Alliance Hosts Webinar on Group Prenatal Care Advocacy

The CenteringPregnancy® model consists of a two-person team: a medical clinician and an assistant (e.g. a doula, a social worker, a skilled facilitator).  The core components include: 

1. 1. A health assessment that engages the pregnant person directly in their care: a billable, one-on-one assessment 
   2. Interactive learning: presentations with resources to build knowledge using signature tools and resources that are available for replication 
   3. Community building: group sessions to build confidence, reduce isolation and stress, and create support systems 

Birthing individuals meet in groups of 8-12 people with similar due dates for ten visits. Sessions follow a curriculum that covers nutrition, stress management, labor and delivery, breastfeeding, and infant care. The model allows for longer conversations and the ability to establish relationships, building a support system that often continues after the sessions end and even after the birth. 

The CenteringParenting® model brings groups of 6-8 parents with babies around the same ages together for 9 well-child visits during their first two years of life.  The session focus on safe sleep practices, extending breastfeeding, increasing immunizations, and developmental screenings.  

Rigorous randomized control studies show these models are effective for reducing preterm births, low birthweight at birth, and the rate of infants who end up in intensive care. Reductions are even higher among Black birthing people. Since approximately half of all births are paid for by Medicaid, this results in substantial savings ranging from $20,000-$30,000 per birth. Ten states now offer enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rates for patients participating in the CenteringPregnancy® program because of this savings.  

Advocates can take two pathways to increasing access to CenteringPregnancy: 

1. 1. Legislative Path: Convincing state legislatures to mandate coverage in law takes more effort and time, but generally results in more comprehensive coverage and permanence. 
   2. Administrative Path: Amending a Medicaid state plan can be done through state agencies and is generally faster and more flexible, but is limited to adjustments within the existing rules of Medicaid. 

Amy Zaagman from the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health (MCMCH) shared how advocates in Michigan have increased awareness of the importance of infant and maternal health, in part by elevating the maternal voices in their advocacy effort. In the past four years they have secured close to $100 million in new funding for maternal and infant health that includes: 

• • Medicaid coverage through 12 months postpartum 
  • State funding and Medicaid reimbursement for the CenteringPregnancy model, increasing the number of programs in the state from 14 in 2021 to 37 in 2024 
  • Increased state funding for home visiting 
  • Perinatal psychiatric consultation services (in addition to peds) 
  • Medicaid reimbursement for doulas 

MCMCH partnered with the Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI), the state Medicaid agency, private insurers, and philanthropy to maximize impact and make this happen. The evidence is overwhelming, it just makes sense, and they have been able to cultivate bipartisan support across the state. 

For more information:  

• • Prenatal to Three Policy Impact Center: Group Prenatal Care
  • Centering Healthcare Institute 
  • CenteringPregnancy research and resources
  • Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health
  • MI Birth Equity Education Project
  • Advancing Healthy Births: An Equity Plan for Michigan Families and Communities  
  • Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies infographic 
  • Michigan Medicaid Policy guidance 
  • More Alliance Maternal Health stories