You make a difference: Dr. Janine Hutson.

Meet Dr. Janine Hutson, the clinician-researcher leading a new, life-changing maternal health research program at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). LHSC welcomes Dr. Hutson to its roster of innovative thinkers. Her mission? To make prescription drug use safer for pregnant women.

From Listowel, Ontario, her mother was an ER nurse and she was drawn to health care from an early age. Dr. Hutson completed her Ph.D. in maternal health, looking at drug safety and addiction in pregnancy. Now a high-risk obstetrician, she came to LHSC this July to launch her exciting work on maternal drug safety here in London.

“Our hope is to be the resource for reliable information and expertise for pregnant women.”
Dr. Janine Hutson, High-Risk Obstetrician & Clinician Researcher, Maternal Drug Safety
 

Over 90 percent of women take at least one medication during pregnancy, but because pregnant women are excluded from clinical drug trials, the risks to mother and baby are often unknown. Our new program, led by Dr. Hutson, is the only one in Canada using a placenta perfusion model to effectively and safely study drug safety in pregnancy.

Women should not be prevented from taking life-saving medication because they want to have a child. Dr. Hutson's work will help close the gaps in knowledge about maternal drug safety so this doesn't happen.

If you would like to support the Women's Health Program at London Health Sciences Centre, contact Tracy Burwell at 519.685.8487 or tracy.burwell@lhsc.on.ca.