This quality standard addresses care for people experiencing complications, such as pain and vaginal bleeding, and/or the loss of their pregnancy in the first 13 weeks. It applies to all health care settings and includes diagnosis, follow-up, and management of physical and emotional aspects of care for early pregnancy complications or loss.
This standard includes pregnancy of unknown location (where a person has a positive pregnancy test but no pregnancy is visible in an ultrasound), tubal ectopic pregnancy (a condition in which the embryo implants in a fallopian tube), and intrauterine pregnancy loss (missed, complete, or incomplete miscarriage).
Health Quality Ontario is partnering with Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network and in collaboration with the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH) for the development of this quality standard.
Thank you for your comments and feedback. The consultation period has now ended.
The two guides below are in draft form. Please check back here in a few months for the finalized guides and for a variety of other resources related to this standard.
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Quality Standard
Know what quality care looks like, based on evidence and expert consensus
Download
Patient Conversation Guide
If you have had an early pregnancy complication or loss: Know what to ask for in your care
Download
The work on this quality standard started in November 2017.
Health Quality Ontario thanks the following individuals for their generous, voluntary contributions of time and expertise to help create this quality standard:
Jackie Thomas (co-chair)
Physician, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital
Catherine Varner (co-chair)
Physician, Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital
Feben Aseffa
Lived Experience Advisor; Quality and Risk Management Specialist, Association of Ontario Midwives
Mostafa Atri
Divisional Head, Abdominal Ultrasound, Joint Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto
Tracy Condon
Social Worker, Partners in Pregnancy Clinic, Peterborough Family Health Team
Josh Gohl
Registered Nurse, Linamar Emergency Department, Guelph General Hospital
Sarah Gower
Rural Family Physician, Elora and Fergus
Kate MacWilliams
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Emergency Department, St. Michael’s Hospital
Amy Moland-Osborne
Registered Midwife, Boreal Midwifery Practice
France Morin
Perinatal Consultant, Champlain Maternal Newborn Regional Program
Heather Murray
Physician, Emergency Department, Kingston General Hospital
Sachiko Nagasawa
Clinical Psychologist, North Bay Regional Health Centre
Summer O’Neill
Registered Midwife, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Newborn Care, The Ottawa Hospital
Andrea Paras
Lived Experience Advisor
Kristen Patrick
Nurse Practitioner, Sunset Country Family Health Team
Amanda Ross-White
Lived Experience Advisor; Author and Contributor, Pregnancy After Loss Support
Gareth Seaward
Vice-Chair, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Toronto
Modupe Tunde-Byass
Physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, North York General Hospital