Awareness Campaigns

Perinatal Services BC supports health awareness events and encourages health care providers and women and their families to get involved.

Perinatal Depression Awareness Month (January)

January is Perinatal Depression Awareness Month. The following organizations have resources for pregnant and postpartum women:

The following resources are for health care providers:

Nutrition Month (March)

March is Nutrition Month. The primary purpose of the campaign is to increase public awareness about the importance of healthy eating.

Health care providers can support women to help them have a healthy pregnancy. PSBC offers a free, short Online Training on 5As for health care professionals that address healthy weight gain during pregnancy.

International Women's Day (March 8th)

International Women’s Day is March 8, it is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made towards achieving gender equality and celebrate the courageous acts and determination by individuals who have played an extraordinary role in advancing gender equality in their communities.

2020 International Women’s Day theme is #BecauseOfYou

World Health Day (April 7th)

The World Health Day is celebrated on the 7th of April of each year. The objective of World Health Day is to raise global awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern.

April 7, 2020 is the day to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives and remind world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy.

World Maternal Mental Health Day (May)

In many countries, as many as one in five new mothers

experiences some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder. These illnesses frequently go unnoticed and untreated, often with tragic and long-term consequences to both mother and child.

World Maternal Mental Health Day is on the first Wednesday of May.

Parents of Preemies Day (May)

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

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

International Kangaroo Care Day (May 15th)

International Kangaroo Care Day, a global event celebrated since 2011 by communities that recognize and appreciate caregivers, organizations, and health care providers who support Kangaroo Care aims to raise awareness both within neonatal units and the community at large and encourages Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) health care providers to adopt Kangaroo Care as a standard of care for all preterm infants.

Multiple Births Awareness Day (May 28th)

National Multiple Births Awareness Day is celebrated annually on May 28 to bring awareness to the challenges that families with multiple births may face and to improve the quality of their lives.

For more information, visit Multiple Births Canada.

World No Tobacco Day (May 31st)

World No Tobacco Day was created in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on May 31.

National Indigenous People Day (June 21st)

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day. This is a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of Indigenous peoples.

PSBC Our Sacred Journey: Aboriginal Pregnancy Passport can help take women and families through the sacred journey of pregnancy, birth, and baby’s first few weeks. The passport provides an expectant mother with health information, resources, traditional teachings, growth charts, checklists, and a place to write down goals, thoughts, ideas, and dreams for their baby.

For health care providers, visit the Indigenous Resources homepage.

World Breastfeeding Week (August) | Breastfeeding Week - Canada (October)

World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7, however, it is celebrated in Canada from October 1-7. It is celebrated in October because it is the 10th month of the year and symbolizes the first week of a baby’s life (after nine months of pregnancy) when a baby may begin to breastfeed.

The #WBW2020 slogan “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet” was chosen to focus on the impact of infant feeding on the environment/climate change and the imperative to protect, promote and support breastfeeding for the health of the planet and its people. The theme is aligned with thematic area 3 in the WBW-SDG 2030 campaign which highlights the links between breastfeeding and the environment/climate change.

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) applies the warm chain approach of working together across sectors and levels to make common cause with groups working on environmental issues. Together, we need to emphasize the link between breastfeeding and the environment.

Learn more about World Breastfeeding Week.

The Government of BC has proclaimed October 1-7 as Breastfeeding Week. Find the Provincial Proclamations below:

1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
2019	2020

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 usually 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.

Breastfeeding Promotional Materials

These materials promote community support of breastfeeding. For further information on promotional materials click here.

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.

For further information on PSBC'S breastfeeding initiatives click here.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day (September 9th)

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day is September 9. The month and day were selected to highlight the nine months of pregnancy which is a period of time when a woman should abstain from drinking alcohol. The day raises awareness about the dangers of alcohol use during pregnancy and the challenges that individuals and families face with FASD.

The following organizations have resources for FASD:

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month (October)

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.

Mental Illness Awareness Week (October)

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.

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 health care 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.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (October 15th)

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 Prematurity Day (November 17th)

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.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25th)

November 25 is designated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The premise of the day is to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to all forms of violence. Additionally, one of the main goals of the day is to highlight that the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

The date of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women also marks the start of the "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence".

According to the World Health Organization, “a health care provider is likely to be the first professional contact for survivors of intimate partner violence or sexual assault”, which are two of the most common forms of gender-based violence.

The free four-course training series, Gender-Based Violence: We Can All Help Improving the Health Sectors Response,‎ will help health care providers understand, identify, respond to, and address gender-based violence.

2020 theme is "Get ready to get loud