Group versus Individual Prenatal Care and Maternal Outcomes in Jordan: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Background: There has been an increasing trend on the implementation of group prenatal care, where women go along as a group rather than as individuals to attend their prenatal appointments. However, there is a paucity of studies that compared group versus traditional individual prenatal care within Jordanian healthcare settings. Purpose: To examine the differences between traditional individual and group prenatal care based on maternal outcomes among Jordanian pregnant women. Methods: An integrative review of studies published between 1993 and 2023 was performed across three databases (CINAHL, Medline and PubMed). No studies were found that investigated group prenatal care and no studies were found that examined maternal outcomes relating to group prenatal care. Nevertheless, a total of 9 studies were found that examined outcomes relating to traditional prenatal care. Results: Three themes were identified in relation to traditional prenatal care for Jordanian women; namely, (1) limitations of prenatal care, (2) barriers to prenatal care, and (3) expectations of pregnant women. However, even data on the relationship between traditional prenatal care and maternal outcomes was scarce such that there was evidence of prenatal care. The quality and extent of data were inadequate to strongly infer on the effectiveness of traditional prenatal-care programs for pregnant Jordanian women. Conclusion: There is a significant gap in literature on the implementation of group prenatal care among pregnant Jordanian women. Future research can investigate how developing, integrating and implementing group prenatal care for pregnant Jordanian women can influence maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Implications for Nursing: There is a potential for pregnant women to miss out on the benefits of group prenatal care over traditional prenatal care. Likewise, maternal health nurses will need to identify and implement strategies to overcome the limitations and barriers to traditional prenatal care in order to increase access and improve effectiveness of interventions. Keywords: Group prenatal care, Individual prenatal care, Maternal outcomes, Jordan