The challenges and opportunities for implementing group antenatal care (‘Pregnancy Circles’) as part of standard NHS maternity care: A co-designed qualitative study

Exploring the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of group-based pregnancy care and education: a pilot randomised controlled trial in Melbourne, Australia

“…Eight midwives provided Group Care. All were very positive, consistent with other studies [ 8 , 9 ], and wanted to continue working in the model. They found the work fulfilling, valued the continuity, and felt more invested in women’s experiences.…”

“…They found the work fulfilling, valued the continuity, and felt more invested in women’s experiences. One of the issues was finding time for the administrative tasks, and this has been found elsewhere, where midwives reported that having protected time, training, and ongoing support was essential [ 9 ], and that there needs to be further exploration on midwives’ workload, tasks, and structural supports [ 28 ]. The group setting and session length allowed women to share their experiences and build connections with the midwives and each other.…”

“…The 2015 Cochrane systematic review of Group Care shows that this model of care is acceptable to women, without obvious adverse outcomes [ 3 ]. It is also popular with midwives [ 8 , 9 ]. A systematic review from 2016 included a new cluster RCT from the USA (and 10 observational studies, nine from the USA and one from Canada), and found that while the observational studies showed a lower rate of low birthweight, the RCT did not [ 10 ].…”

Best practices in prenatal health promotion: Perceptions, experiences, and recommendations of Ottawa, Canada, prenatal key informants

“… 3 Online prenatal health interventions and telehealth services are vital strategies for rural and remote communities in Canada which lack consistent maternity care. 4 The emergence of new virtual technology platforms during the pandemic, coupled with social media, may have overcome some of the challenges of traditional online prenatal education modules to provide peer socialization, with benefits reported by pregnant women participating in Zoom group physical activity, 29 online pregnancy circles, 6 and social media/website/radio–TV prenatal classes in remote communities. 4 Migrant and refugee women in Canada expressed the desire for multiple SRH messaging modalities, with some preferring one-on-one consultations and others preferring group-based format with supplemented online information .…”

“…2 The diversification of prenatal health education commonly includes commercial organizations, yoga-based practices, 2 and increasingly, Internet e-classes. 3 The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has shifted in-person maternity care and promotion to online or virtual formats, 4 – 6 which prompts further consideration of the best practices of prenatal health promotion. The heterogeneity of prenatal education, in terms of instruction, delivery, and content, challenges characterization of efficacy on pregnancy outcomes, 7 although systematic reviews demonstrate associations with increased maternal self-efficacy during childbirth 8 and reduced caesarian section rates.…”