The Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH) has two distinct roles. First, the PCMCH generates information to support the evolving needs of the maternal-child health care system in Ontario. Secondly, the PCMCH is a resource to the maternal-child health care system in Ontario to support system improvement and to influence how services are delivered across all levels of care.
Note: The PCMCH defines child as including infants, children and youth up to their 18th birthday.
PCMCH Fact Sheet (PDF)
Latest News
May 16th, 2012
Live birth registration is a legal requirement in Ontario. Two completed forms are required: (i) the Notice of Live Birth, completed by the health care provider who attends the birth (physician or midwife) and (ii) the Statement of Live Birth completed by the parent(s). Completion of the second form is often missed when the infant does not survive the newborn period.
This slide deck provides information about why birth registration is so important and recommends a process to assist organizations in ensuring that the parental registration form is completed prior to maternal discharge when the infant has not survived.
Live Birth Registration in Ontario (webinar slides) (PDF)
April 26th, 2012
Mother-baby dyad care, including skin-to-skin contact of healthy infants and mothers, is an important component of state of the art maternal-newborn care. The following documents address the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health’s recommendations for mother-baby dyad care.
Mother-Baby Dyad Care (webinar slides) (PDF)
Mother-Baby Dyad Care (webinar Q&A) (PDF) This Q & A document was developed based on your questions at the April 11/2012 session. Additional Q & A from the April 26/2012 session will be posted shortly.
April 11th, 2012
Please join us to learn about the recommendations of the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health and BORN Ontario for ensuring live birth registrations are completed prior to hospital discharge
Webinar: Live Birth Registration - May 7th, 2012 (PDF)
April 3rd, 2012
The late preterm population (infants between 34 weeks and 0 days and 36 weeks and 6 days gestation) represents 70 - 75% of all preterm births, and makes up the vast majority of neonates in special care nurseries (SCNs) and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across Ontario. The following clinical recommendations are intended to assist clinicians in the management of this patient population.
Clinical Guidelines for the Late Pre-term Births (Overview) (PDF)
Clinical Guidelines for the Late Pre-Term Infant (PDF)
March 30th, 2012
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a complicated multifaceted issue that is escalating along with the rapidly rising opioid use across the Province. The following documents address the cause, impact and clinical guidelines for the management of the mother and infant with NAS.
NAS: Cause, Impact and Management (Webinar slide deck) (PDF)
NAS Clinical Guidelines (updated March 30th, 2012) (PDF)
The following Q and A document was developed based on your questions at the February 9th, 2012 Webinar. Additional Q and A from the March 30th, 2012 session will be posted shortly.
NAS Webinars: Q&A (PDF)
March 28th, 2012
2011 Ontario Hospitals Paediatric Benchmarking Report is now available for download
The report is designed to help participating organizations identify potential opportunities to improve clinical and operational efficiency processes as well as quality and utilization management processes.