Title
Adapting Centering Pregnancy for Rural Practice: The Effect on Patient Satisfaction
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
April 2010
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Jeri Bigbee
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare patient satisfaction levels among Latino women participating in a traditional Centering Pregnancy program verses those in a Centering pregnancy program with expanded gestational age ranges. Background: Centering Pregnancy (CP) is an innovative model for group prenatal care that has been shown to be highly effective in producing positive birth outcomes and high levels of patient satisfaction. CP has traditionally been implemented in urban settings with groups of women who fall within a limited gestational age window, thus requiring adequate numbers of pregnant participants to form the groups. However, in order to adapt the CP model for use in more sparsely populated rural areas, the gestational age range must be widened to accommodate the smaller numbers of pregnant women at any one time. Expanding the gestational age range raises the question if patient satisfaction may be affected, due to the fact that the women are at different stages of their pregnancies, which may reduce their forming connections with other women in the group. Method: This project, which is currently in progress, uses a descriptive comparative design. Latino women from two spanish-speaking CP groups have been recruited to participate. One of the groups uses the traditional narrow gestational age range of appoximately 6-8 weeks. In the second group, the gestation age range of the participants is wider (up to 3 months). Each group consists of approximately 10 women. Patient satisfaction will be measured anonymously at the final group meeting using the standardized 25-item Patient Participation and Satisfaction Questionnaire (PPSQ) which has been used in previous CP studies. Results: Results to be reported include mean patient satisfaction total scores and ranked responses to each of the specific satisfaction scale items, which will be compared between the two groups. Implications: The results will be discussed in relation to possible implications for adaptation of CP for rural practice. This project was supported by a grant from the March of Dimes of Idaho.