CanOSS Ontario and BORN Ontario Launch a New Obstetric Surveillance Initiative

The Canadian Obstetric Survey System (CanOSS), in partnership with BORN, is launching on October 5 CanOSS Ontario, the first provincial pilot of a national initiative to understand severe maternal complications and turn what is learned into safer care.

On World Postpartum Haemorrhage Day, CanOSS Ontario and BORN Ontario are joining the global call to raise awareness of postpartum haemorrhage and strengthen action to prevent avoidable harm. The launch of CanOSS Ontario represents a concrete Ontario response, bringing hospitals, clinicians, and health-system partners together to turn awareness into action.

"Severe maternal complications are rarely explained by one factor alone. Understanding what sits behind them is essential if we want to improve care." Dr. Rohan D'Souza, CanOSS Project Lead

A new approach to maternal health obstetric surveillance
CanOSS Ontario uses confidential, multidisciplinary case reviews to examine the full circumstances surrounding severe complications. The initiative focuses on identifying patterns, uncovering modifiable factors, and translating findings into improvements in care across the province.

A partnership for system-wide learning
BORN provides the registry infrastructure for the pilot, including data collection, governance, privacy protection, and knowledge translation. CanOSS Ontario is leading the confidential enquiry process, synthesis of findings and dissemination of actionable strategies.

“At BORN Ontario, we believe every pregnancy and birth has something to teach us. While maternal deaths are rare, severe maternal complications, like hemorrhage, affect many more women and families across our province. By helping our system understand and learn from these experiences, we can move beyond counting adverse events to preventing them.” Alicia St. Hill, Executive Director of BORN Ontario

Together, CanOSS, BORN, and Ontario hospitals are working to turn what is learned from individual experiences into knowledge that can improve care across the health system.

Thank you to the 24 Ontario hospitals participating as pilot sites! 

Learn more about CanOSS Ontario
Connect with our team to learn more about the CanOSS Ontario initiative.