Centering Pregnancy at Kaiser via zoom?
Hi - I've read through the older reviews here on Kaiser's Centering Pregnancy program, and I'm wondering if anyone who has done it during the COVID-era where the sessions are held via Zoom can weigh in on their experience.
In reading through the posts from 2019, it seems the major benefit was meeting other expecting parents in person, and I'm skeptical of whether you'd have the same likelihood to form lasting connections with the classes being held via Zoom. If not, I think I'd rather stick with the traditional 1-on-1 OBGYN experience, since the main benefit highlighted by participants was the social aspect.
I'm grateful if anyone can share their recent/virtual experience. Thank you!
Sep 18, 2022
Parent Replies
I attended a few of the virtual meetings in 2020 soon stopped. There was just too much bumbling around with microphones, among other things. Hopefully that has changed, but I also really did not see the point of “go around the ‘circle’ and say an iron-rich food” followed by a bunch of button fumbling and feedback which was all it seemed to be since the in-person social aspect was gone. But hey, maybe they’ve since hit their stride. We were all visibly scared and it was so hard to loosen up and share with each other so perhaps my experience was tainted.
Hi! I did Centering with Kaiser in 2021, virtually, though we did meet up (outdoors) once. Highly recommend, even if it is all virtual - although I think they're moving back to in-person now? We made connections with several families and have been hanging out with them regularly in person since pregnancy - so nice to have a group of people with babies the same age as you, even if you rarely hang out and only text. We just had a first birthday celebration for our kids and 10 families showed up! Support is great!
I'm doing it right now with my partner and I highly recommend it. There are monthly in-person belly checks when you get to briefly meet other parents iin person and they may also be transitioning back to an in-person (but outdoors) model. Even when it's just zoom the cohorts usually set-up a text chain and the teachers are very good about creating connections between the parents over the call.
It also does not replace the 1-on-1 OBGYN meetings, so you're not missing out on OBGYN visits or anything.
Hi-
I did the centering pregnancy program in 2020. This of course was when we were unvaccinated so it’s possible that things have been more in person since then. You may want to ask about how it’s run now.
Personally I found that the ob gyn seemed a bit stressed from not only holding facilitation of the group but also serving as our ob for the time being. I thought I might get extra care through this, but when it came down to appointments, they were still shorter than I’d like as a new parent with a lot of questions. In retrospect I would have rather built a deeper connection with my ob, who will continue to serve me through post partum. I’m sure that some folks did enjoy this but this was my experience.
Importantly whichever ob you choose, you should know that it’s the midwives that will be supporting you in delivery and having your own support team is important.
Hope it helps.
We did the Centering program from Dec 2020-Jul 2021 and had a pretty mediocre experience. I definitely felt that it would have been much, much more enriching if the groups were in-person. If they're still doing all-virtual then it may not be worth your while. You can find other prenatal/parenting groups that are meeting in person to get that social connection (Brilliant Births is one resource to look into but I know there are many). It's incredibly valuable to find other parents with similar due dates because you can have a support group of people moving through pregnancy and postpartum on the same timeline. Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!
I think it very much depends on who you have as your instructor, and where you are expected to report for your monthly office visits in person. I found the organization of the program confusing, and because I chose to deliver at San Leandro instead of oakland, my office visits wound up being based in Union City which was much too far to be driving. It was also led by an OB rather than a midwife, and I have found midwives and nurse practitioners to be better at patient education. The OB didn't really know how to best facilitate an online class and promote engagement. Frankly, it was kind of awkward. I wound up switching out of the program a couple of weeks in and going back to my usual provider. You may have a different experience with the midwife based out of Oakland, say, or another location- but I would not recommend.
I did the Centering Pregnancy class in 2020 and it wasn’t super helpful. The social aspects are completely lost when it’s done virtually so we didn’t really connect with any of the other families (nor do I think others connected with each other). We also really liked our obgyn so it felt like it would’ve been more effective if we just met with here 1:1
I just did Centering Pregnancy and I found the zoom classes to be mixed. Some were useful, and others were redundant as I was already doing my own research into breastfeeding, what to expect in labor, etc. The in-person checks feel really impersonal and not very useful. However, our group of expecting parents started up a text thread and it has been great! It’s lovely to have supportive folks who are going through the same stages as you. Several of our group joined the first few sessions but then requested to go back to their OBGYN for 1-on-1 care. You could do the same if you’re curious about it!