Trial reportPloS one2019
Impact of group antenatal care (G-ANC) versus individual antenatal care (ANC) on quality of care, ANC attendance and facility-based delivery: A pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya and Nigeria.
Trial report in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of group antenatal care on maternal health continuum of care and perinatal outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2026Pooled it
- The Economics of Group Antenatal Care: A Systematic Review and Narrative Analysis.Maternal and child health journal · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of providers' experiences of facilitating group antenatal care.Reproductive health · 2021Pooled it
- Improving respectful maternity care through group antenatal care: Findings from a cluster randomized controlled trial.Midwifery · 2025Trial
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- Group antenatal care positively transforms the care experience: Results of an effectiveness trial in Malawi.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Ghanaian women's experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) during group antenatal care: a brief report from a cluster randomised controlled trial.Global health action · 2024Trial
- The impact of group antenatal care on newborns: Results of a cluster randomized control trial in Eastern Region, Ghana.BMC pediatrics · 2024Trial
- Effect of group antenatal care versus individualized antenatal care on birth preparedness and complication readiness: a cluster randomized controlled study among pregnant women in Eastern Region of Ghana.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Impact of group prenatal care on key prenatal services and educational topics in Malawi and Tanzania.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2021Trial
- Assessing the impact of group antenatal care on gestational length in Rwanda: A cluster-randomized trial.PloS one · 2021Trial
- An effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 1 trial assessing the impact of group versus individual antenatal care on maternal and infant outcomes in Malawi.BMC public health · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Estimating the impact and cost-effectiveness of antenatal care approaches in 24 low- and middle-income countries: a modelling study.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- The introduction of group antenatal care in northern Nigeria: an implementation research study analysing changes in service use.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Introducing a group antenatal care model at the health post level in Ethiopia: a qualitative pilot study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- Scheduling Group Care in Routine Perinatal Care: Identifying Implementation Modifications Across Belgium, Kosovo, and the UK.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLow quality and frequency of antenatal care (ANC) are associated with lower uptake of facility-based deliveries-a key intervention to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. We implemented group ANC (G-ANC), an alternative service delivery model, in Kenya and Nigeria, to assess its impact on quality and attendance at ANC and uptake of facility-based delivery.
methodsFrom October 2016‒January 2018, we conducted a facility-based, pragmatic, cluster-randomized controlled trial with 20 clusters per country. We recruited women <24 weeks gestation during their first ANC visit and enrolled women at intervention facilities who agreed to attend G-ANC in lieu of routine individual ANC. The G-ANC model consisted of five monthly 2-hour meetings with clinical assessments alongside structured gestationally specific group discussions and activities. Quality of care was defined as receipt of eight specific ANC interventions. Data were obtained through facility records and self-report during a home-based postpartum survey. Analysis was by intention to treat.
findingsAll women who completed follow up are included in the analysis (Nigeria: 1018/1075 enrolled women [94.7%], Kenya: 826/1013 [81.5%]). In Nigeria women in the intervention arm were more likely to have a facility-based delivery compared to those in the control arm (Nigeria: 76.7% [391/510] versus 54.1% [275/508]; aOR 2.30, CI 1.51-3.49). In both countries women in the intervention arm were more likely than those in the control arm to receive quality ANC (Nigeria: aOR 5.8, CI 1.98-17.21, p<0.001; Kenya: aOR 5.08, CI 2.31-11.16, p<0.001) and to attend at least four ANC visits (Nigeria: aOR 13.30, CI 7.69-22.99, p<0.001; Kenya: aOR 7.12, CI 3.91-12.97, p<0.001).
conclusionsG-ANC was associated with higher facility-based delivery rates in Nigeria, where those rates associated with individual ANC were low. In both Kenya and Nigeria it was associated with a higher proportion of women receiving quality ANC and higher frequency of ANC visits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.