Pregnant women of North Florida can soon begin bonding with other women with similar delivery dates.
The UF Health Women’s Center –Medical Plaza will offer CenteringPregnancy, a group, prenatal-care program, beginning the first week in March.
Women early in their pregnancy, usually the beginning of the second trimester, can participate in group activities with other women in similar stages of pregnancy, Colleen Senterfitt, the chief operating officer at Centering Healthcare Institute, wrote in an email.
“It is an enriching and rewarding experience all around,” Senterfitt said. “Women will receive all the same care and more.”
Dr. Dikea Roussos-Ross, a UF Health physician and leader of the new program, said after the women speak to their health care provider, they will meet monthly for about 90 minutes to discuss their health and techniques to help them through their pregnancies and beyond.
One of the program’s biggest goals is to reduce the rate of premature births. Senterfitt said similar programs have proven to reduce premature births by between 33 and 47 percent, and 97 percent of women say they prefer it to individual care.
CenteringPregnancy will not place a financial burden on participants. Senterfitt said women who partake in the program will be reimbursed by their insurance, just like regular visits to the doctor.
Roussos-Ross was awarded a $25,000 grant by the March of Dimes in December to help jump-start the CenteringPregnancy program at UF.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/24/2015 under the headline “New UF pregnancy program to center on group care”]
