Overview
Cleveland Clinic is committed to providing the community with the finest medical services. We offer CenteringPregnancy prenatal care in order to bring our expecting patients out of the exam room and into a comfortable group setting.
At Cleveland Clinic, we strongly believe in the core goals of CenteringPregnancy: to help promote overall health and well-being, provide important education about the pregnancy process, as well as create a unique experience for patients who are expecting.
CenteringPregnancy is patient-centered care that follows national guidelines recognized by hospitals around the country. The visit schedule, which consists of 10 group appointments between 90 minutes and 2 hours, provides the flexibility and time to explore health and wellness topics that might not be covered as extensively in a normal one on one prenatal visit. On average CenteringPregancy programs give pregnant patients ten times longer with a provider. Receiving healthcare in a group setting can also lead to greater engagement, learning, and self-confidence.
Why Is a Group Setting Beneficial?
National data has shown that CenteringPregnancy decreases the rate of preterm and low weight babies, increases breastfeeding rates, and leads to better pregnancy spacing. Black women, who are at higher risk for preterm birth in the US, also experience lower risk of preterm birth when enrolled in CenteringPregnancy than in traditional care, creating an opportunity to design sustainable prenatal services that can reduce racial disparities of pregnancy outcomes in minority communities.
CenteringPregnancy visits also allow more time for interaction which often identifies needs amongst group members. This allows for more timely intervention and referral to appropriate specialists and resources.
What to Expect
Group prenatal care has long been used successfully to provide important health information to those expecting. Developed by the Centering Healthcare Institute, CenteringPregnancy has created standardized guidelines for health centers to follow, including providing pregnant people with the ability to be engaged in their own care, teaching them how to check their weight, blood pressure and other health levels, as well as the health of their unborn child through fetal heart rate checks.
In addition to building important self-care skills, CenteringPregnancy facilitates important group discussion between expecting patients in group sizes of 8 to 12, along with a prenatal provider. These group meetings can be between 90 minutes and 2 hours and discuss a variety of wellness topics. Each session is intended to provide support to participants, while allowing for open discussion about pregnancy questions or concerns.
Group prenatal care also permits more time for interaction with a pregnancy specialist, which can help address psychological, social, and behavioral factors that affect your healthy pregnancy.
| Week of Session | Gestational Age | Session Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | 12-16 weeks | Prenatal testing, body changes during pregnancy, back health, common discomforts, healthy lifestyle choices |
| Session 2 | 16-20 weeks | Personal goals, nutrition, oral health |
| Session 3 | 20-24 weeks | Relaxation and managing stress, breastfeeding |
| Session 4 | 24-28 weeks | Family planning, sexuality, domestic violence, preterm labor |
| Session 5 | 26-30 weeks | Labor preparation, pain management in labor, signs of labor |
| Session 6 | 28-32 weeks | The birth experience, labor decisions |
| Session 7 | 30-34 weeks | Early newborn care, choosing pediatric care, circumcision, sibling preparation |
| Session 8 | 32-36 weeks | Parenting, kick counts, postpartum depression and anxiety, emotional adjustments |
| Session 9 | 34-38 weeks | Newborn safety, infant massage |
| Session 10 | 36-40 weeks | Newborn care, growth and development, postpartum |
Our Team
Susan Hudson, CMN
Director of Midwifery and CenteringPregnancy
Toni Mcdougald, CNP
Centering Coordinator
Jennifer Savitski, MD
Physician Lead CenteringPregnancy at Akron General
Holly Carder
Centering Coordinator at Akron General
Appointments & Locations
For more information about CenteringPregnancy or to find additional information about current Centering groups, please email CenteringPregnancy@ccf.org or leave a voicemail at 216.491.7200.
Locations
CenteringPregnancy group appointments are currently offered at these locations:
Akron General Akron Health Center
676 South Broadway St.
Akron, OH 44311
330.344.7666
Cleveland Clinic Lakewood Medical Office Building
1450 Belle Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107
216.237.6300
Cleveland Clinic Lorain Family Health Center - CenteringPregnancy and CenteringPediatrics Group Location
5700 Cooper Foster Park Rd.
Lorain, OH 44053
Schedule from Amherst Family Health Center
440.282.7420
Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Medical Office Building A
4200 Warrensville Center Rd. Suite 215
Warrensville Heights, Oh, 44122
216.491.0141
Cleveland Clinic Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center
13944 Euclid Ave., East
Cleveland, OH 44112
216.767.4242
Cleveland Clinic Westlake Medical Campus
850 Columbia Rd.
Westlake, OH 44145
440.835.3883
Cleveland Clinic Willoughby Hills Family Health Center
2570 Som Center Rd.
Willoughby Hills, OH 44094
440.943.2500
Fairview Westown Physician Center
10654 Lorain Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44111
216.941.8888
Groups
Dates are subject to change. For more information about CenteringPregnancy or to find additional information about current Centering groups, please email CenteringPregnancy@ccf.org.
Lakewood Medical Building
216.237.6300
Lakewood CenteringPregnancy Group #44 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due dates through Mid-January 2024
- June 17 - Session 1
- July 15 - Session 2
- August 19 - Session 3
- September 16 - Session 4
- October 7 - Session 5
- October 21 - Session 6
- November 4 - Session 7
- November 18 - Session 8
- December 2 - Session 9
- December 16 - Session 10
Lakewood CenteringPregnancy Group #45 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
Due dates through Mid-March 2024
- August 19 - Session 1
- September 16 - Session 2
- October 21 - Session 3
- November 18 - Session 4
- December 2 - Session 5
- December 16 - Session 6
- January 6 - Session 7
- January 20 - Session 8
- February 3 - Session 9
- February 17 - Session 10
Westlake Medical Campus Building A
440.835.3883
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #35 with Amy Wan, CNM on these Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Due Dates through November 2023
- May 3 - Session 1
- May 31 - Session 2
- June 28 - Session 3
- July 19 - Session 4
- August 9 - Session 5
- August 23 - Session 6
- September 6 - Session 7
- September 20 - Session 8
- October 4 - Session 9
- October 18 - Session 10
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #36 with Dawn Dulin, CNM on these Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due Dates through January 2024
- July 22 - Session 1
- August 12 - Session 2
- September 9 - Session 3
- October 14 - Session 4
- October 28 - Session 5
- November 11- Session 6
- November 22 - Session 7 Wednesday 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
- December 9- Session 8
- December 22 - Session 9 Friday 8:30 - 10:30
- January 13 - Session 10
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #37 with Renae Shire, CNM on these Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
Due Dates through February/early March 2024
- August 24 - Session 1
- September 21 - Session 2
- October 19 - Session 3
- November 16 - Session 4
- November 30 - Session 5
- December 14 - Session 6
- December 28 - Session 7
- January 11 - Session 8
- January 25 - Session 9
- February 8 - Session 10
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #38 with Dawn Dulin, CNM on these Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
Due Dates through April /mid-May 2024
- October 14 - Session 1
- November 11 - Session 2
- December 9 - Session 3
- January 13- Session 4
- January 27 - Session 5
- February 10 - Session 6
- February 24 - Session 7
- March 9 - Session 8
- March 23 - Session 9
- April 14 - Session 10
Lorain Family Health Center
440.282.7420
Lorain Family Health Center CenteringPregnancy Group #4 with Cassie Distefano, CNM on these Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m.
Due Dates through April 2024
- September 27 - Session 1
- October 25 - Session 2
- November 15 - Session 3
- December 13 - Session 4
- January 3 - Session 5
- January 17 - Session 6
- January 31- Session 7
- February 14 - Session 8
- February 28 - Session 9
- March 13 - Session 10
Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center (2nd floor conference room)
216.767.4242
STJHC group #27 with Claire Hamp, CNM on these Mondays at 1 p.m.
Due Dates through Mid-March 2024
- October 2 - Session 1
- October 30 - Session 2
- November 27 - Session 3
- December 18 - Session 4
- January 8 - Session 5
- January 22 - Session 6
- February 5 - Session 7
- February 19 - Session 8
- March 4 - Session 9
- March 18 - Session 10
South Pointe Medical Office Building A (Entrance #2)
216.491.0141
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #27 with Fran Jackson, CNM on these Fridays at 10 a.m.
Due Dates Through November 2023
- May 12 - Session 1
- June 9 - Session 2
- July 7 - Session 3
- August 4 - Session 4
- August 18 - Session 5
- September 1 - Session 6
- September 15 - Session 7
- September 29 - Session 8
- October 13 - Session 9
- October 27 - Session 10
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #28 with Fran Jackson, CNM on these Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Due Dates Through Mid- January 2024
- July 12 - Session 1
- August 16 - Session 2
- September 13 - Session 3
- October 4 - Session 4
- October 18 - Session 5
- November 1 - Session 6
- November 15 - Session 7
- November 29 - Session 8
- December 13 - Session 9
- December 27 - Session 10
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #29 with Fran Jackson, CNM on these Fridays at 10 a.m.
Due Dates Through March 2024
- October 20 - Session 1
- November 17 - Session 2
- December 15 - Session 3
- December 29 - Session 4
- January 12 - Session 5
- January 26 - Session 6
- February 9- Session 7
- February 23 - Session 8
- March 8 - Session 9
- March 22 - Session 10
Wooster Family Health Center
330.287.4500
Wooster CenteringPregnancy group #2 with Jessica Costa, CNM and Courtney Plotts, CNM at 9:30 a.m. on these Wednesdays
Due dates through Mid- March 2024
- August 16 - Session 1
- September 13 - Session 2
- October 11 - Session 3
- November 8 - Session 4
- November 29 - Session 5
- December 13 - Session 6
- December 27 - Session 7
- January 10 - Session 8
- January 24 - Session 9
- February 14 - Session 10
Willoughby Hills Family Health Center (Lower-level conference room) - No Current CenteringPregnancy Groups
440.943.2500
Brunswick Family Health Center
330.225.8886
Brunswick CenteringPregnancy Group # 2 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due dates through November 2023
- May 16 - Session 1
- June 13 - Session 2
- July 11- Session 3
- August 8 - Session 4
- August 29 - Session 5
- September 5 - Session 6
- September 19 - Session 7
- October 3 - Session 8
- October 17 - Session 9
- October 31 - Session 10
Brunswick CenteringPregnancy Group #3 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due dates through February 2024
- August 1 - Session 1
- August 29 - Session 2 *10:30 a.m. this day only!
- September 26 - Session 3
- October 24 - Session 4
- November 7 - Session 5
- November 28 - Session 6
- December 12 - Session 7
- January 9 - Session 8
- January 23 - Session 9
- February 6 - Session 10
