Referrals
If you are a doctor and want to refer your patient to BirthDocs, please complete a referral form. We accept new patients that live in Vancouver and have provincial insurance coverage. Please order initial bloodwork, a dating ultrasound (between 7-to-9 weeks), and/or genetic screening as needed.
We will contact new referrals by phone or email within 1 week to arrange an appointment for your patient. We book new appointments are booked 2-to-4 weeks ahead.
Important Note: Please be advised the Intake Coordinator will be away
from Monday, December 23rd to Wednesday, January 1st, and returning on Thursday, January 2nd.
Online Referral Form
Download the Referral Form (PDF)
See our resources for pregnancy related information for you or your patients.
About the FPMS
The Family Practice Maternity Service (FPMS) was formed by a dedicated group of family doctors with the purpose of providing family-centered maternity care within the model of Family Practice. We offer primary maternity care or consultations. We support the ongoing relationship between the woman and her Family Doctor in the community. In the early postpartum period, patients are referred back to their family doctors along with timely transfer of records. If women do not have a family doctor, we will help her find one.
Services Offered
- Prenatal Care: Patients may be referred at any stage of pregnancy. An early referral is appreciated for meeting and registering patients. Ongoing prenatal care can be provided entirely by the FPMS or can be shared with the referring doctor. Let us know your preference.
- Labour and Birth care
- Postpartum Care in hospital for mother and baby
- Immediate Outpatient Postpartum Care after discharge (if desired)
- Referral Back to community Family Doctor
- Consultation or Transfer of Care for Pregnant Patients with Addictions. See Our Programs.
Structure of Our Care
- Patients are referred to one FPMS doctor as their primary maternity care doctor.
- Prenatal care occurs in the Ambulatory Clinic at BCWH or in a private physician’s office.
- The pregnant woman meets with one of the physicians through the first half of the pregnancy. After 20 weeks, she can choose to continue with one-to-one care or to join a Connecting Pregnancy group in which peer support is combined with medical checkups and prenatal education.
- Health concerns not related to the pregnancy continue to be treated by the community Family Physician.
- Labour, delivery, urgent care, and in-hospital postpartum care are shared by the FPMS doctors in two call groups.
- Meet the Doctors Night is an informal meeting where patients meet all the doctors in the on-call group while discussing issues related to labour and delivery.
- After discharge, mother and baby are referred back to the community Family Physician within 1-6 weeks.A summary of the pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care is faxed to the referring doctor within a few days of discharge from hospital.
- A dictated Delivery Report is sent to the referring physician.
Our Goals
- To be a model of exemplary Family Practice maternity care.
- To promote and strengthen maternity care within the discipline of Family Practice.
- To advance knowledge in Family Practice maternity care.
- To provide women access to Family Practice maternity care.
- To provide referral maternity services for doctors who no longer practice obstetrics.
- To address the maternity care needs of specialized populations who have difficulty accessing services.
- To provide educational training and mentoring for medical students, residents and other health workers in Family Practice maternity care.
- To ensure high standards of care through continuing education, evidence-based practice, best practices, and quality management.
- To promote a team approach to providing care within the FPMS physician group and with other care providers.
