Mother’s Day: A Time for Reflection

Canada ranked 39th in the world in maternal mortality rates, and has been doing worse in recent years. The most recently reported maternal mortality rates, according to Statistics Canada, are 8.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018. That number was 5.9 the year prior.

Paul Carr’s Kitty Carr Fund honours his late wife

Paul Carr established the Kitty Carr Fund at the Canadian Foundation for Women’s Health (the charitable arm of the SOGC) in loving memory of his late wife Kitty Carr. Kitty Carr tragically passed away in 1994 on New Year’s Eve after having given birth to their daughter Kitty Lana.  It was a tragic event that spurred Carr into action. He has since become a tireless advocate on maternal mortality in Canada by lobbying politicians at both the federal and provincial level to establish a confidential inquiry system into maternal deaths. Carr recently made a generous donation of $100,000 to the CFWH fund and the hope is to raise more money for the fund.

The goal of the Kitty Carr Fund is to support research and initiatives focused on prevention of maternal mortality in Canada. Funds from the Kitty Carr Fund will be used to fund Annual post-graduate scholarship(s) of $10,000 focused on prevention of maternal morbidity and mortality as well as initiatives contributing to implementation of a Confidential Enquiry System in Canada.

As Carr states, “I believe no woman should have to die giving birth in Canada. Canada can do better; Canada must do better. It is unacceptable and a terrible indictment that in today’s age, in a country with our prosperity, excellent education and medical research capabilities, and focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, that our Maternal Death Rate is so high, and that worse, we have no consistent and reliable method across the country in how we define and measure Maternal Deaths, let alone study it. Whilst health care and its delivery in Canada is the responsibility of each province and territory, this should not impede our ability to learn from every maternal death in Canada and do what we can to prevent them in the future.”

The SOGC is supporting Carr in his mission. Later this summer a Maternal Mortality Toolklit for health care providers will be launched. The aim of which is to provide the necessary educational tools to help prevent further maternal related deaths.

As SOGC Chief Science Officer Jocelynn Cook states: “We sincerely believe in Paul Carr’s mission and are prepared to support any efforts to prevent maternal mortality deaths in Canada. Maternal deaths in Canada must to be included as part of confidential inquiry to help us better understand causes and make changes to improve safety. I agree with Mr. Carr that Canada can and must do better.”

Donate to the Kitty Carr fund HERE.