2022 Perinatal CoP Annual Gathering Summary Report

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