Maternity Care Collaboration

This examines the perceptions of interprofessional collaboration from the

perspectives of midwives and obstetricians, and contrasts how these perceptions vary

by the profession. Data was collected in two ways: through an online survey and semistructured

interviews. Midwives and obstetricians were asked about their experiences

with collaboration, their perspectives on the barriers to collaboration and thoughts about

an improved system in Ontario to facilitate enhanced maternity care collaboration. The

results demonstrate the key barriers to collaboration including contentious views on

scope of practice, the definition and interpretation of interprofessional collaboration and

varying philosophies of care. The changing landscape of maternity care in Ontario is

imminent; family doctors who provide obstetrical care are on the decline, increasing the

workload for obstetricians and midwives necessitating the need to eliminate barriers to

achieve successful interprofessional collaboration.