Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Pregnancy and the postpartum period are one of the first and only times that many women access the health care system on a regular basis and are seen in a scheduled way by trained health-care providers. They are important and vital opportunities to identify health risks and improve women's long-term health while having a direct impact on the health of their children and families as a whole. The GOAL of this Café Scientifique is to get the information out to the pregnant and postpartum women and their families about opportunities to improve their long-term health. The informal approach of the Café will enable women and their partners to discuss pregnancy outcomes and issues in a comfortable and informative setting. The Café panel will discuss the specific conditions of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, excess weight gain during pregnancy and the retention of pregnancy weight postpartum. We will discuss national guidelines and recommendations and describe what clinicians and researchers are doing to improve long-term maternal health. The Café will also describe the MOTHERS (MOThers' Health Education, Research and Screening) Program, which is a new program that is unique in Canada. We will also use this opportunity to discuss the public understanding of science specifically as it relates to pregnancy and the postpartum. At the end of the Café, we believe that patients and their partners will have a good understanding of how pregnancy outcomes and the postpartum period can be used by physicians and other health care practitioners to improve their long-term health. Furthermore, participants will help to direct the future direction of the MOTHERS Program at KGH and improve the public understanding of science.