The Birth Place Lab (BPL), within UBC Midwifery in the Faculty of Medicine, facilitates community-based participatory research and knowledge translation around equitable access to high quality maternity health care. The BPL team has convened numerous transdisciplinary teams to address inequities in access and quality of perinatal services. Lead Investigators, Dr. Saraswathi Vedam and Dr. Kathrin Stoll have extensive expertise in community participatory action research and implementation of quality improvement measures. The Birth Place Lab provides research education and mentorship opportunities to undergraduate, graduate, and early career scholars from midwifery, public health, medicine, and related disciplines.
In response to findings from their patient-oriented research, the BPL has engaged community members to co-develop instruments and accountability tools that they can use to report on their experiences of autonomy, respect and mistreatment when interacting with the healthcare system. These acclaimed tools have been applied in research and quality monitoring programs in 18 countries. The BPL utilizes both traditional and novel digital and arts-based knowledge translation modes that are accessible, pragmatic and relevant to marginalized families, community health workers, clinicians, and policymakers. To learn more visit the Birth Place Lab website.
