Using an interprofessional prenatal group care model to address disparities in pregnancy-related outcomes in a high risk population in a family medicine residency clinic

Background: Minority women are at high risk for premature births and costly complications. Prenatal care interventions may be useful for addressing these disparities. Purpose: To examine whether an interprofessional prenatal group care model is superior to a matched control group receiving traditional pregnancy care in minimizing pregnancy-related disparities (e.g., low birth weight, preterm delivery, low breastfeeding initiation). Methods: Quasi-experimental study including African American women (n = 64) between the ages of 18–30 from low-income households who also attended a family medicine clinic. Results: Results showed that pregnant women in prenatal group care attended significantly more prenatal and postpartum visits and were less likely to be smoking at delivery compared to the matched control group. Other biological measures (e.g., preterm delivery) trended in the right direction, but did not reach statistical significance. Measures collected only in the experimental group showed significant increases in pregnancy knowledge/confidence, decreased depressive and anxiety symptoms, and high satisfaction with providers and clinic services post-intervention. In addition, women attending prenatal groups identified via focus groups that prenatal group made them feel supported, understood, and listened to, that the care was high quality because of the interprofessional providers, and the group model helped them try new health behaviors (e.g., breastfeeding, stress reduction techniques). Conclusions: Future research and clinical care may want to consider utilizing interprofessional prenatal group care models. In addition, future research using a randomized controlled trial should be conducted to confirm study findings.