Date of Award:

12-2008

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Kinesiology and Health Science

Department name when degree awarded

Health, Physical Education, and Recreation

Committee Chair(s)

Phillip J. Waite

Committee

Phillip J. Waite

Committee

Julie Gast

Committee

Terry Peak

Abstract

Centering Pregnancy is an alternative method of providing prenatal care with increased education and social support with health assessment in a group setting. This study, a cross-sectional, correlational, convenience-sample design, sought to determine the difference between women who receive prenatal care in Centering Pregnancy prenatal care and those in traditional prenatal care in regards to health behaviors. Adult pregnant women (n = 125) were surveyed from at least 28 weeks gestation. The sample comprised primarily White low-income women. Using multiple linear regression, it was determined that women in Centering Pregnancy had significantly lower index health behavior scores compared with the traditional care group (p = .01); those in Centering Pregnancy reported engaging in fewer health-promoting behaviors. Furthermore, those in Centering Pregnancy reported a lower perceived value of prenatal care in the current study. No differences were observed for smoking and weight gain behaviors between groups. A number of health behaviors changed during pregnancy for both groups but no significant differences were found.

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