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 #46 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due dates through August 2024
- January 20 - Session 1
- February 17- Session 2
- March 16 - Session 3
- April 20 - Session 4
- May 4 - Session 5
- May 18 - Session 6
- June 1 - Session 7
- June 15 - Session 8
- July 6 - Session 9
- July 20 - Session 10
Lakewood CenteringPregnancy Group #47 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Saturdays at 10:30 a.m.
Due dates through September - Early November 2024
New Dates
- April 20 - Session 1
- May 18 - Session 2
- June 15 - Session 3
- July 20 - Session 4
- August 3 - Session 5
- August 17 - Session 6
- September 7 - Session 7
- September 21 - Session 8
- October 5 - Session 9
- October 19 - Session 10
Westlake Medical Campus Building A
440.835.3883
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #40 with Renae Shire, CNM on these Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
Due Dates through August - Mid September 2024
- February 22 - Session 1
- March 21 - Session 2
- April 18 - Session 3
- May 16 - Session 4
- May 30 - Session 5
- June 13 - Session 6
- June 27 - Session 7
- July 11 - Session 8
- July 25 - Session 9
- August 8 - Session 10
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #41 with Dawn Dulin, CNM on these Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due Dates through August/September 2024
New Dates
- March 9 - Session 1
- April 13 - Session 2
- April 27 - Session 3
- May 11 - Session 4
- June 8 - Session 5
- June 22 - Session 6
- July 13 - Session 7
- July 27- Session 8
- Aug 10 - Session 9
- August 24 - Session 10
- September 14 (original session 10 before merge)
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #42 with Renae Shire, CNM on these Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
Due Dates through October - Early November 2024
- April 25 - Session 1
- May 23 - Session 2
- June 20 - Session 3
- July 18 - Session 4
- August 1 - Session 5
- August 15 - Session 6
- August 29 - Session 7
- September 12 - Session 8
- September 26 - Session 9
- October 10 - Session 10
Columbia Rd. CenteringPregnancy group #43 with Renae Shire, CNM on these Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.
Due Dates through January/February 2025
- July 16 - Session 1 *Tuesday 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. this day only
- August 22 - Session 2
- September 19 - Session 3
- October 17 - Session 4
- October 31- Session 5
- November 14 - Session 6
- December 5 - Session 7
- December 19 - Session 8
- January 9 - Session 9
- January 23 - Session 10
- February 6 - tentative
Lorain Family Health Center - No Current CenteringPregnancy Groups
440.282.7420
Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center (2nd floor conference room)
216.767.4242
STJHC group #28 with Claire Hamp, CNM on these Mondays at 1 p.m.
Due Dates through September 2024
- March 11 - Session 1
- April 8 - Session 2
- May 6 - Session 3
- June 3 - Session 4
- June 17 - Session 5
- July 1 - Session 6
- July 15 - Session 7
- August 5 - Session 8
- August 12 - Session 9
- August 26 - Session 10
South Pointe Medical Office Building A (Entrance #2)
216.491.0141
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #29 with Fran Jackson, CNM and Shatoya McQueen on these Fridays at 10 a.m.
Due Dates Through June 2024
New Dates
- December 8 - Session 1
- January 5 - Session 2
- February 2 - Session 3
- March 1 - Session 4
- March 15 - Session 5
- March 29 - Session 6
- April 12 - Session 7
- April 26 - Session 8
- May 10 - Session 9
- May 24 - Session 10
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #30 with Fran Jackson, CNM on these Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Due dates through July 2024
Tentative Dates
- January 24 - Session 1
- February 21 - Session 2
- March 20 - Session 3
- April 17 - Session 4
- May 1 - Session 5
- May 15- Session 6
- May 29 - Session 7
- June 12 - Session 8
- June 26 - Session 9
- July 10 - Session 10
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #31 with Shatoya McQueen, CNM on these Fridays at 10 a.m.
Due dates through November/December 2024
- May 17 - Session 1
- June 14 - Session 2
- July 12 - Session 3
- August 16 - Session 4
- August 30 - Session 5
- September 13 - Session 6
- September 20 - Session 7
- October 11 - Session 8
- October 25 - Session 9
- November 8 - Session 10
- November 22 - tentative
South Pointe CenteringPregnancy Group #32 with Fran Jackson, CNM on these Wednesdays at 10 a.m.
Due dates through December/January 2025
- June 19 - Session 1
- July 17 - Session 2
- August 7 -Session 3
- September 4 - Session 4
- September 18 - Session 5
- October 2 - Session 6
- October 16 - Session 7
- October 30 - Session 8
- November 13 - Session 9
- December 4 - Session 10
- December 18 - tentative
Wooster Family Health Center
330.287.4500
Wooster CenteringPregnancy group #3 with Jessica Costa, CNM and Courtney Plotts, CNM at 2:30 p.m. on these Wednesdays
Due dates through Mid- August 2024
- March 6 - Session 1
- April 3 - Session 2
- May 1 - Session 3
- May 29 - Session 4
- June 12 - Session 5
- June 26 - Session 6
- July 10 - Session 7
- July 24 - Session 8
- August 7 - Session 9
- August 20 - Session 10 *Tuesday
Willoughby Hills Family Health Center (Lower-level conference room)
440.943.2500
Willoughby Centering Group #6 with Brianna Simmons, CNM on these Thursdays at 1 p.m.
Due Dates Through September 2024
- March 21 - Session 1
- April 18 - Session 2
- May 16 - Session 3
- June 13 - Session 4 *2 p.m.
- June 27 - Session 5
- July 11 - Session 6
- July 25 - Session 7
- August 8 - Session 8 *2 p.m.
- August 22 - Session 9
- September 5 - Session 10
Brunswick Family Health Center
330.225.8886
Brunswick CenteringPregnancy Group #5 with Susan Hudson, CNM on these Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m.
Due dates through September 2024
- March 5 - Session 1
- April 2 - Session 2
- April 30 - Session 3
- May 28 - Session 4
- June 11 - Session 5
- June 25 - Session 6
- July 9 - Session 7
- July 23 - Session 8
- August 6 - Session 9
- August 20 - Session 10
