1. CenteringPregnancy® March of Dimes Texas Chapter How providing funds, training, and support for sites is making a difference in the lives of Texas families. CityMatCH Conference August 26, 2007 Amy Johnson-Rubio, MPA ajrubio@marchofdimes.com

2. Goals/Objectives of March of Dimes CenteringPregnancy® Goals/Objectives of March of Dimes CenteringPregnancy® Initiative CenteringPregnancy®Improve birth outcomes, increase social support, and increase prenatal care utilization using CenteringPregnancy®  Implement in 18 sites by 12/08  Impact 1000 births by 12/08  Complete evaluation by 12/08  Develop long-term plan by 12/07

3. History of CenteringPregnancy® History of CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Targets diverse audience Addresses prenatal care compliance/adequacy Reaches women across Texas Three-year pilot initiative Partners & systems utilized  CPPA, Texas Woman ’ s University, UT – Tyler, March of Dimes volunteers/staff

4. Site Recruitment CenteringPregnancy® Site Recruitment CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Request for Applications  Released 4 times resulting in 14 funded sites  Training offered prior to proposal development  Targeted presentations to potential sites

5. Results/Impact of CenteringPregnancy® Results/Impact of CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Yale University study Research Hypotheses for Texas Study: Among pregnant women who participate in the CP program:  Social support is inversely related to maternal stress.  Maternal stress is inversely related to the total number of CP sessions attended.  Social support and maternal stress explain variation in infant birth weight.  African American women have higher infant birth weights than the state of Texas avg. for African American women.

6. Results/Impact of CenteringPregnancy® Results/Impact of CenteringPregnancy® Initiative

8. Limitations/Barriers of CenteringPregnancy® Limitations/Barriers of CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Challenging to educate/recruit sites  Lack of published data  New concept in Texas Length of implementation timeline  IRB approval  Project planning phase

9. Opportunities to Replicate CenteringPregnancy® Opportunities to Replicate CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Involve volunteers Identify financial resources Partner with Centering Pregnancy and Parenting Association Identify project “ point person ”

10. Next Steps/Conclusions CenteringPregnancy® Next Steps/Conclusions CenteringPregnancy® Initiative Complete Texas evaluation Devise plan for long-term support Consider opportunities for collaboration  Among March of Dimes chapters  With key partner organizations