There is sufficient evidence that group prenatal care improves maternal and infant health outcomes, healthcare utilization, and social outcomes.
The findings below synthesize the results of the studies on group prenatal care across three domains of measurement:
Maternal health encompasses a person’s health during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum[1]. Out of 3.7 million births in the United States (U.S.) in 2021[2], 41% were covered by Medicaid[3]. Medicaid covered over half of births among Black and Hispanic individuals[4]. Medicaid also covers a large portion of individuals who are under age 25[5].
Adequate prenatal and postpartum care is integral to maternal health. In 2022, 74.9% of individuals who are birthing received early and adequate prenatal care[6] while the percentage of birthing people receiving no prenatal care increased to 2.3% in 2023[7]. Postpartum visit rates vary from 24.9% to 96.5%[8]. In addition to varying postpartum visit rates, the content and quality of care provided vary widely based on insurance, rural versus urban setting, and race/ethnicity[9]. Additionally, between 12%-17% of the gender-diverse individuals assigned female at birth have been pregnant at least once[10],[11].
The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality (death within 42 days from the end of pregnancy from any cause related to the pregnancy or its management[12]), when compared to other high-income countries[13]. In 2022, the maternal mortality rate was 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births[14]. Between 2017-2019, 80% of pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable[15]. The maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women is 2.6 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women[16]. The top three causes of pregnancy-related deaths for Hispanic/Latino and White birthing people are mental health conditions, hemorrhage, and a tie between cardiac/coronary conditions and infection. For Black women, the top three causes of pregnancy-related deaths are cardiac/coronary conditions, cardiomyopathy, and thrombotic embolism[17]. Overall, mental health conditions are a leading underlying cause of all pregnancy-related deaths, accounting for 23% of such deaths (e.g., deaths by suicide and overdose/poisoning related to substance use disorder)[18]. Death by suicide accounts for about 20% of postpartum deaths[19].
Pregnant and postpartum individuals also experience a 16% increase in the incidence of homicide compared to those who are not pregnant or postpartum. Homicide is the leading cause of all-cause maternal mortality during pregnancy or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy, accounting for more than two times the other leading causes of death during this period[20].
Maternal morbidity includes any health problems that cause death from pregnancy, both short- and long-term, including cardiovascular disease, infection, bleeding, high blood pressure, and blood clots[21]. One estimate found that roughly 29% of pregnancies include some maternal complication or morbidity, with about 11% of pregnancies including a life-threatening complication[22]. Pregnant Black individuals experience higher rates of maternal morbidity caused by eclampsia/preeclampsia and venous thromboembolism or pulmonary embolism, while pregnant Asian/Pacific Islander individuals experience higher rates of severe postpartum hemorrhage[23].
Maternal Health and Social Needs
Pregnancy and postpartum can exacerbate health-related social needs and compound their negative effects. A pregnant individual’s access to screening for medical risk factors is affected by social and structural drivers of health, such as access to basic needs like transportation and childcare. However, even after such risks are identified, people who are pregnant may not be able to access resources to address those needs due to the same social and structural drivers of health that lead to poor health in the first place[24].
While emphasis is placed on the pregnancy and birth stages of maternal health, physical and mental health concerns remain significant in parenthood and are exacerbated by social needs. According to 2023 data, 48% of parents say that their stress is overwhelming most days compared to 26% among other adults[25]. Parental stressors include financial strain, economic instability, poverty, time demands, children’s health/safety concerns, parental isolation and loneliness, technology and social media, cultural pressures, and worry about children’s futures. Another parental stressor is the cost of childcare. The cost of childcare is inaccessible for many families as the cost is equivalent to 8%-19.3% of the median family income per year for each child in paid care[26].
Group prenatal care brings together patients with similar gestational ages for group visits with the goal of increased patient education and social connectedness. Typically, visits include a brief one-on-one interaction for each patient with an obstetric provider, the standard data collection that occurs at a prenatal visit, and then a group discussion about topics relevant to that gestational period[27]. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has identified group prenatal care as a promising opportunity to improve patient education, create social support, and improve outcomes when offered as an option, but it has noted a number of challenges. These challenges include needing meeting space, cost of training and materials, acceptability to patients (some patients don’t like the loss of privacy), and requirements of maintaining fidelity to the model (e.g., data collection)[28].
There are several different models of group prenatal care, including Expect with Me, Pregnancy and Parenting Partners, Expecting and Connection, and CenteringPregnancy (the most widely used and studied model). In CenteringPregnancy, groups are comprised of eight to ten individuals of similar gestation age and their support partners. Participants partake in 10 visits of 90-120 minutes starting in the second trimester. Pregnancy complications are managed outside of these visits[29].
In a 2021 survey of states, 12 states covered group prenatal care under Medicaid as a specific service. Many other states are piloting or scaling group prenatal care through grants, discretionary funds, or value-based payment models that enable group prenatal care[30].
Medicaid-eligible women delivering at a single institution.
CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care (GPC).
Retrospective cohort study. Birth outcome data from vital statistics records were appended to patient records, and detailed chart abstraction was used to determine spontaneous versus indicated preterm birth (PTB). The association between GPC and attending more than five GPCe sessions and birth outcomes (PTB, spontaneous preterm birth), low birth weight and NICU admissions) was analyzed using generalized estimating equation log-binomial regression models. The effect modification of the associations by race/ethnicity were examined. The analysis included 1,292 women in GPC and 8,703 in traditional individual prenatal care (IPC).
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: After controlling for potential confounders, the risk of NICU admissions (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.37–0.57) was lower in group prenatal care compared to individual prenatal care women. Results differed by maternal race/ethnicity, with the strongest associations among non-Hispanic White mothers and the weakest associations among Hispanic mothers, especially for spontaneous preterm births. Similarly, the risk of NICU admissions was lower among GPC women who attended more than five sessions.
Health: After controlling for potential confounders, the risk of pre-term birth (relative risk [RR] 0.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31–0.47), spontaneous preterm birth (RR 0.49; 95% CI 0.38–0.63), and low birth weight (RR 0.46; 95% CI 0.37–0.56) was lower in women in GPC compared to IPC. The risk of preterm birth and low birth weight was lower among group prenatal care women who attended more than five sessions.
Patients on their first prenatal visit to a community health clinic in a southeastern U.S. city.
CenteringPregnancy is a group prenatal care model based on three components—assessment, education, and support. Groups follow a standard prenatal care appointment schedule in a structured, standardized format. Each two-hour session consists of 8 to 12 women with two co-facilitators and includes time for discussion and support. Typically, the model comprises 10 sessions plus a reunion visit where mothers may bring their newborns.
Pre- and post-period data was collected at the initial obstetric visit and again at the postpartum visit, respectively, to compare psychosocial outcomes for participants with patients in individual prenatal care. 129 pregnant women receiving prenatal care from the community health clinic consented to participate; 71 completed their six-week postpartum visit/follow-up (31 CenteringPregnancy participants and 40 individual prenatal care participants completed the study).
Health: A significant increase in Pregnancy Knowledge Scale scores was observed in the CenteringPregnancy group (p = 0.0278). Women in both groups had no significant difference in depression scores.
Women who delivered at term.
Group prenatal care (GPC).
Retrospective cohort study. A group of 207 GPC patients who delivered from 2004 to 2014 were matched in a 1:2 ratio to 414 patients with term singleton pregnancies who delivered at the same institution during the same period. Matching was done by delivery year, maternal age, race, and insurance status.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Patients in GPC were significantly less likely than controls to require cesarean delivery (14% v. 24.88%; RR .56, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.82), have low five-minute Apgar scores (1.45 v. 5.80; RR 0.25; 95% CI 0.08 to 0.82) and need higher-level neonatal care (NICU: 1.5% vs 6.5%; RR 0.22; 95% CI 0.07 to 0.72).
Health: GPC was associated with a significant reduction in low-birth weight infants compared with traditional care (11.1% vs 19.6%; relative risk (RR) 0.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37 to 0.87). There were no significant differences in rates of early-term birth and neonatal death.
Pregnant women with type 2 or gestational diabetes, 22 to 34 weeks of gestational age at first study visit, able to attend group care at specified times, English or Spanish speaking.
Diabetes group prenatal care.
A pilot randomized controlled trial. Of 159 eligible women, 84 (53%) consented to participate in the study and were randomized to group (n = 42) or individual (n = 42) prenatal care. Demographic characteristics were similar between study arms.
Health: Completion of diabetes self-care activities was similar overall, but women in group care ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables on more days per week (5.1 days/week ± 2.0 standard deviation [SD] in group care vs. 3.4 days ± 2.6 SD in individual care; p< 0.01) and gained less weight per week during the study period (0.2 lbs/week vs. 0.5 lbs/week; p = 0.03) than women in individual care. Women with gestational diabetes randomized to group care were 3.5 times more likely to have postpartum glucose tolerance testing than those in individual care (70 vs. 21%; relative risk: 3.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.4–8.8). Other maternal, neonatal, and pregnancy outcomes were similar between study arms.
Pregnant mothers at an obstetric practice.
CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care (South Carolina Medicaid managed care organization practice).
One-to-many case-control matching without replacement. Each CenteringPregnancy participant was matched retrospectively on propensity score, age, race, and clinical risk factors with five individual care participants. Odds of newborn hospital admission type (NICU or well-baby admission) were estimated for matched CenteringPregnancy and individual care cohorts with four or more visits using multivariate logistic regression. Cost savings were calculated using mean costs per admission type at the delivery hospital. 85 CenteringPregnancy patients participated in four or more sessions, all of whom had complete clinical data used to calculate pregnancy risk scores and verified newborn records. 82 of these patients (96%) participated in five or more visits for which the practice received the incentive payment.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Of the CenteringPregnancy newborns, 3.5% had a NICU admission compared with 12% of individual care newborns (p < .001). Investing in CenteringPregnancy for 85 patients ($14,875 total) led to an estimated net savings for the managed care organization of $67,293 total in NICU costs.
Pregnant women aged 14-48 across 13 healthcare practices in South Carolina (2013-2017).
Group prenatal care visits in a multi-site expansion of group prenatal care supported by a state-wide multidisciplinary Perinatal Quality Collaborative.
Preferential-within cluster matching propensity score method and logistic regression (n=15,330). Outcomes were extracted from birth certificate data. Outcomes were compared for (a) women at the intent-to-treat level and (b) women participating in at least five group prenatal care visits to women with less than five group visits with at least five prenatal visits total.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: In the intent-to-treat analyses, women who received group prenatal care were significantly less likely to have NICU admissions (absolute risk difference − 4.0%, 95% CI − 5.6 to − 2.3%).
Health: In the intent-to-treat analyses, women who received group prenatal care were significantly less likely to have preterm births (absolute risk difference − 3.2%, 95% CI − 5.3 to − 1%) and low birth weight births (absolute risk difference − 3.7%, 95% CI − 5.5 to − 1.8%). In the as-treated analyses, women had greater improvements compared to intent-to-treat analyses in preterm birth and low birth weight outcomes.
Pregnant women with a live, singleton birth who received group (CenteringPregnancy or Expect With Me) or individual prenatal care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center from January 2009 through June 2016.
Group prenatal care.
Propensity scores were used for matching based on year of delivery, age, race, pregnancy risk, and adequacy of care. The propensity score matched sample included 1,384 group and 5,055 individual prenatal care patients (total = 6,439 women). Preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) and low birth weight (<2,500 g) were obtained from a systematic medical review. Risks were estimated using Poisson regression.
Health: Controlling for individual visits statistically as a variable, receiving group prenatal care resulted in a significantly lower risk of having a preterm birth (Relative Risk [RR] 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49–0.81) and low birth weight baby (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.47–0.81), compared to receiving individual care only. Women with ≥5 group prenatal care visits experienced even greater benefits: 68% (RR = 0.32; 95% CI 0.22–0.45) and 66% (RR = 0.34; 95% CI 0.23–0.50) risk reduction in preterm birth and low birth weight, respectively.
Medicaid-enrolled women in CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care.
CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care.
Birth certificates and Medicaid claims for women receiving group prenatal care in 18 healthcare practices were linked. Preferential-within cluster propensity score methods were applied to identify a comparison group, accounting for the nested data structure by practice. Five standardized, claims-based outcomes were examined: postpartum visit attendance; contraception within three days; and any contraception, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), and permanent contraception within eight weeks. Outcomes were assessed using logistic regression for two treatment levels: (1) any group attendance compared to no group attendance and (2) attendance of at five or more group sessions to at least five prenatal care visits, including crossovers attending fewer than five group sessions (minimum threshold analysis).
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Women attending at least five group sessions had higher rates of postpartum visit attendance (71.5% vs. 67.5%, p < .05). Women with any group attendance (N = 2,834) were more likely than women with individual care only (N = 13,088) to receive contraception within three days (19.8% vs. 16.9%, p < .001) and to receive a LARC within eight weeks postpartum (18.0% vs. 15.2%, p < .001). At both treatment levels, group participants were less likely to use permanent contraception (5.9% vs. 7.8%, p < 0.001). Women meeting the five-visit group threshold were not more likely to initiate contraception or LARCs within eight weeks postpartum.
Pregnant patients.
Expect With Me (EWM) group prenatal care.
Type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials. The average treatment effect of EWM compared to individual care only was estimated using augmented inverse probability weighting. Participants entered care <24 weeks gestation, had singleton pregnancy, and had no prior preterm birth (N = 2,402). The mean participant age was 27.1 (SD = 5.77); 49.5% were Black; 15.3% were Latina; and 59.7% were publicly insured.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Compared to those receiving individual care only, EWM patients did significantly better on reduced admissions to NICU (9.4% vs. 14.6%, RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.49, 0.78). EWM patients attended a mean of 5.9 group visits (SD = 2.7); 70% attended ≥5 group visits.
Health: Compared to those receiving individual care only, EWM patients did significantly better on lower risk of infants born preterm (<37 weeks gestation; 6.4% vs. 15.1%, risk ratio (RR) 0.42, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.29, 0.54) and low birth weight (<2,500 g; 4.3% vs. 11.6%, RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.24, 0.49). There was no difference in the rate of newborns who were small for gestational age (<10% percentile of weight for gestational age). Post-hoc analyses indicated that EWM patients utilizing the integrated information technology platform had a lower risk for low birth weight infants (RR 0.47, 95% CI 0.24, 0.86) than non-users.
Immigrant and minority women who had given birth.
CenteringPregnancy, a model of group prenatal care and childbirth education.
In-depth interviews and surveys were conducted with a sample of racially diverse CenteringPregnancy participants about their birth experiences. Interview transcripts were analyzed thematically. Study participants (n = 34) were primarily low-income, Spanish-speaking immigrants with an average age of 29.7.
Social: On a scale from 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), women reported high satisfaction with birth (9.0) and care (9.3). In interviews, they expressed appreciation for the choice to labor with minimal medical intervention.
Pregnant Somali women at more than 20 weeks gestation receiving prenatal care at a federally qualified health center in an urban midwestern setting, which serves a largely East African immigrant and refugee population.
Many participants were non-English speaking.
A version of CenteringPregnancy adapted to the East African population at the project site and offered to all eligible women receiving individual prenatal care at the clinic. Women attended biweekly sessions, including individual assessment and education, exposure to integrative health therapies, and group discussions.
Pre- and postintervention data were collected in surveys and in-depth interviews from March to August 2017. 17 Somali women attended a median of two sessions (range = 1-7).
Health: Self-reported results for knowledge of safe exercise in pregnancy (p = .02), exclusive breastfeeding (p = .04), what happens in the hospital (p = .02), and stress management (p = .03) increased after group prenatal care (GPC) participation.
Social: 93% of women preferred GPC to individual care.
Women from 21 obstetric and family medicine practices who received startup funding, training, and technical assistance from the South Carolina CenteringPregnancy Expansion Project (SCCPEP).
CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care.
Retrospective cohort study. Medicaid claims and birth certificate data from a statewide expansion of group care were used to compare emergency room (ER) utilization between pregnant women participating in group prenatal care and individual prenatal care. Propensity score matching methods were used for the analysis.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Group care was associated with a significant reduction in the likelihood of having any ER utilization (-5.9% among women receiving any group care and -6.0% among women attending at least five group care sessions).
Women who are pregnant and have type 2 or gestational diabetes at Denver Health (DH) and Washington University in St. Louis (WU) including Spanish (at DH) or English (at WU) speaking women.
Group prenatal care (GPC).
Secondary analysis of a two-center pilot randomized controlled trial. Women were randomized to group prenatal care or individual prenatal care (IPC). Participants completed an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at randomization, at 38-week gestation and at 6 to 12 weeks postpartum. The diabetes support scale (DSS), which includes 12 questions answered on a Likert scale, was administered at 38 weeks. Analysis was by intent-to-treat. A total of 84 women were consented and randomized. Primary outcome data was available for 75 women: 38 in GPC and 37 in IPC.
Health: There were no differences between groups in EPDS scores, depression (EPDS >10), or rates of improved EPDS scores from baseline to 38 weeks.
Social: More women randomized to GPC reported composite positive peer support on the DSS (52.5% versus 26.3%; p< .02).
Women who participated in group prenatal care from 2009 to 2015.
Group prenatal care.
Retrospective cohort study. Participants (n= 2117) were matched with the next two women who had the same payer type, were within 2-kg/m2 pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and two-week gestational age at delivery, and had received individual prenatal care. Bivariate comparisons of demographics and antenatal complications were performed for women in group and individual prenatal care, and weight gain was categorized as “below,” “met,” or “exceeded” goals according to the 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines. Logistic regression analysis estimated the association between excessive weight gain and model of care, with adjustment for confounders, stratified by BMI.
Health: Women in group prenatal care more commonly exceeded the weight gain goals (55% compared with 48%, P<.001). The differences in gestational weight gain were concentrated among normal-weight (mean 34.2 compared with 32.1 pounds, P<.001; 47% compared with 41% exceeded, P=.008) and overweight women (mean 31.5 compared with 27.1 pounds, P<.001; 69% compared with 54% exceeded, P<.001). When adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, parity, education, and tobacco use, the increased odds for excessive gestational weight gain persisted among normal-weight (odds ratio [OR] 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09–1.51) and overweight (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.50–2.27) women. Nulliparity was associated with increased excessive gestational weight gain (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.33–1.68), whereas Hispanic ethnicity was associated with decreased excessive gestational weight gain (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.59–0.78).
Women receiving care for opioid use disorder at an opioid treatment program and who delivered in 2019.
Group prenatal care (GPC).
Retrospective cohort study of 71 women (group prenatal care n = 15; Individual prenatal care n = 56). Acceptability of the intervention by participants was determined by assessing the representativeness of the GPC cohorts, examining attendance at sessions, and using responses to a survey completed by GPC participants. The receipt of health services and healthcare use, behaviors, and infant health between those who participated in GPC and those who received individual prenatal care (IPC) were described.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Increased receipt of the Tdap vaccine, and postpartum visit attendance at one to two weeks and four to eight weeks were observed in the GPC group compared with the IPC group.
Health: Fewer GPC participants reported postpartum depression symptomatology. Increased rates of breastfeeding initiation and breastfeeding at hospital discharge were observed in the GPC group compared with the IPC group.
Social: All GPC participants reported that they were satisfied to very satisfied with the program.
Patients at a military treatment facility.
Group prenatal care using the CenteringPregnancy model, administered by certified nurse midwives, family residents, and faculty.
Randomized controlled trial (n=129). Participants received either traditional one-on-one prenatal care or group prenatal care. The primary outcomes were infant birth weight appropriateness for gestational age, maternal anxiety (as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and depression (as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale), and patient satisfaction (as measured by the Short-Form Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire). Infant birth weights were compared using Chi-square tests for the categorical variables of small for gestational age, appropriate for gestational age, or large for gestational age. Maternal mood and satisfaction scores were evaluated before, during, and after the intervention and analyzed using rank sum tests. Additional demographic and outcome data were collected directly from participants and extracted from patient records.
Health: Patients receiving group care were more likely to deliver an infant that was appropriate for gestational age, with an incidence ratio of 1.12 [CI = 1.01–1.25, p = 0.04]. Depression and anxiety levels remained similar between groups throughout the study. There were no differences between groups in preterm births, maternal or neonatal morbidity, mode of delivery, maternal weight gain, or breastfeeding rates.
Social: Satisfaction was similar between groups, though patients receiving group care reported higher satisfaction with the accessibility and convenience of their care at the study’s end [p = 0.048].
Pregnant women.
Group prenatal care.
Systematic review. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, including five randomized controlled trials and four observational studies involving 1,585 (39%) in GPC and 2,456 women (61%) in standard (individual) pregnancy care. Due to the diversity of group care structure and content and the lack of outcomes measures universally reported, a comprehensive meta-analysis could not be performed.
Health: Where targeted education was integrated into the group pregnancy care model, significant reductions in depressive symptoms were observed. In addition, secondary analysis across several studies identified a subset of GPC women, e.g., higher risk for psychological symptoms, who reported a decrease in their depression, stress, and anxiety symptoms, postpartum.
Pregnant women with specific high-risk conditions.
Group prenatal care (GPC).
Systematic review. 37 reports were identified for inclusion (eight randomized trials, 23 nonrandomized studies, and six reports of group outcomes without controls).
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: Attendance at prenatal visits was shown to increase among women in GPC in the following groups: opioid addiction, adolescents, and low-income. Increased satisfaction with care was found in adolescents and African Americans. Pregnancy knowledge was increased among adolescents, as was the uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC). Studies in women with diabetes demonstrated that fewer women required treatment with medication when exposed to GPC, and for those requiring treatment with insulin, GPC individuals required less than half the dose.
Health: Preterm birth was found to be decreased among low-income and African American women. Improved weight trajectories and compliance with the Institute of Medicine’s weight recommendations were found in adolescents. Increased rates of breastfeeding were found in adolescents and African Americans. Improved psychological outcomes were found among adolescents and low-income women. Among women with tobacco use, those who had continued to smoke after finding out they were pregnant were five times more likely to quit later in pregnancy if they were engaged in GPC.
Pregnant women.
Group prenatal care.
Systematic review and meta-analysis. Four randomized controlled trials and 10 observational studies met the inclusion criteria.
Healthcare Cost, Utilization & Value: There were no significant differences in NICU admission or breastfeeding initiation.
Health: The rate of preterm birth was not significantly different with group care compared to traditional care (11 studies: pooled rates 7.9% compared with 9.3%, pooled RR 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70–1.09). Group care was associated with a decreased rate of low birth weight overall (nine studies: pooled rate 7.5% group care compared with 9.5% traditional care; pooled RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.69–0.96), but not among randomized controlled trials (four studies: 7.9% group care compared with 8.7% traditional care, pooled RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.73–1.16). There were no significant differences in breastfeeding initiation.
Pregnant populations.
Group prenatal care.
Systematic review with meta-analysis. One randomized controlled trial (RCT), one secondary analysis of an RCT, one study with “random assignment,” and 12 cohort studies met the inclusion criteria for a total of 13,779 subjects. Thirteen studies used the CenteringPregnancy model, defined by 10 sessions that emphasize goal setting and self-monitoring. Studies focused on specific populations such as adolescents, African Americans, Hispanics, active-duty military or their spouses, and women with obesity or gestational diabetes.
Health: There were no significant differences in excessive [seven studies: pooled rates 47% (1,806/3,582) vs. 43% (3,839/8,521), RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.97–1.23] or adequate gestational weight gain [six studies: pooled rates 31% (798/2,875) vs. 30% (1,410/5,187), RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.79–1.08] in group and traditional prenatal care among the nine studies that reported categorical gestational weight gain outcomes in the meta-analysis.
Pregnant women.
Group prenatal care.
Systematic review. Keyword searches in multiple databases identified 12 studies that compared pregnancy outcomes and/or maternal satisfaction between prenatal group care and traditional care.
Health: In 11 of the 12 studies reviewed, women receiving group care had equivalent or improved pregnancy outcomes compared with traditional care, including decreased incidence of preterm birth, increased birth weight, improved weight gain during pregnancy, and greater prenatal knowledge.
Social: Maternal satisfaction with group prenatal care was high in all but one study. In 11 of the 12 studies reviewed, women receiving group care had equivalent or improved pregnancy outcomes compared with traditional care, including increased adequacy of prenatal care.
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[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May 24). Births rose for the first time in seven years in 2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220524.htm
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[11] The language used in this assessment reflects what is used in the literature (e.g., “women”). While it may accurately reflect the study data, it may not be inclusive of or relevant to the experience of gender-diverse individuals.
[12] World Health Organization. International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision (ICD–10). 2008 ed. Geneva, Switzerland. 2009.
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