Member, BC Baby-Friendly Network

Have you welcomed a new baby into your family in the past few years? Want to contribute to the implementation of strategies that support breastfeeding women? If so, your voice is needed on the BC Baby-Friendly Network.

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

BC Baby-Friendly Network

Aim

The BC Baby-Friendly Network is a multidisciplinary committee which acts as the implementation committee for the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI) in hospitals and community health services throughout the province. The network shares information about strategies to support breastfeeding, informs government and provincial work, promotes societal awareness and support for women initiating and continuing breastfeeding, encourages education of health care workers and supports other relevant activities to promote the Baby-Friendly initiative.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.

Eligibility

• Experience of parenting a baby within the last 5 years
• Preference is for patient partners to be parents who breastfed or attempted to breastfeed
• Shortlisted volunteers may be invited to an interview as part of the selection process

If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and volunteer agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact the engagement leader directly.

Logistics

Vacancies: 2 Membership on the BCBFN is for 2 years Meetings are approximately every two months via teleconference. Meetings are typically two hours, held during the morning Opportunities to participate on additional working group meetings may be offered The next meeting will be held on May 9, 10:00 am - noon

Reimbursement

As meetings are via teleconference, no expenses are anticipated.

Background

The BC Baby-Friendly Network (BCBFN) is a multidisciplinary committee that includes health care providers from each of the Provincial Health Regions, Ministry of Health representatives, professional and educational organizations, agencies and consumers. The BCBFN protects promotes and supports breastfeeding by working towards implementation of the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI) in hospitals and community health services throughout BC, thereby providing mothers, infants and families with excellence in breastfeeding care. In 1999, the BC Minister of Health and the Minister for Children and Families designated the BCBFN as the Provincial implementation committee for the BFI.  The Network works in partnership with the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada (BCC) in the implementation process towards BFI designation.  

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Kathryn Proudfoot
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Provincial
604.668.8246
kproudfoot@bcpsqc.ca