Centering Pregnancy

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Centering Pregnancy is an exciting way for women and their families to get prenatal care. Women spend more time with their health care provider and with other pregnant women, which gives them a chance to learn a lot more about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. Check-ups, support, and education all take place in a group setting.
 
In every appointment with your midwife you will have 2 hours to ask all your questions and discuss your concerns. You will do this together with a group of women whose due dates are close to yours. You will learn from your midwife and from each other. You will have an opportunity to share stories, topics that are important to you and discuss all the things you are going through physically and emotionally. In the meantime you are building a community of women which will make the support continue long after your baby is born.

Personal benefits of Centering pregnancy:

• You will receive 17 hours more time in prenatal care than with the individual appointments.
• You get more personal care; there is more time to answer your questions. 
• It contributes to confidence in yourself, the pregnancy, the delivery and your role as a parent.
• The appointments are all presceduled so easier for you to plan. 

Besides the personal benefits described above, there are also proven medical benefits when prenatal care is given in the form of Centering Pregnancy:

• Less medical painrelief during labour necessary
• Less need to induce labour
• More women start with breastfeeding
• Fewer medical transfer to the gynaecologist during labour
• More home deliveries