Work with teen moms recognized by province

Health minister’s award goes to Ottawa doctor

A program that combines prenatal care and support services at a centre for pregnant teens in Ottawa has received a prestigious provincial award. It is the latest recognition for a program that obstetrician Dr. Nathalie Fleming says she would like to see spread across the country.

Fleming, an obstetrician-gynecologist at The Ottawa Hospital and chief obstetrician at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, received the inaugural Minister’s Medal Honouring Excellence in Health Quality and Safety from Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews at a ceremony in Toronto this week.

The program Fleming helped launch in 2004 at St. Mary’s Home and Young Patient Outreach Centre in Vanier was chosen from 140 applicants across the province because its multi-disciplinary approach that brings health care and support to pregnant teens has improved the health outcomes of teens and their newborns.

Fleming’s perinatal clinic at St. Mary’s Home is the only one of its kind in Canada to bring patient care for pregnant teens out of the hospital and to a place where teens gather for other programs. As a result, pregnant teens are more likely to get consistent prenatal care and services to help improve their health and well-being and that of their babies.

Research shows participating teens had fewer C-sections, fewer preterm births and fewer babies with low birth weights than average among their age group.

Fleming called the award “an honour for me and the rest of my team” because it shines a light on the program, which she hopes to help expand to other parts of the province and, eventually, the country.

“I firmly believe all adolescents who are pregnant should have the opportunity to participate in such a program because the outcomes are so good.”