Michael C Klein

CCFP, FAAP, MD, FCFP

Investigator Emeritus, BC Children's Hospital
Honorary Member, Departments of Family Practice and Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital and BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre

I am best known as principal investigator for the only North American randomized controlled trial of episiotomy, which showed that episiotomy caused the very problems it was supposed to prevent.

I have continued to focus on best practices in maternity care to help achieve optimal outcome for mothers and newborns. We continue to study the attitudes and beliefs of all those who care for women in their pregnancies and births – family physicians, obstetricians, midwives, nurses, doulas and trainees in these disciplines – as well as the women themselves. These studies demonstrate that attitudes have direct impact on outcome.

The health of rural communities and the place of maternity care in sustainable communities, as well as related areas of safety of rural maternity care and optimal strategies for safe maternity care in any setting, continue to be the focus of my work.