Intermountain Health has partnered with the nonprofit Centering Healthcare Institute to offer moms-to-be the option of joining together for a group-based prenatal care program called Centering Pregnancy. 

The Centering Pregnancy program option offers patient-centered care, longer clinic visits with certified nurse midwives, and a pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum support group all rolled into one. 

This innovative approach to prenatal care is currently offered in Utah at Intermountain Health’s Layton Parkway Women’s Health Clinic, which is located on the campus of Intermountain Health Layton Hospital. 

“Our midwife patients are asking for more community. They want to have a shared experience,” said Leah Moses, a certified nurse-midwife and the advanced practice provider director for the women’s health clinical program at Intermountain Health. 

“The national and global data show Centering Pregnancy groups lead to higher health literacy of patients by the time they deliver, increased self-confidence, reduced preterm birth rates, and better health outcomes for mom and baby. It also helps reduce health disparities among various populations,” she added. 

There are plans to offer Centering Pregnancy at other Intermountain Health Wasatch Front midwife clinic locations in Utah in the late fall of this year. Additional sites will be added in 2026. Centering Pregnancy is also currently offered at Intermountain Health Birth Center of Denver. 

How Group Prenatal Care Works 
Prenatal visits during the first trimester are done as traditional one-on-one visits with the patient seeing their midwife in an exam room. 

For the second trimester, participating patients begin to meet in two-hour sessions of small group prenatal care with 10-12 patients who have due dates around the same time. Some are first-time moms and others have had a baby before. Participants can socialize with each other as they arrive and enjoy healthy snacks and beverages. 

The sessions include a quick individual, private check to measure fetal growth for each patient done behind a curtain with a sound barrier to maintain privacy. A medical assistant helps patients measure their weight, temperature and blood pressure. 

After each patient is checked, the group gathers together for a question-and-answer discussion session with the midwife. Written questions can be submitted anonymously. Moms choose how much they want to share about themselves or their pregnancy. 

“Group discussions can become quite in-depth about various topics since the group visits are two hours long,” said Alyssa Lewark, the medical assistant lead for the program. “Moms-to-be learn from their midwife, but they also learn from each other about common concerns, what is normal, and when to call their midwife. And stress and anxiety is reduced.” 

Group appointments have no waiting room and consistently start and end on time. Patients in the same group have time to connect with each other and often remain friends long after their prenatal care experience. 

During the third trimester appointments group sessions are held every two weeks along with individual appointments closer to the time of delivery. 

“It’s not just talking and teaching. We’re participating in different activities that help patients better understand what happens to their bodies during pregnancy and how to use that information,” said Lewark. “We do go over birthing options, stages of labor, pain relief options, and we demonstrate coping strategies. We review basic newborn care and practice swaddling and diapering.” 

Moms are also able to attend Intermountain childbirth preparation classes or breastfeeding classes for additional learning if desired. There are in-person, virtual and online options. 

The Centering Pregnancy model is practiced at 500 sites in some of the largest health systems in the world and has been in existence for more than 20 years. According to the Cen­ter­ing­ Healthcare Institute, Centering Pregnancy programs decreas­e the rate of preterm and low birth weight, increas­e breast­feed­ing rates, and improving health outcomes for both birthing people and babies.

For more information visit the Centering Healthcare Institute webpage or ask your midwife about group prenatal care options. 
 

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Due to steadily declining birth rates in Mesa County and unsustainable decreases in the number of new patients at Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center in Grand Junction, CO, the difficult decision has been made to close the birth center on March 28, 2025.

Current patients of the freestanding birth center can transition to receive care from their current care team or a new team at Intermountain Health’s Patterson OB-GYN and Midwifery Clinic, 610 25^th Road, the Wellington OB-GYN Clinic, 2525 N. 8^th St., or the St. Mary’s Family Medicine Clinic, 2698 Patterson Road, Entrance 42. 

Care navigators from Intermountain Health will work one-on-one with patients who would like assistance in transitioning their care.

These clinics have certified-nurse midwives, OB-GYN physicians and/or family medicine physicians who support patients who prefer unmedicated and low-intervention labor and delivery options, and current patients can opt to give birth at Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital.

St. Mary’s Regional Hospital offers a variety of similar labor and delivery options as Bloomin’ Babies, including unmedicated or low-intervention birth, and natural pain relief methods and amenities to personalize the birth experience. 

These include in-room tubs for laboring, squat bars, birth balls, private rooms with natural lighting, and skin-to-skin time during the golden hour after birth to promote breastfeeding and bonding.

“St. Mary’s Regional Hospital offers comprehensive childbirth options to meet the full range of birth plans that range all the way from unmedicated, uncomplicated labor and delivery to epidurals and other pain-relief medications, to Cesarean sections and high-risk pregnancies,” said Bryan Johnson, president of Intermountain St. Mary’s Regional Hospital.

“Births at the hospital are supported by certified-nurse midwives and OB-GYNs with the ultimate goal to keep every mom and baby safe and healthy,” he added.

Physicians, midwives, and nurses at the hospital have years of experience providing high quality care and supporting pregnant and laboring moms as well as their partners with various types of birth plan goals. 

The Intermountain St. Mary’s team is dedicated to helping patients and families feel comfortable and at ease as they provide care, even if complications arise during pregnancy, labor, delivery or postpartum. Physicians and midwives help provide evidence-based information about medical conditions and the risks and benefits of treatment options so patients can make informed decisions.

“Having an unmedicated or low-intervention birth experience at the hospital offers the best of both worlds – the atmosphere of a birth center or home birth coupled with the reassurance that if complications arise, we have state of the art equipment and specialty trained staff ready to assist,” said Jenn Tuning, director of women and children’s services at Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital.

For babies born early, or who have a low birth weight or complicated medical conditions at birth, St. Mary’s has the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Western Colorado. It is staffed with specially trained neonatologists, nurses, other sub-specialty caregivers, and the equipment to help monitor and manage the conditions of these typically, tiny babies who may also have heart problems or need help with breathing or eating.

St. Mary’s is also a Baby-Friendly certified hospital, which means it meets state criteria to support breastfeeding. Lactation consultants are available during hospital stays and afterward to offer breastfeeding support and information about breast pumps and pumping, going back to work and weaning.

Intermountain St. Mary’s also offers childbirth preparation classes and has a weekly parenting support group. Virtual tours of the labor and delivery unit are available here.

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