Parents of Preemies Day recognizes the strength, courage, and resilience of parents of premature babies. It is ont eh first Sunday in May.

For more information on premature births and support resources, visit the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation.

National Multiple Births Awareness Day is held in late May to bring awareness to the challenges that families with multiple births may face and to improve the quality of their lives. 

World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7, but Canada celebrates it October 1-7. 

The theme for 2017 is Sustaining Breastfeeding Together. This year is about about working together for the common good! We call on advocates and activists, decisionmakers, and celebrants to forge new and purposeful partnerships. Together, let’s attract political support, media attention, participation of young people and widen our pool of celebrants and supporters. Learn more about World Breastfeeding Week.

The Government of BC has proclaimed October 1-7, 2017 as Breastfeeding Week.  

The Global Big Latch On

In August, women, families, and children gather around the world to laugh, chat, and build community one latch at time. Visit The Global Big Latch On for more information.

Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge

In October, the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge celebrates breastfeeding and milk-banking and demonstrates promotion, protection, and support for breastfeeding women and their families. It’s a chance for education and peer support to be done in a fun social way. 

The challenge is held the first Saturday in October of each year to see which geographic area (province, state, or territory) has the most breastfeeding babies, as a percentage of the birthrate, “latched on” at 11 am local time.

The 2017 challenge is on Saturday, September 30. Visit www.babyfriendly.ca for more information.

Breastfeeding Guidelines

PSBC has three provincial Breastfeeding Guidelines for the healthy preterm infant, the healthy term infant, and multiple infants.

Breastfeeding Resources

The Breastfeeding My Baby guide is a helpful tool that can be printed and posted in health care facilities to promote breastfeeding, or used with families for individual or group education.

The Breastfeeding Buddy is a web-based app that has tips, tools, and videos to help new mothers with breastfeeding and more, from pregnancy to baby's first six months and beyond. It provides parents with information and links to health resources in their community and helps them keep track of breastfeeding, baby's sleep schedules, diaper changes, and scheduling if mothers express breast milk or provide alternate feedings. It's an easy, fun, and educational tool designed to help parents give their baby the very best start in life.

Mental Illness Awareness Week is an annual
national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. In 2015, it is October 4-10.

PSBC has the following resources that address mental health during pregnancy:

• Celebrating the Circle of Life: Coming Back to Balance and Harmony
  A guide to emotional health in pregnancy and early motherhood for Aboriginal women and their families.
  
  

• Best Practice Guidelines for Mental Health Disorders in the Perinatal Period
  A manual to support healthcare clinicians in the early detection and treatment of mental health challenges in pregnant and postpartum women, including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and psychotic disorder, including postpartum psychosis.
  
  
• Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy Guideline
  Provincial guidelines about considerations for newborns exposed to SSRIs/SNRIs.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month in October is a time to shed light on sudden infant deaths and safe sleeping environments. SIDS is the death of a baby under one year of age which is sudden, unexpected, and without a clear cause. Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUDI) is the sudden unexpected and unexplained death of an infant where risk factors are present and may or may not contribute to the death.

PSBC has the following resources:

• Safe Sleep Environment Guideline for Infants 0-12 Months
  This provincial guideline provides health care providers with information about infant safe sleep practices to prevent SIDS.
  
  
• Safe Sleep Toolkit
  Honouring Our Babies: Safe Sleep Cards & Guide is an interactive, education toolkit to help service providers discuss safe infant sleep practices with First Nations and Aboriginal families and help reduce the risk of SIDS and SUDI.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is on October 15.
An international wave of light campaign encourages everyone to light a candle every October 15 at 7 p.m. to stand together in remembrance of babies gone too soon and raise awareness about infant loss. It is a day of remembrance for pregnancy, loss, and infant death, which includes but is not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or the death of a newborn. 

World Premature Day is on November 17. Approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely each year, accounting for more than one in 10 of all babies born worldwide. World Prematurity Day aims to raise awareness for prematurity and the concerns of preterm babies and their families worldwide because infants born preterm represent the largest child patient group. 

For more information, visit the Canadian Premature Babies Foundation.