Prenatal care redesign: creating flexible maternity care models through virtual care

Area of Science:

• Maternal Health
• Healthcare Delivery Innovation
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• Traditional prenatal care guidelines (12-14 visits) are outdated, established in 1930.
• Evidence supports delivering key prenatal services (e.g., gestational diabetes screening, vaccinations) effectively in fewer visits.
• Telemedicine and virtual care show promise for improving flexibility and patient outcomes in maternity services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To redesign the standard prenatal care pathway to be more patient-centered and flexible.
• To implement and evaluate a new model of prenatal care incorporating virtual visits.
• To explore insights for future patient-centered maternity care redesign.

Main Methods:

• Literature assessment, patient perspective elicitation, and expert insights.
• Development of a redesigned care pathway based on essential services and flexible support.
• Implementation of a 4-in-person, 1-ultrasound, 4-virtual visit model (4-1-4 plan).

Main Results:

• The 4-1-4 prenatal plan was implemented, integrating virtual and in-person services.
• The redesigned model aims to provide essential services efficiently while offering tailored psychosocial support.
• Early findings suggest positive maternal and fetal outcomes with high patient satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Prenatal care redesign is necessary to meet modern patient needs and leverage technology.
• A hybrid model combining essential in-person visits with flexible virtual care can enhance maternity services.
• Insights from this implementation can guide future patient-centered prenatal care models, especially post-pandemic.