Fellow Charlotte Roy studies what relocation costs high-risk pregnancies

Dr. Charlotte Roy, a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, has seen patients drive more than four hours to an appointment and four hours home before going to work. She grew up in Sudbury, studied life sciences at Queen’s University, then returned north for medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and did her obstetrics and gynecology residency at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

Her research looks at the impact of relocation on pregnant patients admitted to hospital before giving birth. Patients with complex, high-risk pregnancies may need specialized services found only at larger centres, and when hospitalization starts early in pregnancy they can spend weeks away from family and cultural supports.

Roy says there is little data on how weeks of antepartum relocation affect patients. She hopes the work will point to ways of supporting more care closer to home while keeping care patient-centred and culturally sensitive for those who must stay.