The Power of Shared Pregnancy: Parents Build Bonds Before Babies' Arrival
Soft squeals of joy interrupted the quiet at the Birth Center of Denver each time a new stroller pushed its way through the door.
“You guys, look at us!” said new mom Courtney Allison, with her 6-week-old snuggled into her baby carrier.
“Yeah, we’re like parents and stuff,” fellow new mom Riley Russell responded.
Moms were beaming. After all, they’d spent several months sharing one of life’s most profound journeys together, asking tough questions, sharing personal fears and watching each other’s pregnancies – and bellies – grow. And now, here they were, with their babies.
The moms joined several others along with new dads and babies for a reunion of recent participants of CenteringPregnancy, a group prenatal care program offered at Intermountain Health Saint Joseph Hospital’s freestanding birth center, Birth Center of Denver.
CenteringPregnancy brings together expectant parents with similar due dates throughout the course of their pregnancy. The participants’ 10 prenatal visits are conducted in a group setting and led by certified nurse-midwives and nurses. At the start of each visit, moms-to-be, often with help from their partner, record their own health information like weight and blood pressure, meet individually with the certified nurse-midwife for a belly check, and then circle up to join group discussion.
The program combines traditional prenatal care with education and peer support, encouraging families to stay engaged throughout pregnancy while learning about topics such as relationships, nutrition, labor and birth, newborn care, postpartum recovery, and maternal and paternal mental health.
“This group-based approach to prenatal care combines the belly checks with time for discussion and shared learning about pregnancy, birth and babies,” said Heather Hagenson, Intermountain Health director of outpatient women’s programs. “Beyond that, it’s a place where parents come together and begin building connections and a community with other pregnant parents.”
Hagenson noted that these parents, who welcomed their babies in late May and June, developed especially close connections over the course of their pregnancies.
New parents, Micah Beatty and Alli Scrable, started out with different thoughts about participating in group prenatal care. Scrable, who has been a doula, liked the idea of having more time with the midwife and meeting other families.
Beatty was less enthusiastic at first.
“I thought ‘that sounds terrible,’” he said. “I’m not a very social person…it’s not something where I wanted to go through this with a bunch of other people.” He also had concerns about the time commitment; appointments take place every two weeks and are about two hours long.
But Beatty trusted Scrable. He said he was about to become a new father, which is a big change in itself, so he thought why not make other changes, too.
“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “Getting to know other people, me feeling more involved with the pregnancy.”
Beatty said he now couldn’t imagine what things would have been like if he had missed the group CenteringPregnancy care, which is how organizers refer to the appointments. “I just feel like I’ve been along on the journey a little bit more than I would have been.”
Hagenson said CenteringPregnancy emphasizes the active involvement of partners, who are encouraged to participate in every visit and the discussions.
“Families often build strong relationships during the months they spend together preparing for parenthood and creating support networks that continue long after their babies are born,” she said. “Many parents form lasting friendships and continue to support and connect with each other for years afterwards through play dates, walks together, book clubs, family picnics, and other social gatherings.”
At the reunion, each new mom shared her birth story, and each story had unique twists. Some couples delivered their babies at the Birth Center of Denver as originally planned. A few transferred to Saint Joseph Hospital for different health reasons. One mom saw her labor progress rapidly and delivered her baby in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.
They shared thoughts on pain medications, birthing tubs, and how fast labor came on or in some cases didn’t progress. Dads more often than moms recalled the exact timing of contractions and water breaking.
They discussed babies’ weight gain and strategies with breastfeeding.
“Prenatal care plays such a critical role in monitoring the health of both mother and baby, identifying potential complications early,” said Jessica Carson, certified nurse-midwife with the Birth Center of Denver. “With this model of care, we’re also helping families prepare for labor, birth, and the momentous transition into parenthood.”
The Birth Center of Denver is a freestanding birth center that uses a comprehensive approach to support pregnancy and childbirth as a natural process in a family-centered environment. As Colorado’s first and only hospital-owned freestanding birth Center, Birth Center of Denver offers a supportive environment designed to nurture families every step of the way throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. To learn more about prenatal, birth and postpartum care at the Birth Center of Denver, visit Intermountain Health.