Maternity

Partnering with Shared Care

Read our funding guidelines for more information, including an EOI/Proposal Form & Submission Deadlines.

Overview

The future of primary maternity care in Canada has become a topic of considerable discussion and concern in recent years. Maternity care providers, including family physicians, obstetricians and registered midwives, report eroding trust and challenging communication, and women at various stages of pregnancy are experiencing unclear and inconsistent maternity care throughout their journey.

To support spread of successful work to improve maternity care in BC, Shared Care initiated a ‘spread network’ in 2017 to support an Interprofessional Collaborative Approach (IPC) to care. IPC practice has been widely promoted as an effective and efficient way to increase access for women to quality care and to improve provider satisfaction and retention.

Communities Involved & Their Impact

Since the start of the start of the Maternity Network, 27 communities have initiated 36 maternity improvement projects across the province to address a wide spectrum of issues affecting maternity care.

You can read highlights the Maternity Network's work from 2017 - 2020 in the Fostering Collaboration for Collective Impact report.

Developing a Community of Practice

As the Maternity Network has grown and greater numbers of communities have become involved, Shared Care has shifted focus to the development of a community of practice.

Members engaged include specialists, family doctors, midwives, and representation and involvement by Perinatal BC and the Ministry of Health. Membership will expand to include: allied health, patient representatives, and partnership with agencies and groups providing similar services.

Next steps are to continue to collectively develop and implement a strategic plan.