Placenta Health Clinic

An advanced practice nurse, Mrs D. Kaye assists our team in the coordinating services, delivering care and managing planning. She will often be a first contact on the phone to help direct you appropriately and answer your questions. 

A team of expert nurses is present to conduct our various clinical services and to help educate parents. They provide assistance and friendly advice to our patients while offering targeted nursing care in the context of placental health. 

These professionals will welcome you with a smile and help you coordinate and plan your appointments. 

Our OBS GYN ultrasound unit is a very busy referral centre for all complex perinatal cases in Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec and Baffin Island.  

Our sonographers (the professionals who perform the ultrasound exam) are highly trained to assess the anatomy of your baby (to see whether there are anomalies) and to evaluate how well your baby is via various tests. They are also highly qualified to examine your placenta for anomalies and for blood flow problems.  

They provide high quality examinations which are then reviewed and interpreted by the clinicians of the Placenta Health Clinic or one of the other Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) specialists of our division. The MFM team will then make recommendations regarding your care as indicated. 

Complicated pregnancies can sometimes bring about feelings of stress, anxiety, and a decrease in mood. Some women also have histories of mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders, a history of abuse, and/or major depression that can make coping with complicated pregnancies even more difficult.  

A clinical health psychologist can work alongside the obstetrical team to help you to prepare and to manage the medical treatments and can help you to better understand and cope with your emotions and experiences.  

Our clinic offers consultations, as appropriate, with our clinical health psychologist, Dr K. Ritchie who can assist you during your pregnancy. Dr. Ritchie can provide psychological consultation, assessment and diagnosis, as well as individual and couples’ interventions and treatments

When parents are facing a difficult pregnancy, multiple other problems can affect their outcome. From financial issues to managing transportation, living arrangements, counselling, stress and difficult personal and family situations, Sonia Baruzzo or Karen Dryden-Kiser help parents in various ways to facilitate their journey through a complex pregnancy. 

Since the Ottawa Hospital is affiliated with the University of Ottawa, it is likely that you will meet trainees during your visits. Most of the time, you will meet a fellow who is an obstetrician gynecologist in training to become a High-Risk Specialist (Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist). These doctors are highly skilled and very knowledgeable and work directly under our supervision. 

You may also meet a resident. These doctors are training to become Obstetrician Gynecologists and are also very skilled and knowledgeable.

The staff physician is always in clinic and after meeting one of our doctor-trainees, you can always ask to meet the staff physician.

Since there may be complications during or after delivery, our colleagues neonatologists (doctors who specialize in babies born early, too small or with complications) are an integral part of your care. Depending on the situation, you may need to meet them before the delivery so they can address all your questions. 

Occasionally, there may be a genetic reason for which your baby is not growing. In this circumstance, you may be referred to geneticists at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) who will further discuss the situation with you and recommend appropriate investigations. 

We have access to anesthesiologists who are specialized in obstetrics and therefore truly understand the issues related to pregnancies, whether normal or complicated. You may need to meet one of them during your clinic visits or at the time of your delivery. 

Since The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus is a tertiary care centre, our staff is very familiar with complications such as those which can be present in placental mediated diseases. Their caring, gentle and compassionate approach along with their excellent skills and knowledge will facilitate the birth of your baby.