South Community Birth Program

Description

ABOUT US
The South Community Birth Program SCBP was established in October 2003 to pilot a unique maternity program to be situated in the South Community area of Vancouver British Columbia At BC Womens hospital the Head of Family Practice Sue Harris and the Head of Midwifery Lee Saxell applied for funding through the Federal Government Primary Care Transition Funds administered by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Provincial Services Health AuthorityBC Womens Hospital The goal of the SCBP is to improve the health outcomes of lowrisk pregnant women in the underserved community of South Vancouver by providing them with collaborative multidisciplinary care from family physicians midwives community health nurses and doulas This is the first such multidisciplinary program of its kind in Canada Care takes place in a communitybased culturallyappropriate and womancentered manner during pregnancy birth and the newborn period

The SCBP opened in December of 2003 and the first woman to enroll in the program gave birth in April 2004 At the South Community Health Centre on Knight Street a space was remodeled to provide a home for the program SCBP has now expanded into a new larger space on Fraser Street that includes a large room for Centering Pregnancy CP group meetings and two examination rooms Members of the SCBP team community health nurses midwives family physicians and doulas provide care and support for women at this site on an individual basis or in CP groups The program also established a multidisciplinary education and research center for current and future health care professionals focusing on healthy pregnancy and birth An electronic medical record was established to improve continuity and communication and facilitate quality improvement