Supporting Breastfeeding Around Labor Meeting

Breastfeeding has declined in Manitoba over the past several years. On October 20, 2023, a meeting entitled “To support breastfeeding around labor” was held in University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. The meeting was co-organized by the Moms in Motion Research Team (MIM), the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science (OGRS) at the University of Manitoba, and the First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba (FNHSSM).

The purpose of the meeting was to share recent findings, progresses and initiatives on breastfeeding in Manitoba. Dr. Garry Shen and his colleagues in MIM team and the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba recently conducted an administrative database study on breastfeeding initiation in Manitoba from 2014-2021 to assess the impact of the Lactation Consultant Program on mothers' decision to initiate breastfeeding for their babies. The Lactation Consultant (LC) Program has been discontinued in major hospitals in Manitoba since January 1, 2018 due to funding cuts. This withdrawal of the LC program was associated with a significant decline in breastfeeding initiation among First Nations (FN) and non-FN mothers living in urban, rural, or remote communities during the period of 2018-2021, compared to that during 2014-2017. The reduction in breastfeeding initiation in FN and remote-living babies was 3-fold of that in non-FN or urban-living babies. During the meeting, Dr. Vanessa Poliquin, the Department Head of OGRS and Provincial Medical Specialty Lead for Women’s Health, Ms. Kira Friesen, co-lead of the Baby Friendly Initiative and a clinical nurse specialist, and Ms. Angela Matwick, Provincial Clinical Service Lead for Women’s Health in Shared Health, introduced a provincial breastfeeding initiative in the province. Ms. Elizabeth Decaire, the Nurse Program Advisor in FNHSSM, provided an update on the current status of supporting breastfeeding in First Nations communities.

All attendees of the meeting, including healthcare workers in rural and remote FN communities, agreed on an urgent need to improve breastfeeding status in Manitoba, and expressed interests to further discuss a strategic plan for how to enhance breastfeeding to babies in all ethnic groups living in all regions in the province.