Evening Rounds: Power to Push: From conception to birth of a public health campaign

September 18, 2012 6:00 PM

Abstract: BC's Cesarean birth rate has been rising for decades, and more women than ever before are having surgical births – often unnecessarily. In 2010 the BC Women’s Hospital Cesarean Task Force launched the Power to Push Campaign and Best Birth Clinic to help pregnant women avoid unnecessary and unwanted c-sections. To do this, they sought to empower women and their health care providers with information and tools to make informed choices and take control of their birthing experience. This presentation will provide a behind-the-scenes look at a successful public health campaign that uses design, knowledge translation, online technologies and social media to drive change in the health care sector in BC.

Featured speakers:

Susan Pinkney; Power to Push Campaign + Best Birth Clinic, BC Women's Hospital
Susan Pinkney began working with the CTF during their formation in 2008. She has been centrally involved in the Best Birth Clinic and Power to Push Campaign, acting as Program Coordinator and Research Manager throughout their creation and launch. Susan has a BA in International Development and an MA in International Affairs, and recently returned from public health research work in Sierra Leone. She currently continues to work for the CTF and several other maternity care programs as the founder and director of Equipoise Consulting.

Robyn Sussel; Signals
Since joining Signals in 2001, Robyn has helped Canadian health, research and science organizations clarify their messages and communicate with their audiences to achieve measurable results. Before that, Robyn worked for 10 years as an in-house communicator for a national HIV clinical trials network where she connected community advocates with the HIV research community. Robyn received an honours BA in communications from Simon Fraser University and a Masters degree in Media Studies from Concordia University in Montreal.


Presented by Signals and Providence Health Care, Evening Rounds is a monthly evening speaker series profiling health care communications and social media campaigns, case studies and experts.

W2 Performance Space (#250, 111 W. Hastings)