CenteringPregnancy

We had our first CenteringPregnancy group today and it was a really positive experience. It went from 9-11am, and we had to get there a little early since it was the first meeting. It was held in a large room with an exam room off to the side. There was a table with some snacks and a water cooler. There was salsa music playing, which set a good and uplifting tone. A table was set up with a blood pressure cuff that went on your wrist and there was a scale along the wall. The first 30 minutes of each meeting, we take our blood pressure and our weight and write that down in our chart. Our charts are on the table with the blood pressure cuff. One by one we went into the exam room with the midwife and she did a little check up. Today she listened to the baby's heartbeat, which sounded good. We were able to clearly hear it, which was cool. For each subsequent meeting, that is the process and it takes up the first 30 minutes. We were given a tote bag with a binder in it that had a lot of different information and things for us to fill out regarding how we feel about various issues related to the pregnancy and the baby - we have to bring that with us to every group. There were 8 women including me and all but one had their husband with them. Interestingly, the one who came solo was also the only one who already had a child. For the rest of us, this is our first.

The group is led by the nurse midwife and a nurse. The nurse was the one who got everyone situated and who explained the process for the group meetings. After the exam and the check in, we all sat down in chairs that were set up in a circle. Instead of introducing ourselves, we had to speak to the person next to us (not our husband) and find out a little about each other and then introduce that person. That turned out to be a good ice breaker. Then we started a discussion about what our expectations were for the group. It took people a little bit to get warmed up, but once that happened, people were fairly talkative. We then talked about nutrition and how we were all feeling. I would say that we were all roughly in the same age bracket - I think everyone was probably somewhere in their 30s. Each week we will talk about something different, though we are always able to discuss how we are feeling or if there is anything going on that we want to share with the group.

I did find out that I am not guaranteed a midwife when I deliver because they are not on call 24/7 at UCSF, which is something that I was not told before. I am a little disturbed about that since I really do not want an MD or a man delivering my baby - I want a midwife. I spoke to the nurse midwife about this a bit and she referred me to a couple of doulas, which are birthing assistants. I had been thinking about hiring a doula, but hadn't been totally sure if it was necessary, but now feel that it is. Joe andI still have some time to discuss it and find the right person.

We were both really happy with the group today and I'm glad that we started this program. I think it will be a really good experience and it will be nice to go through this journey with this group of people. The next group is March 26th.