Improving maternal and child health through perinatal care
A perinatal epidemiologist, Patricia co-leads the Maternal Child Health Theme at the University of British Columbia School of Population Health. She was founding director of the university’s MPH program, former director of the MSc and PhD programs, and former co-director of the National Interdisciplinary Women’s Reproductive Health Research Training Program. Patricia leads Optimal Birth BC, a consortium of clinician-scientists and public health practitioners who partner with BC Health Authorities to conduct primary research in maternal child health, develop evidence syntheses for practitioners, and decision-aids for childbearing women.
She has led several clinical trials to evaluate methods for managing pregnancy and labor. Her studies of midwifery established the evidence to support regulation of midwifery in Canadian provinces and influenced policy around the world. Patricia is currently studying the utility of SMS text messaging as a modality to improve health literacy and motivate health behavior change among expectant and new parents. Most recently, she has developed and implemented SmartMom and SmartParent, Canada’s first prenatal and parent education programs delivered by text messaging.
Affiliations: Professor and Co-lead of the Maternal Child Health Theme, University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health; Senior Scholar, British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute; Founding Director, Optimal Birth BC, SmartMom and SmartParent