Transforming maternal care: the first 1000 days with group care | GC_1000 project

Group Care during the first 1000 days combines medical care with interactive learning in group sessions, building trust and sharing experiences.
Group Care has shown to be effective at improving the quality of care and meeting the needs of parents.
In the GC_1000 project, 10 partners from all over the world collaborated to learn how to make group care during pregnancy and after birth accessible and sustainable within healthcare systems.
During the project, we put group care into practice in 32 health care facilities in seven countries: in over 200 antenatal groups and about 30 postnatal groups
We documented the experiences of women and partners, health professionals, other staff members and stakeholders. We also documented the costs involved in the implementation.
“I was so enthusiastic about this model of care but also a bit scared at the beginning. Fortunately, I was trained in group facilitation skills. That made it a lot easier to run groups”.
“I was trained as an in-country trainer in group care. I learned how important it is for each country to have their own trainers. Now we can make it happen all over the country!”
“I have supported the implementation of group care in my health center since the beginning. I advocated so that healthcare professionals would have time to be trained. And then I made sure that they had a good space to facilitate group sessions”.
“As Minister of Health, I saw the benefits of group care and how it can work in my country. Implementation may cost a bit more in its initial stage but Group Care also uses resources more efficiently. I think it is a positive re-design of healthcare. I see it as my job to support the implementation of this model in my country”.
Everything we learned in this project about implementing group care is now freely accessible to you. With the Group Care Toolkit, you will find guidance on how to prepare for implementing Group Care at your site.
You'll also find good information and examples for how to address barriers and challenges; how to sustain group care over time; and how to scale-it up so that group care is available to more people. You can download the toolkit from our website www.groupcare1000.com or www.groupcare.global
We also created a digital platform where you can ask questions and share your experiences and materials with all those in the world who, like you, implement or scale up group care.
Join us in making healthcare during pregnancy and after birth a better experience!