Early Childhood (0 to 6 years) Data

In Ottawa:

• Nearly all (96%) mothers who gave birth in 2018 intended to feed breast milk to their infant and 86% intended to exclusively feed breast milk to their infant, slightly higher than in the rest of Ontario (81%) (Table 1).
• Nine out of ten (90%) mothers who gave birth in 2018 fed breast milk on discharge from hospital or three days after giving birth with a midwife. [2] 

• There has been a decrease in the proportion of Ottawa mothers who exclusively fed breast milk to their infant at discharge from hospital or three days after giving birth with a midwife, from 66.0% in 2013 to 59.8% in 2018 (Figure 7).

• After hospital discharge or giving birth with a midwife, there is a large drop in exclusive breast milk feeding from 61% at a few days after birth to 38% at two weeks of age, among those who gave birth in 2016. [2, 10]

• At six months of age, seven out of ten (70%) mothers were feeding breast milk and nine percent of mothers reported exclusively feeding breast milk for six months, in 2016. [10]

In 2018, among Ottawa families screened at birth through the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program: [5]

• 5% reported that the mother and baby did not have a designated primary care provider;
• 4% reported that they had concerns about money to pay for basic necessities such as housing/rent, food, clothing or utilities;
• 4% needed newcomer support;
• 3% reported that the father/partner or support person was not involved in the care of the baby;
• 3% were a single parent;
• 3% had not completed high school; and
• <1% reported that at least one parent had a disability that could impact their parenting.

The 18-month enhanced well-baby visit provides healthcare providers an opportunity to determine whether a child is meeting important developmental milestones such as motor, speech and language skills, social and emotional development, to review immunizations, healthy eating, dental care, hearing and vision, and to refer to specialized services for early intervention, as needed.

• In Ottawa, two thirds (66.8%) of children aged 17 to 24 months had a well-baby visit with a healthcare provider in 2022 and this was similar to the provincial average (67.7%). [11]

From birth to six years there exist critical periods during which particular physical, emotional, social, language and communication skills are developed. The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a population-based measures of children’s developmental health across five domains, which in turn are divided into 16 sub-domains. Six EDI cycles have been completed in Ottawa, starting in 2005/06.

Please refer to the EDI page of the Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Community Dashboard for up-to-date data on the EDI and trends over time in Ottawa. The data are nested under the "Are children and their families safe and well?" sub-domain of the "Do people live with opportunity and equality?" domain. 

In Ottawa:

• In 2022/23, 28.0% of senior kindergarten (SK) children were vulnerable in at least one of five EDI domains. This percent has increased over time, is now the same as the provincial baseline established in 2004/06 (28.0%), and below the 2022/23 provincial results (31.1%). [13]
• In 2022/23, the percent of SK children “not on track” in Ottawa was higher than the province in only one domain, Language and Cognitive Development (23.8% Ottawa vs. 18.7% Ontario). [13]
• Of concern, the percent of SK children vulnerable in the Emotional Maturity domains has increased over time. (Table 2).
• In 2022/23, the sub-domains where the highest percentage of Ottawa children met few or none of the developmental expectations were [13]: 
• Prosocial and helping behaviour (29.8%), 
• Communication skills and general knowledge (23.5%), 
• Interest in literacy, numeracy, and memory (17.2%),
• Hyperactivity and inattention (14.3%), 
• Advanced literacy (14%), and
• Gross and Fine Motor Skills (13%).
• In 2015/16, the percentage of children vulnerable in at least one EDI domains ranged from 7% to 48% across Ottawa neighbourhoods. The percentage of children vulnerable in at least one EDI domain generally increased with decreasing socioeconomic status. [12]
• In 2015/16, neighbourhoods with a high proportion of children vulnerable in at least one EDI domain included Sandy Hill (48%), Overbrook (46%), Carleton Heights (46%), Pinecrest/Queensway (43%), Hunt Club West (40%), Lower Town (40%), and Riverview/Hawthorne (39%). [12]