Posts in News & Updates
Travelling Away from Home to Give Birth: An Increasingly Common Rural Experience

A recent CBC News article highlights the challenges for women giving birth in rural areas.  The report focuses on Fort Nelson, BC, where women are being asked to sign an agreement to make arrangements for delivering their babies at alternative medical facilities due to local staffing issues.  This particular instance is part of a widespread issue in rural areas across Canada, as difficulties in attracting and retaining doctors cause significant challenges in accessing medical services.

Read More
MCFD: Kangaroo Mother Care program for premature babies in BC

The BC Ministry of Children and Family Development is making a one-time $500,000 investment to enable Perinatal Services BC and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre to increase the availability of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), an innovative skin-to-skin attachment program, for at-risk and premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Read More
Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP): Call to Action: On Behalf of Maltreated Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers in Canada

Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP) launched a Call to Action: On Behalf of Maltreated Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers in Canada at the beginning of May 2017 at the Expanding Horizons Conference in Ontario, declaring that collective action is crucial to ensure all our babies have optimal social and emotional health.

Read More
Ministry of Health: New policy to pay for a support person to travel with Indigenous women giving birth away from their community

The Federal Government is changing its health policy to begin paying for someone to travel with Indigenous women who need to leave their communities to give birth. This comes after recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to recognize the state of Indigenous health.

Read More
BC Council for Families Blog: Growing Numbers of Grandparents: How their Role is Evolving

Today’s grandparents are relied upon to provide child care and financial support, and are more likely to live with the grandchildren than they used to be, maintaining longer relationships with their grandchildren than was common in the past.  A BC Council for Families explores the current realities of grandparent involvement for children in BC.

Read More
Representative of Children and Youth’s report on Delegate Aboriginal Agencies: How resourcing affects service delivery

The BC Representative of Children and Youth released a report in March 2017 calling for new funding models to encourage different outcomes.  The report calls for a comprehensive re-think of how the province delivers services to youth and children in Indigenous communities that takes into account the unique needs of their communities and the lingering impacts of historical policies.

Read More