As Chair of the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health, it gives me great pleasure to share with you some of the successes we have achieved since the Government’s expansion of our mandate to include maternal-newborn services in late 2008. 

Since that time the PCMCH has been working hard to ensure that its roles as an expert advisory body to your government and resource to the system have ultimately benefitted families and children across the province. By providing clinical advice, expertise and guidance to support the government’s commitment to improved access and quality of care to new moms, babies, children and youth we have been able to make a real, positive impact on the delivery of care to Ontario families.

Over the past 12 months we have made remarkable progress in a number of areas including developing reports and recommendations on issues related to Access and Transportation. We are currently working on issues related to Breastfeeding, Mother-Baby Dyad Care and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Late Preterm Birth, as well as others. 

Of particular note, is the success of our development and implementation of Fetal Fibronectin guidelines which have dramatically improved the utilization of, and access to neonatal bassinets, while keeping new moms-to-be as close to home as possible.

Building on this success, we feel that in addition to our ongoing work, the PCMCH is in the best possible position to work with providers to continue to develop clinical guidelines, recommendations and best practices that will help to ensure equitable access to the best care for children, regardless of where in Ontario they live - and at the same time, bolster Ontario’s position as a national and global leader in this important area of focus.

The strength of the Council and the credibility and reliability of our policy advice to the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care lies in our ability to engage providers. We hope you will read our newsletter regularly, ask questions and get involved in the work of Council and its Advisory Committees and working groups by sharing your expertise, success stories and experiences so that we can consider them in our planning. 

The PCMCH is privileged to be able to make a significant difference in the lives of families across Ontario. We look forward to continuing to support Ontario’s vision for children and welcome the opportunity to advance the province’s position as a leader in maternal/newborn/child and youth health. 

Mary Jo Haddad, Chair, Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health
President and CEO, The Hospital for Sick Children