Empowering Healthy Starts: The Role of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program in Supporting Families Affected by Health Inequities across Canada
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Time: 12:00 - 13:00 ET (12:00pm - 1:00pm ET)
REGISTER HERE
Speakers: Jo-Anna Baxter, PhD (University of Toronto) and Alison Mildon, PhD, RD (University of Toronto)
Webinar description:
Empowering Healthy Starts: The Role of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program in Supporting Families Affected by Health Inequities across Canada
Description: Ensuring good health and nutrition during the perinatal period is important for many reasons, including its lasting impact on infant physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Developed as part of Canada's response to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) aims to improve birth outcomes and breastfeeding among families facing health inequities. The CPNP is federally funded and implemented by community agencies, with programming adapted to local needs and partnerships. This webinar will present findings from mixed-methods research investigating lactation and food programming provided within the CPNP, including the first national survey of service delivery across CPNP sites, and focus group discussions with CPNP personnel in Ontario to capture experiences and recommendations for program delivery. Findings build evidence to strengthen the CPNP and inform support for families affected by health inequities in Canada.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the webinar participants will be able to:
- To understand the history and purpose of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP)
- To discover how CPNP sites provide locally adapted lactation and food programming to support the health and nutrition of pregnant people and their infants affected by health inequities
- To describe opportunities to strengthen lactation and food programming within the CPNP
Moderator: To be confirmed
About the Speakers:
Dr. Jo-Anna Baxter - is a CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellow in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, specializing in maternal and infant health and nutrition in resource-limited settings. She leads interdisciplinary research projects in Canada and Pakistan, ranging from clinical trials to mixed methods, with a central focus on improving nutrition and health equity. Dr. Baxter received her MSc and PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Alison Mildon - is a postdoctoral fellow in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her research investigates the experiences and determinants of inequities in perinatal health and infant nutrition security, and opportunities to address these through community-based interventions. Dr. Mildon received her Masters and PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto, and is a Registered Dietitian with extensive experience in public health nutrition.
The views expressed by speakers or other third parties in CNS webinars, events and/or conferences are those of the speaker or third-party and not necessarily of CNS.
CNS is committed to maintaining responsible and transparent processes with respect to support received from industry partners and sponsors for all CNS activities. While input from industry partners and sponsors is valued by CNS, final control over session topics and content, speaker participation, award recipients, or other factors related to CNS activities is retained by the Society. All CNS conference program content, educational initiatives and award recipients are reviewed and approved by respective CNS committees.
Webinar Certificates of Attendance are an exclusive benefit for current CNS members in good standing. To receive a certificate, members must join the live webinar using their CNS-affiliated email address. Please note, certificates will not be issued to non-CNS members.