Pregnancy Clubs: Group Antenatal Care in Uganda and Kenya
Beginning in 2016, Management Sciences for Health began testing the group antenatal care (ANC) model, called Pregnancy Clubs, in eastern Uganda; and later in 2017, the model was adapted for western Kenya. The ANC service design reflects many elements of the “generic model” put forward by J. Sharma et al…read more
Group Antenatal Care in Rwanda: A Master Trainer’s Perspective
Exploring Group Antenatal Care in Low-Resource Settings
Research in high-income countries has shown that compared to the traditional one-on-one model of antenatal care (ANC), group ANC can offer positive health outcomes. To address the evidence gap in low-resource settings, researchers recently developed a “generic” model of group ANC for low- and middle-income countries and conducted a feasibility study in urban India…read more
Person-Centered Group Antenatal Care in Eastern Uganda: Reaching Women Through Pregnancy Clubs
Group antenatal care, initially developed in the U.S. several decades ago, is a promising model that responds to women’s health and information concerns during pregnancy. Management Sciences for Health is testing the feasibility and acceptability of person-centered, group antenatal care in the context of eastern Uganda…read more
Strength in Numbers: Is Group Antenatal Care the Way Forward?
Traditionally, antenatal care (ANC) visits have consisted of one-on-one meetings between a pregnant woman and her provider. More recently, clinicians have been experimenting with group ANC, gathering several women at similar gestational ages to create a more interactive, supportive environment. While there have been advocacy efforts to raise public awareness about group ANC, the question of whether group models are more beneficial than traditional one-on-one models remains unanswered…read more
Empowering Women Through Group-Based Antenatal Care
Empowerment of women has been a theme throughout the Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference (GMNHC). Without the ability to choose and access the care she needs, a woman’s wellbeing and health is compromised. While it’s easy to speak of empowerment, how do we actually increase it? One solution was proposed in a GMNHC session on … Continue reading “Empowering Women Through Group-Based Antenatal Care”
Personalized maternal care intervention in a tribal community in India
Twenty percent of the 800 preventable maternal deaths occurring globally every day are from India. Research has amply demonstrated that maternal health service utilization is lowest among tribal groups than any other community in India due to the long distances from health facilities or their unavailability, cultural barriers, low educational level of women, and economic … Continue reading “Personalized maternal care intervention in a tribal community in India”
From pregnancy to protection: advancing the intersection between antenatal care and immunization
Why Gender Inequities Must Be Addressed to Improve Maternal Health Care
While some work has been done to develop gender-integrated interventions to improve the health of mothers and babies, there are still unexplored or unanswered questions about the relationship between gender and maternal health. A recent paper explored how gender dynamics—particularly gendered power relations—impact maternal health care access and utilization in eastern Uganda…read more