Community Prenatal Care

First session for June due dates will be January 11. Reserve your spot in your group now! 

Call 919-933-3301, x207 or email nurses@ncbirthcenter.org 

Community Prenatal Care (CPC) at WBWC is a unique program designed to meet the needs of families delivering at our birth center. It is an an alternative to traditional prenatal care. After your first two prenatal visits in the clinic, you can choose CPC: monthly group visits alternating with individual clinic visits until your baby is born.

Inspired by an evidence-based model of offering prenatal care to women in a group setting and research that indicates a higher level of satisfaction, increased knowledge of pregnancy, and fewer preterm births for women in group prenatal care.

CPC consists of six 90-minute group sessions that include health checks for you and baby, time to ask questions and share advice and support with other moms/families with due dates close to yours, information from the midwife and nurse facilitators.  

 The group setting is focused on you and your family. This type of prenatal care enhances your ability to make decisions about your own care, and builds your confidence in your ability to birth, feed, and parent your baby.

You can read FAQ about CPC at www.ncbirthcenter.org.

Community Prenatal Care is Coming Soon to WBWC!

Community Prenatal Care (CPC) is our own brand of group prenatal care. CPC is inspired by an evidence-based/researched model of delivering prenatal care to women in a group setting and by the needs of WBWC families.

After two individual prenatal visits in the clinic, you will begin six monthly group sessions in an informal, relaxed setting with other women (and partners) who are all due in the same month. You will also schedule regular visits in the clinic between group meetings. In each 90-minute session there is time to discuss common pregnancy, birth, and parenting topics, as well as a private “tummy check” with one of our midwives.

Having a forum for discussing questions and concerns about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and parenting provides you with a community for support and information. You will help to empower each other with confidence in your body’s knowledge and wisdom, trust in your ability to cope with pain, and belief that you know your body and your baby better than anyone!

Our first CPC group will start on January 4, 2017 for moms and partners who are due in June. To join this group, please email nurses@ncbirthcenter.org. And check out FAQ’s on our website:

http://ncbirthcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Community-Prenatal-FAQ.pdf.

Spaces Available for November and December Group Prenatal Care

There are still a few openings left in our Group for moms with November and December due dates!  If you'd like to be an active participant in your prenatal care and meet other birth center mamas, sign up today! Group size is limited to eight couples.  Call the front desk at 919-933-3301 to sign up or for more information.

A Few Spots Left for September Group Prenatal Care!

Moms with babies due in September: Are you interested in Group Prenatal Care? Good news!  There are still a few spaces available. The deadline to sign up is May 8th.  If we don't have enough interest by that date, we will have to cancel the group.  If you'd like to join, call us at (919) 933-3301 or let your midwife know at your next appointment.

Attention January Moms-to-Be!

      Are you due in January and interested in taking part in Group Prenatal Care at WBWC? Well, it's not too late!  We still need two more mamas to complete our January Group.  The first session will take place Wednesday, September 5 at 3:00 PM.  If you'd like to join the Group, please call us at (919) 933-3301. Whether you're an experienced mom or a first-timer, Group Prenatal Care is a great way to meet other like-minded women, learn a lot, and stay healthy during your pregnancy.  We really want to keep our Group going!

Group Prenatal Care - September Due Dates!

     Here are some of our beautiful Group mamas who are looking forward to meeting their little ones in September! If you're interested in participating in Group Prenatal Care, give us a call at (919)933-3301, or mention it to your midwife at your next prenatal appointment.

FAQ About Group Prenatal Care

by Allison Koch, CNM

  Why Group Prenatal Care?

 Perhaps one of the best reasons is that for the family planning a birth center birth, Group offers the opportunity to meet with like-minded women who have made the same choice.  The cultural model of birth in the US is one of fear: fear of pain and your ability to cope with it.  This includes a lack of confidence in the body's knowledge and wisdom, the current love affair with technology which undermines women's knowledge and confidence, and the belief that “experts” know more about you and your baby than you do. 

Having a forum for discussing questions, concerns about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and parenting provide you with a supportive community which will enhance your experience and build your confidence in your ability to birth,  breastfeed your baby, and parent. 

What happens at Group?

Several women with similar due dates meet with a midwife and a nurse in an informal setting. The usual measurements (weight, blood pressure, baby’s heartbeat, etc) are obtained, but the majority of the session is spent in conversation with others, learning about pregnancy, birth, and parenting concerns.  And we serve snacks.

Is there an additional charge?

No. This is your prenatal care.  If you have health insurance, it is covered.  If you are self-pay, it is included in the fees you are paying for your care.

Why is it a two -hour time commitment each session?

Discussions get pretty lively when moms get together to talk about pregnancy and birth!  The commitment we make to Group participants is that we will start and end ON TIME – so instead of sitting in the waiting room when the office is busy or your midwife is running behind, you will start your visit as soon as you arrive and be learning and interacting the entire time.  I have found that once women get to know each other, the 2 hours go by very quickly.

 Have other questions or want to join the Group? 

Groups are now forming for September and October due dates.  Call Layne at (919)933-3301 to sign up or ask your questions!


For moms due in November who are interested in joining the Group:
I am doing a quick survey to find out what time would be best for the upcoming Group.  We would meet on Thursdays, at either 9 AM-11 AM or 4 PM-6 PM. Which  would work better for you?  Email me at allison@ncbirthcenter.org or leave a comment on the blog.  We'll go with whichever time is convenient to the most people.

Group Prenatal Care is Coming to WBWC!

     You may have read or heard about Group Prenatal Care coming to the Birth Center. Thanks to the overwhelming positive response from our patients, we will be officially starting our first session of "The Group" in February! This program was created specifically to meet the needs of our Birth Center patients. Allison Koch, CNM and Kate Layman, CNM will be the leaders of the The Group at WBWC.
     Our pilot group includes eight mamas who will begin their sessions in February. They will meet for ten 2-hour sessions of group prenatal care. We plan to start a new group each month. If you or someone you know has an August due date and is interested in participating, let us know. The next group, which will be led by Kate, will start in March and is tentatively considering meeting on Tuesday mornings.

     We'd like to give a great big thanks to everyone who took the time to give us their feedback. It's because of you that we are able to launch this wonderful program for our moms-to-be!