Household food insecurity is prevalent in a cohort of postpartum women who registered in the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program in Toronto.

Objective: To assess the prevalence, severity and socio-demographic predictors of household food insecurity among vulnerable women accessing the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) and to examine associations between household food insecurity and breastfeeding practices to 6 months.

Design: Cohort investigation pooling data from two studies which administered the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module at 6 months postpartum and collected prospective infant feeding data at 2 weeks and 2, 4 and 6 months. Household food insecurity was classified as none, marginal, moderate or severe.

Associations between use of expressed human milk at 2 weeks postpartum and human milk feeding practices to 6 months: a prospective cohort study with vulnerable women in Toronto, Canada.

Objectives: To examine whether use of expressed human milk in the first two weeks postpartum is associated with cessation of human milk feeding and non-exclusive human milk feeding up to 6 months.

Design: Pooled data from two prospective cohort studies SETTING: Three Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) sites serving vulnerable families in Toronto, Canada.

Participants: 337 registered CPNP clients enrolled prenatally from 2017 to 2020; 315 (93%) were retained to 6 months postpartum.

Characteristics of vulnerable women and their association with participation in a Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program site in Toronto, Canada.

Introduction: The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) supports community organizations to provide maternal-infant health services for socially/economically vulnerable women. As part of our research program exploring opportunities to provide postnatal breastfeeding support through the CPNP, we investigated the sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics of clients enrolled in a Toronto CPNP site and explored associations with participation.

Methods: Data were collected retrospectively from the charts of 339 women registered in one southwest Toronto CPNP site from 2013 to 2016.

High levels of breastmilk feeding despite a low rate of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months in a cohort of vulnerable women in Toronto, Canada.

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for 6 months is a global public health goal, but measuring its achievement as a marker of population breastmilk feeding practices is insufficient. Additional measures are needed to understand variation in non-EBF practices and inform intervention priorities. We collected infant feeding data prospectively at seven time points to 6 months post-partum from a cohort of vulnerable women (n = 151) registered at two Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program sites in Toronto, Canada.

Effect on breastfeeding practices of providing in-home lactation support to vulnerable women through the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program: protocol for a pre/post intervention study.

Background: Only one-third of Canadian infants are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life as recommended. Skilled lactation support in the early postpartum period is one strategy for improving breastfeeding outcomes by building breastfeeding self-efficacy and resolving difficulties. Access to such support is limited among vulnerable women, including those who are new immigrants, low income, under-educated, young or single.

Breastfeeding rates are high in a prenatal community support program targeting vulnerable women and offering enhanced postnatal lactation support: a prospective cohort study.

Background: In Canada, 91% of all mothers initiate breastfeeding, but 40-50% stop by 6 months and only 34% breastfeed exclusively for 6 months, with lower rates among socially and/or economically vulnerable women. The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) aims to support breastfeeding among vulnerable women, but there is no formal framework or funding for sites to integrate proactive postnatal breastfeeding support. This research aimed to i) describe infant feeding practices among clients of one Toronto CPNP site using charitable funds to offer a lactation support program (in-home lactation consultant visits, breast pumps); ii) determine whether breastfeeding outcomes at 6 months differ based on maternal sociodemographics and food insecurity; and iii) assess utilization of the lactation support program.

Vulnerable mothers' experiences breastfeeding with an enhanced community lactation support program.

The Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) provides a variety of health and nutrition supports to vulnerable mothers and strongly promotes breastfeeding but does not have a formal framework for postnatal lactation support. Breastfeeding duration and exclusivity rates in Canada fall well below global recommendations, particularly among socially and economically vulnerable women. We aimed to explore CPNP participant experiences with breastfeeding and with a novel community lactation support program in Toronto, Canada that included access to certified lactation consultants and an electric breast pump, if needed.