Jelena Obradovic
Pregnant with her first child, Mercedes Bloodsaw knew little about what to expect in the weeks prior to giving birth. Nor did she know much about the health benefits of breastfeeding. But she learned about all of this and more by participating in UW Health’s CenteringPregnancy program, offered at the Arboretum Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Clinic on South Park Street.
Launched in spring 2014, the program is led by family medicine physicians, ob/gyn doctors and midwives who teach health education and provide prenatal care and support. Healthy births and healthy birth outcomes are the main objectives of Centering, particularly among lower-income women.
“In the south Madison community, there tend to be women who have more barriers to getting care early or maybe don’t feel as welcomed in the health care system,” says Dr. Cynthia Anderson, who was instrumental in bringing the Centering approach to UW Health. “Anything we can do to make the health care setting more comfortable and more approachable, a place where they want to be, is a good thing.”
Each participant begins class with an individual assessment, blood pressure check and heartbeat monitoring. But the majority of the class is discussion — topics include pregnancy challenges, delivery, parenting and even domestic violence. Social workers are available if expectant mothers are in need of more assistance.
The group, with eight to 12 women, begins meeting in the fourth month of pregnancy. During the final month, weekly classes alternate between CenteringPregnancy classes and doctor appointments. Centering concludes with a postpartum “reunion,” where mothers introduce their newborns to the group and meet privately with a doctor for a pelvic exam and birth control discussion.
Bloodsaw, 18, was referred to the program by a social worker, and was the youngest member in the most recent Centering group. She gave birth to a son, Braelin, on Oct. 20.
She says she appreciated the cultural diversity of the group, the kindness of other participants and the advice from doctors. Many of her concerns about breastfeeding were addressed in the two class sessions devoted to the practice. “I wanted to breastfeed and some people shared their stories, so it got me scared, but I figured it’s the healthiest way to feed, so I [planned to] push through the pain,” she says.
Dr. Kristen Sharp, medical director of the program, says she’s had the chance to get to know patients better than she could in typical appointments that last 10 to 15 minutes. (Centering classes take the place of routine or prenatal appointments.) And since the women are going through similar experiences, they also teach each other, Sharp says. “We’ll have women where this is their first pregnancy or other women who are there with their fourth or fifth baby, and those real-life experiences enrich the group even more.”
The national Centering model was created in 1993 by Sharon Schindler Rising, a certified nurse midwife who also founded the Centering Health Institute in an effort to provide group health care focused on “assessment, education and support” for expectant mothers, babies and families.
The institute claims the approach reduces the risk of premature births from 47% in traditional care to 33%. It was these positive outcomes that sold UW Health officials on the Centering model.
Seeing women like Victoria Frazier open up and share ideas with others has been satisfying for Anderson. Frazier is a mother of three — two daughters, Savoy and Savannah, and son Saishon, who was born Oct. 8.
Frazier embraced a group filled with first-time moms and offered them her perspective on what to expect with a newborn. But she also learned what to expect for her own first Cesarean birth.
“It gave me a sense of pride to be able to help someone who just now got in the situation that I’ve been in,” Frazier says. “It’s like one big sisterhood because we’re all going through the same thing, and we’re not alone. You’re pregnant, you’re full of hormones, and this is natural.”
Centering is open to all pregnant UW Health patients. For more information, see uwhealth.org/obgyn/centeringpregnancy/45925 or call the Arboretum ObGyn Residency Clinic at 608-287-5898.
