Contents
- Healthy Women, Children and Youth Secretariat
Ministry of Health
Women's and Maternal Health
Overall, girls and women in British Columbia experience good health, but there continue to be sources of disease and illness that affect the quality of life of girls and women in ways specific to their gender and life circumstances.i Throughout girls and women's reproductive lives, most never really know with certainty when, or if, they will become pregnant. It is never too early or too late to support girls and women to make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their health and reduce risk factors that might affect future pregnancies.
The Healthy Women, Children and Youth Secretariat works through policy, programs and partnerships, addressing disease and illness specific to women, and supporting girls and women to make healthy choices to improve their health and wellbeing, and reduce risk factors that affect future or current pregnancies.
Our Initiatives
The Provincial Women's Health Strategy
The 20004/05 Provincial Women's Health Strategy was developed through a partnership between BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre and the BC Centre of Excellence for Women's Health.
Sex and Gender Analysis
The Healthy Women, Children and Youth Secretariat has an important role to play in identifying potential inequalities that arise from belonging to one sex or the other, or from the relations between the sexes and how this may impact health outcomes.
Healthy Choices in Pregnancy
The primary focus of Healthy Choices in Pregnancy is to encourage women to avoid alcohol in pregnancy, with a goal of improving health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants and decreasing the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in BC.
Addressing Perinatal Depression: A Framework for BC's Health Authorities
Addressing Perinatal Depression: A Framework for BC's Health Authorities outlines a framework for action to improve recognition, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care for women affected by perinatal depression in BC.
Core Public Health Programs
The Ministry of Health is working with health authorities to develop evidence based public health core programs that identify services to be delivered through health regions that improve population and public health.
Promoting and Supporting Breastfeeding
The Healthy Women, Children and Youth Secretariat endorses the World Health Organization recommendation that breastfeeding be promoted and supported as the cultural norm for infant feeding.
The Ministry of Health has launched a breastfeeding promotional video, “Talk to me about breastfeeding” showcasing local BC families sharing their breastfeeding challenges, successes and advice for families.
Improving Perinatal Health for Aboriginal Women
The Aboriginal Maternal Health Project began in June 2005, with the goal of responding to the perinatal needs of Aboriginal women in order to improve their health and contribute to healthy infant outcomes.
Parent Publications
Parent publications are produced and updated in order to provide evidence informed, practical information to expectant parents and families with babies and toddlers up to 3 years of age in BC. These publications include:
Baby's Best Chance: Parents' Handbook of Pregnancy and Baby Care (second revision 6th edition) (PDF 15M)
Baby's Best Chance: A Guide for Expectant Parents (DVD)
Child Health Passport English Version 2011 (PDF 459K)
Child Health Passport French Version 2008 (PDF [an error occurred while processing this directive])
The Best Chance website is filled with up-to-date and practical information, useful tools and resources for women, expectant parents, and families with babies and toddlers up to 3 years of age.
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