The Obstetric Medicine Program is the product of a multi-disciplinary clinical and academic initiative established within the Department of Medicine. It has a rapidly growing clinical and academic footprint which serves to illustrate the vital importance of pregnancy as a window of opportunity to improve outcomes for both mother and family.

The core mission of our program is to transform the care provided to all people with medical conditions in pregnancy through innovative and collaborative care, generating research to inform practice and improve outcomes, and creating future leaders in maternal medicine through engaging and inclusive education. Members of the Obstetric Medicine Team are active at all four hospital sites with a primary focus at McMaster University Medical Centre and St Joseph’s Health Care where they provide both inpatient and outpatient consultative services to specialties caring for pregnant patients.

With a focus on optimization of preexisting or pregnancy specific medical comorbidities, the obstetric medicine team runs weekly preconception, antenatal and postpartum clinics which reflect the diverse nature and scope of this work. Examples of innovative clinical models include a combined high risk preconception clinic with the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, and the McMaster Postpartum Vascular Clinic; which provides cardiovascular follow up and support for patients who have experienced a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia over the first year postpartum.

As the breadth and depth of clinical practice has grown, so too has demand for clinical rotations and academic content. We are happy to service a diverse group of medical and obstetrical trainees providing advanced training, didactic lectures and half days. Obstetric Medicine is also now a core clinical rotation for our Obstetric, Maternal Fetal and General Internal Medicine fellowship programs and we often welcome elective learners from the departments of Family Medicine and other subspecialties. More recently, we are very proud to have joined the ranks of University Academic programs across Canada providing a formal fellowship in Obstetric Medicine. This one year program is available to advanced trainees in any medical subspecialty wishing to gain further specialization in this rapidly expanding field.