Community Health Programs
Centering Pregnancy Program and the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project SARAH H. KELLY, MD • Medical Director • shk1@cumc.columbia.edu
Mission and Goals
Centering Pregnancy is a program offered through the NewYorkPresbyterian Ambulatory Care Network. Prenatal care is provided to a group of eight to 12 women, usually young mothers-to-be having a first or second child. Each group meets for ten twohour sessions that span a woman’s pregnancy as well as the early period after childbirth. Our goal is to empower women to choose healthy behaviors that will benefit them as well as their babies. In December, we received a grant from the New York Department of Health to fund the restart of the Centering Program at the Broadway Practice, which had closed in early 2016. In addition, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has appointed a coordinator for the Centering program. In the next few years, we’d like to expand Centering Pregnancy to the Rangel and Audubon ACN practices. Through the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project, pregnant women and new mothers are matched with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their infants. The project enhances maternal health, promotes child development, and enforces the parent-child bond. During the 2017-2018 year, the Lullaby Project came to five Centering Pregnancy groups.
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Number of People Reached
101
atients in 11 Centering groups P (2017-2018)
28 Patients who wrote lullabies (2017-2018)
111 Patients who have written lullabies since 2013
Our goal is to empower women to choose healthy behaviors that will benefit them as well as their babies.
Key Accomplishments
Prior studies have reported favorable outcomes among women who participated in Centering programs. At NewYork-Presbyterian, our 2017-2018 outcomes compared very favorably with state and national figures: • Preterm births (<37 weeks): 2% • L ow birthweight infants (<2,500 grams): 2% • V ery low birthweight newborns (<1,500 grams): 0% • C -sections: 28% (19% primary and 14% repeat) • Vaginal deliveries: 71% • M others breastfeeding at hospital discharge: 98%
