Prenatal Showers: Educational Opportunities for Undergraduate Students

J. Cranmer and C. Lajkowicz (1989) faced the challenge of securing student clinical experiences with healthy prenatal clients. They identified that lack of access to pregnant women, limited number of faculty, and large numbers of students contributed to problems in meeting select course objectives. Little has changed since then. This article describes a clinical experience, known as “Prenatal Showers,” where undergraduate nursing students, implementing the teacher role, provide community-based prenatal education in the context of a baby shower. Student groups address educational topics identified by community partners. After student presentations, feedback from prenatal clients is analyzed. Lessons learned include selecting appropriate community partners, clearly articulating academic and community needs, and obtaining seed money to initiate the program. Prenatal Showers are most successful when community partners possess open lines of communication, an accessible population, an appreciation for the contributions made by students, and a willingness to share responsibility for their supervision. Prenatal Showers offer different advantages from traditional maternal-child clinical experiences because students gain experiences with prenatal clients from diverse backgrounds and engage in community-based nursing. The community benefits because educational needs of prenatal clients are met. Strong community partnerships benefit faculty by making clinical placements more accessible and reducing faculty workload.