Overview
On October 20, 2022, the Perinatal Community of Practice (CoP), hosted the second annual gathering virtually via Zoom. Over 120 participants gathered for the half-day event which focused on the top priorities highlighted by the physicians, midwives, and health care partners:
- Building relationships between physicians, midwives, and health partners
- Sharing best practices and learnings in perinatal care
- Introducing the Perinatal CoP strategic plan and framework
- Exploring opportunities to embed perinatal care in local communities
Presentations
See below for a quick summary of the day’s events. You can also review the full agenda and report. Unless otherwise noted, presenters are physicians that are part of the Perinatal CoP.
- The Annual Perinatal CoP Gathering opened with a welcome from Drs Shelley Ross and Julie Wood, the Perinatal CoP Co-Chairs. Coast Salish matriarch Elder Dr Roberta Price offered an opening prayer.
- Shana Ooms, Executive Director, Primary Health Care, Ministry of Health and Co-Chair of Shared Care Committee discussed some ways in which the Ministry is helping improve the quality of patient care.
- She provided a brief overview of the province’s vision for maternity care, including changes to privileging, adding more physicians, nurses, and health science professionals, and incentives for practitioners.
- Andrea and Dana, two patients who recently had collaborative care perinatal journeys, shared their stories and experiences via video.
- Robert Finch, Executive Director, Perinatal Services BC presented an update on their Maternity Services Strategy.
- Ministry of Health staff (Kelly McQuillen, ED, Primary Care Planning & Implementation Oversight; Jeremy McLay, Director, Primary Care Strategy & Innovation) presented on maternity services strategy supports.
- Drs Shelley Ross and Julie Wood shared the vision, purpose, priorities, framework, and enablers for the Perinatal Community of Practice.
- Dr Tracy Monk provided insight into GPSC’s recent announcement of $1 million in maternity funding.
Breakout Groups and Discussions
The meeting broke into seven breakout groups, divided by regions (Fraser, Interior, Island, Northern, and Vancouver Coastal). The rooms discussed a series of topics, such as:
- Leveraging local opportunities within their communities
- Networking and engaging with stakeholders
- What supports are needed to engage partners
- Team-based care as part of the solution
Emerging Themes
- Burnout/Recruitment and retention/health human resource capacity
- Funding inequities and funding model misalignment
- Physical space limitations
- Inadequate privileging for locums across sites and regions
- Team-based collaborative care and building relationships
- Engagement of Health Authorities
- Community Engagement, including patients, families, and Indigenous partners
- Sustainability of services
