Closing the Health Equity Gap for Mothers and their Babies

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Evidence from an analysis of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program

Webinar

Jan 23, 01:00pm EST - 02:30pm EST

This Fireside Chat is in collaboration with Division of Children, Seniors and Healthy Development, Public Health Agency of Canada

The prenatal period is a critical time for child development and sets the foundation for lifelong health and well being.  The prenatal period offers a unique public health opportunity, as pregnant women are more apt to access programs and services and are especially motivated to make changes in their lifestyles.

For more than fifteen years, the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) has helped communities to promote public health and provide support to improve the health and well being of pregnant women, new mothers and babies facing challenging life circumstances.  These challenges include poverty, teen pregnancy, social and geographic isolation, substance use and family violence. CPNP also increases the availability of culturally sensitive prenatal support for Aboriginal women and recent immigrants.  CPNP fills a distinct gap in communities and complements other "mainstream" prenatal services by offering programming designed specifically to meet the needs of the CPNP target population.

This fireside chat will present results from a CPNP impact analysis which assessed whether high exposure to the program improved the personal health practices of participants, such as smoking and breastfeeding, and birth outcomes of their infants, such as low birth weight and preterm birth. Public health and policy implications of this research will be discussed.  

For more information, visit the webinar page.