Research summary
Pregnancy should be a joyous event. Yet in Canada, in one or two of every 100 pregnancies, the birthing parent will experience an unexpected, life-threatening, severe maternal morbidity event. These events can result in long-lasting physical, mental, social and financial consequences for families-yet clinical studies seldom considered them.
As Canada Research Chair in Maternal Health, Dr. Rohan D’Souza aims to improve the health of Canadian birthing parents. He and his research team are trying to standardize various aspects of pregnancy trials to ensure they define “improved health” in accordance with the values and perspectives of pregnant and breastfeeding individuals. They are also establishing a Canadian obstetric survey system for identifying and appraising cases of severe maternal morbidity and recommending targeted interventions. Finally, they are designing a program to assess, screen and treat people who experience severe maternal morbidity and evaluate the effectiveness of similar programs across Canada.