BCAPOP's 27th Annual Perinatal Conference

This annual event draws more than 185 perinatal professionals and helping peers from BC and features three full days of opportunities, including a pre-conference session, Networking Reception and a two-day main conference. Attendees will experience a program full of inspiring speakers, best practice updates, skill building sessions, and the strengthening of a provincial network that drives perinatal professionals and helping peers to improve outcomes for perinatal people and their families.

This conference is for perinatal professionals and helping peers: pregnancy outreach workers, nurses, physicians, child welfare workers, family support workers, social workers, health/social service students, outreach workers, shelter workers, detox workers, treatment centre workers, midwives, doulas, birthworkers, childbirth educators, peer support workers and anyone else who supports perinatal people.

We respectfully acknowledge that our conference is held on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam People.

Info: Conference attendees are invited to join us anytime during the reception for an assortment of delicious canapes and to try our signature alcohol-free refresher beverage that will be served in the Airport Ballroom Lobby. The Perinatal Services BC team will be on-site with exciting resources, updates, and a chance to hear about their latest projects. In the tradition of all BCAPOP events, there will also be fantastic prizes to be won!
Pre-registration for the conference will be available during the reception, so it’s the perfect opportunity to pick up your conference package, reconnect with previous acquaintances, and meet new attendees. We cannot wait to see you there! We are pleased to offer a safe
space for everyone by offering this alcohol-free event. As always, all attendees will be offered a list of local harm reduction resources for those who wish to access them.

Info: Traditional Welcome - Elder Glida Morgan
Opening Remarks - Heather Cameron, RN, BCAPOP Executive Director Plenary - Culture is Medicine: An Indigenous Harm Reduction Pilot Program for Perinatal Substance Use by Janine Hardial, MD, CCFP, FCFP

Info: 1) Pregnancy Outreach 101 by Jenn Betts, BA (2) From Surviving to Thriving: Strategies that support mental health during the perinatal period by Heather Allyn, RSW, CC-PMH (3) Supporting the Survivor: A Lived Experience Lens on NICU, Birth Trauma & PMADs by Neelam Prasad

Info: This keynote presentation explores the journey to parenthood through surrogacy undertaken by Jessy and Moose, made possible through the generosity of Sarra, a close friend and fellow nurse. It highlights the intersection of personal experience and professional identity, emphasizing the profound role of friendship, community, and shared values in navigating complex reproductive pathways. The presentation critically examines systemic challenges, including heteronormative healthcare policies, inadequate legal recognition, and the lack of inclusive, family-centered care for both intended parents and surrogates. Drawing on their dual perspectives as nurses and patients, Jessy and Sarra advocate for institutional change, including inclusive language, collaborative care models, and policy reform. Their narrative underscores the need for healthcare systems to evolve in recognition of diverse family structures and affirms the transformative power of advocacy grounded in lived experience.

Info: Boundaries are essential to practice in the helping professions, as they make caring sustainable, protecting skilled workers from compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization and burnout. In this session, participants will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different patterns of relating, with a view to becoming better stewards of our energy as helpers. We’ll gain a better understanding of how we feel and think at work relative to how we’re negotiating boundaries with clients and co-workers. Boundary work ensures we’re bringing our best selves to the work we love so much.

Info: Traditional Welcome - Elder Glida Morgan
Opening Remarks - Heather Cameron, RN, BCAPOP Executive Director Plenary Speaker: To Be Announced

Info: 1) Pregnancy Outreach 101 by Jenn Betts, BA (2) From Surviving to Thriving: Strategies that support mental health during the perinatal period by Heather Allyn, RSW, CC-PMH (3) Supporting the Survivor: A Lived Experience Lens on NICU, Birth Trauma & PMADs by Neelam Prasad

Info: This plenary panel will bring together researchers, program providers, and women with lived and living experience to discuss their perspectives on perinatal alcohol use and FASD prevention. The presentation will highlight what drives their area of work and how their approaches to practice are evolving and emerging to support people in the perinatal period. This presentation will further discuss the importance of continuing to discuss alcohol amidst emerging substance use, violence, health, financial, and housing crises. Learners will be motivated by the creative and innovative ways in which the research has identified, and program providers in BC and Alberta have continued to support perinatal people in compassionate, non-judgemental, and culture-informed ways.

Info: In this session, Jace Poirier Lacerte introduces Family Stewards—a movement to reimagine perinatal care as a rite of passage supported by ceremonial, cultural, and communal structures. Rooted in Indigenous knowledge systems and gender-balanced caregiving, Family Stewardship moves beyond the doula model to engage both birthing and non-birthing parents in the sacred circle of care. Attendees will explore how this model reduces burnout, enhances parental bonding, and prevents intergenerational trauma by restoring shared responsibility and ceremony to the parenting transition. Key takeaways include culturally affirming practices for supporting families, strategies to involve fathers and co-parents meaningfully, and tools for creating legacy-focused care plans that strengthen family and community ties.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport, 3099 Corvette Way, Richmond, Canada

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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