'Centering' has Benefits for Women

(newsobserver.com)

Prenatal care visits often mean waiting an hour or more for 10 minutes with a health-care provider. Pregnant women are irritated by that. And many caregivers grow weary of going room to room answering the same questions again and again.

A national movement, which includes clinics in Durham and Chapel Hill N.C., is changing all that.

Instead of one-on-one medical visits, pregnant women who are due about the same time get care in groups. The participants share health-care providers but get the providers' undivided attention during sessions lasting up to two hours.

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Group Prenatal Care:

Sharon Schindler Rising, a nurse midwife and former faculty member at Yale University's nursing school, pioneered the idea in 1993. The approach, known as Centering, has picked up steam. The first national conference on Centering was held in March in Chapel Hill.

How does centering work? Women due about the same time are pooled in groups. They meet every other week from 12 -16 weeks into their pregnancy until delivery. Women get short one-on-one checkups in a corner of the meeting room, then convene for a 90-minute discussion

Oklahoma is joining in on the Centering Pregnancy Model. There are several sites around the state providing services with this model. Birth-Wise of Enid is one such facility. Visit their website for information on their program. http://www.birthwiseok.com/education.htm

For complete information about the Center Pregnancy model visit....http://www.centeringpregnancy.com/