INTRODUCTION

In 1994, the federal government announced the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program to help communities improve birth outcomes by improving the nutritional health of low income, high-risk pregnant women.  It is a comprehensive, community-based program that is expected to help set up or expand existing prenatal health programs.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, First Nation and Inuit Component is:

To improve maternal and infant nutritional health by providing a greater depth of service to women in earlier pregnancy and for a longer duration postpartum with a particular focus on those at high risk.

To achieve this goal, the following objectives have been developed:

1. To improve the adequacy of the diet of prenatal and breast-feeding First Nations and Inuit women.
 

2. To increase access to nutrition information services, and resources to eligible First Nations and Inuit women, particularly those at high risk.
 

3. To increase breast-feeding initiation and duration rates.
 

4. To increase knowledge and skill building opportunities for those involved in this program.
 

5. To increase the number of infants fed age-appropriate foods in the first twelve (12) months.