Research and Public Health Activities

The SOGC’s mission is to promote excellence in the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology and to advance the health of women. We believe that the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology must be based on the best scientific evidence available, and that women should have the knowledge they need to make informed choices about their health. The SOGC is uniquely positioned to identify gaps in knowledge of both health care providers and the public, as well as to build on opportunities to improve practice.

Drawing on the expertise of our members, we engage in a variety of research activities that allow us to contribute to the body of knowledge surrounding women’s health. The SOGC collaborates with perinatal care providers, researchers, educators, and policy makers to ensure that the development of programs and educational opportunities meet the needs of our members and the wider women’s health community.

The SOGC receives many requests to support research proposals/funding applications and, in an effort to make this a more manageable process for everyone, we are asking that members requesting support fill out the following form to specify the request.  Learn more >

Current Projects

Understanding Existing and Future Potential for Capturing Data on Perinatal Mental Health

Timeline: October 2022 – December 2023
Description: In Canada, data and information about women’s health, especially during pregnancy and post-partum, is sporadic and limited. The data are neither analysed nor reported in an aggregate manner to provide information about Canadian women. One of the most significant data gaps is related to perinatal mental health, including clinical indicators for outcomes. The goal of this project is to improve perinatal mental health data surveillance in Canada by exploring existing national datasets, analyzing contents of provincial and territorial databases, and making recommendations for standardized data capture at the healthcare provider level and the jurisdictional level.
Funded by: The Daymark Foundation

Putting Evidence Into Practice: Building Capacity in Perinatal Mental Health

Education, Training and Clinical Practice Guidelines for Women and their Healthcare Providers #Savingmoms #Savingbabies

Timeline: October 2021 – June 2024
Description: The contexts related to perinatal mental health are diverse and expansive, and may include physical and/or mental health, violence, addiction, substance use and other social determinants of health. Health care providers play a central role in recognizing perinatal mental health issues and supporting women. This project proposes to increase awareness and recognition of these issues among women’s health care providers, and to create tools and resources so they can be better equipped to support women during pregnancy and in the post-partum period.
Funded by: The Daymark Foundation
Partners: Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative, College of Family Physicians of Canada, Canadian Association of Midwives, Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses and Centre Excellence for Women’s Health.

Prevention of Maternal Mortality in Canada: What can we learn from Ontario data?

Description: The SOGC has been working toward developing a foundation for preventing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in Canada. In Ontario, the Ontario Coroner’s Maternal Perinatal Death Review Committee (MPDRC) reviews and publishes redacted reports on cases of maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality. The rationale of this project is to review all redacted reports of pregnancy-related mortality from 2015-2019 in Ontario with a view to determining the preventable causes of death and gaps in existing clinical practice guidelines, summarizing recommendations and assessing the comprehensiveness of MPDRC reports.
Partner: Ontario Coroner’s Maternal Perinatal Death Review Committee

 
The SOGC applies this innovative model of needs assessment, education and tools/resources to their research projects: 

Resources

The SOGC research projects have resulted in many resources for women and their health care providers, which can be found at www.pregnancyinfo.ca/resources