About Us

The South Community Birth Program (SCBP) was established in October 2003 to pilot a unique maternity care program situated in the South Community area of Vancouver, British Columbia.

At BC Women’s hospital, the Head of Family Practice, Sue Harris, and the Head of Midwifery, Lee Saxell, received funding through the Federal Government’s Primary Health Care Transition Funds, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and B.C. Women’s Hospital to pilot an innovative, collaborative, multidisciplinary program. Registered Midwives, family physicians, community health nurses, and doulas all provide care in a community-based, culturally-appropriate, and woman-centered manner during pregnancy, birth and the newborn period. The SCBP is designed to improve the health outcomes of pregnant people in the underserved community of South Vancouver. This is the first such multidisciplinary program of its kind in Canada.

Since 2003 the SCBP has cared for several thousand people, many of whom are new immigrants to Canada. Today, our doula program is generously supported by BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre

The SCBP brings pregnancy and birth back to a community-based, peer-supported, primary care experience and aims to improve the health outcomes of parents and their families by developing an environment in which the SCBP team:

1. Collaborates with families to meet the needs of childbearing people in their community.

2. Assists families to identify their own strengths and build confidence in their ability to give birth and become parents.

3. Encourages people to assume an active role in their own health care.

4. Provides a safe, positive birth experience through the reduction of interventions.

5. Provides support following the birth so that people can have a shortened hospital stay.

6. Encourages developing a strong sense of peer support among families, helping them to build community, reduce isolation, and provide ongoing support for each other when their care at SCBP is complete.

A Green Office

SCBP is committed to being a paperless office! We chart electronically and do not use paper gowns or sheets (cloth only). We also use sterile metal speculums, rather than plastic, and environmentally friendly cleaning products. All handouts and information are printed from our EMR.