Community for Antepartum Patients (CAP): Establishing an Inpatient Model for Group Prenatal Care at Duke (2024-2025)
The Community for Antepartum Patients (CAP) team examined how to adapt and sustain group-based support and education for hospitalized pregnant patients, building on a 2019–2020 pilot study that reimagined the CenteringPregnancy© outpatient model for inpatient care. Recognizing that antepartum hospitalization can be socially isolating and emotionally taxing, the team developed CAP sessions to foster solidarity, provide health education and build community among patients at Duke University Hospital.
This year, the team expanded the program by doubling the frequency of sessions, offering more than 260 to date. Each session included mindfulness activities, facilitated discussions on pregnancy topics and opportunities for peer connection, while new booklets and craft kits helped reach patients unable to attend in person. Undergraduate students played a greater leadership role, designing and leading patient sessions, teaching portions of a reproductive health course and launching a CAP book club to explore reproductive justice and maternal health in depth. The didactic curriculum was also strengthened to include social, cultural, political and ethical perspectives on obstetric care.
In collaboration with faculty mentors, students initiated a quality improvement project to evaluate CAP’s impact on patient satisfaction, knowledge retention and social support. This data-driven approach aims to refine the model, improve accessibility and contribute to future scholarship on an under-researched patient population. By merging clinical innovation, patient-centered care and student leadership development, the CAP program continues to grow as a sustainable model that supports both hospitalized patients and the next generation of healthcare leaders.
Timing
Summer 2024 – Summer 2025
Team Outputs
Community for Antepartum Patients 2025 (Poster presentation, Fortin Foundation Bass Connections Showcase, April 16, 2025)
Community for Antepartum Patients (CAP): Teaching Undergraduates with Inpatient Group Prenatal Experiences (Poster presentation, Duke AHEAD Medical Education Day, Durham, North Carolina, 2025)
See earlier related team, Community for Antepartum Patients (CAP): Establishing an Inpatient Model for Group Prenatal Care at Duke (2023-2024).
Image: Centering Pregnancy at Duke was created to bring expectant mothers and families together during pregnancy, by Duke Health