• Guideline for lactation for women/individuals who are confirmed or suspect cases of COVID-19.
• Infographic: Breastfeeding and COVID-19.FAQ: COVID-19 and Breastfeeding. 
• FAQ: COVID-19 and Infant Formula Feeding.
• Practice Resource: Informal (Peer-to-Peer) Milk Sharing: The Use of Unpasteurized Donor Human Milk
  
• Guideline: Breastfeeding the Healthy Term Infant 
• Healthy term singletons receiving exclusive breast milk from birth to discharge (Facility-Level Indicator)

• Nutrition for Healthy Term Infants: Recommendations from Birth to Six Months (Joint Statement Health Canada, Canadian Paediatric Society, Dietitians of Canada, and Breastfeeding Committee for Canada)
• Baby-Friendly Implementation Guideline, Breastfeeding Committee for Canada, 2021 
• ‎Public Health Agency of Canada - Breastfeeding
• The BC Pediatric Nutrition Guidelines (Birth to Six Years) for Health Professionals
  

Perinatal Services BC endorses the Baby-Friendly Initiative as a framework for the provision of evidence-informed care to mothers, infants, and families, and upholds the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes to ensure the appropriate marketing and distribution of human milk substitutes and other products related to the code.

Perinatal Services BC sits on the Provincial/Territorial Implementation Committee for the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada (BCC). The BCC is the national authority for the BFI with the mandate of overseeing the implementation, assessment and monitoring of BFI in Canada. 

Download and print as many resources as you need for your sites.

World Breastfeeding Week

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 #WBW2023 slogan "Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a difference for working parents" will focus on breast/chest feeding and employment/work. It will showcase the impact of paid leave, workplace support and emerging parenting norms on breast/chest feeding through the lens of parents themselves. Target audiences including governments, policymakers, workplaces, communities and parents will be engaged to play their critical roles in empowering families and sustaining breast/chest feeding-friendly environments in the post-pandemic work life. The theme is aligned with thematic area 4 of the WBW-SDG 2030 campaign. 

 The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) reminds us that although support at the individual level is very important, breast/chest feeding must be considered a public health issue that requires investment at all levels. In Canada, just over 91% of mothers initiate breastfeeding/chestfeeding but 1 in 7 stop before newborn reaches one month of age.** The concept of 'building back better' after the COVID 19 pandemic will provide an opportunity to create a warm chain of support for breast/chest feeding that includes health systems, workplaces and communities at all levels of society. A warm chain of support will help build an enabling environment for breast/chest feeding and protect against industry influence.  It is time to inform, anchor, engage and galvanise action to protect breast/chest feeding at all levels.

**The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)  Canada's Breastfeeding Progress Report 2022.

Learn more: World Breastfeeding Week