analysis of Group Prenatal Care Utilizing Centering Pregnancy vs. Traditional One-on-One Prenatal Care in Obstetrics and Gynecology 

Authors: Shami-Iyabo Mitchell, MS(1), Chelsey Ferrell, DO(1) 

Affiliations: (1) Department of Family Medicine at UCLA (2) UMMA Clinic (3) Charles R. Drew Medical School (4) David Geffen School of Medicine 

Petal: Health Justice & Advocacy 

Specialty: Obstetrics & Gynecology

Background: Today's prenatal care model is riddled with inefficiencies and at times lacks appropriate time for connecting with patients, especially socially and medically complex patients. Centering Pregnancy is a group-based prenatal care model that allows for providers to spend more time (roughly 1.5-2hrs) with their patients and for patients to have ample amount of time to ask questions, learn from the experiences of other birthing people, and receive high quality health care. 

Methods: Utilizing HPI protected Microsoft Excel patient data from the electronic medical record(EMR) of the UMMA Clinic in Los Angeles that services majority Medicaid (referred to as Medi-Cal) insured Hispanic patient population was individually collected, analyzed, and interpreted to determine if Centering Pregnancy or the traditional individualized prenatal care model: 

• improved breastfeeding rates immediately after and up to 4 months post-delivery

•  decreased low birth weight (<2400g) 

• decreased premature births (delivery prior to 37weeks GA) 

• rates of vaginal and cesarean section deliveries. 

Results: In our preliminary data analysis we have been able to see that UMMA clinic services a majority 67% Hispanic and 17% Black population of Medi-Cal insured patients. On average, group prenatal care patients attended more prenatal care visits(8; p-value: .0043) than the individualized care patients(6.11; p-value: <.0001). Centering patients(group) presented at earlier gestational ages(GA) for their initial prenatal visit ( average GA: 12wks1d) as compared to individualized care(18wks2d). 

Conclusion: A higher proportion of centering patients are attending more prenatal visits on average which increases the visibility of our patients with their providers. Additionally, patients are presenting at earlier GA for their initial prenatal appointment increasing the likelihood of diagnosing medical conditions of pregnancy. We should look at less conventional ways of delivering care that places the patient experience and at the center to better the outcomes in maternal morbidity and mortality, espcially in communities historically underserved in medicine.