The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Office of Community Health & Research, recently launched a mobile CenteringPregnancy® program, a group prenatal program that is headed to medically underserved areas across Arkansas.
CenteringPregnancy® is prenatal care that includes a woman’s regular health checkup, along with extra time for group learning and sharing. The program replaces the mother’s traditional 15-minute obstetrician visits with 10 group sessions, each between 90 minutes and two hours long, allowing for more than 10 times the amount of time normally spent with their provider. The program recently launched in Madison County, with plans to launch soon in Helena-West Helena.
“We’re very excited to begin utilizing our mobile health clinics to offer CenteringPregnancy® and provide patient-centered prenatal care throughout Arkansas,” said Kelly Conroy, an assistant director leading UAMS Community Health & Research’s mobile health initiatives. “Our mobile health clinics give us the ability to meet the patient where they are — literally. The ability to deliver this evidence-based program in some of the most rural and medically underserved areas of Arkansas will help to improve the health outcomes of pregnant women, babies and families by bringing care and support to where it is most needed.”