It is a great day for breast-feeding enthusiasts when Val-Saint-François Nourri-Source inaugurates its telephone partnership program. The goal of this service is to support mothers who nurse by pairing them with “godmothers of breast-feeding” who are available to listen to their needs. This good news arrived within the framework of the World Week of Breast-feeding 2011 (October 1-7, 2011). More than 700 ‘godmothers’ have volunteered their time for similar programs throughout Quebec. The creation of the Val-Saint-François Nourri-Source program makes it possible for ‘godmothers’ in the MRC to benefit from support, formation and information in order to offer a service of quality to the mothers of the region.  

The principal mission of Val-Saint-François Nourri-Source is to provide support for breast feeding. The organization counts ten trained ‘godmothers’ coming from the four corners of the MRC. Pillars of Nourri-Source Val-Saint-François, these ‘godmothers of breast feeding’ are also the heart behind the program. They encourage and support the mothers who call upon them during the entire time they are breast-feeding. The characteristic of the network Nourri-Source is the flexibility whose godmothers make proof at the time of their interventions near the mothers. Telephone-partnering, the basic service of the organization, makes it possible the ‘godmother’ to help by creating a relationship of confidence between themselves and the mothers who nurse their babies. This accompaniment is done with all due respect to the woman, her temporal and physical limits and in harmony with her values. The ‘godmothers’ have had various personal courses and various experience with breast feeding, but all have jointly the desire to be implicated and to help.

Val-Saint-François Nouri-Source developed thanks to a partnership between the Center of Health and Social Services of Val-Saint-François, la Maison de la Famille Les Arbrisseaux and la Fédération Québécoise Nourri-Source. The goal of this partnership is to offer support to the mothers who wish it and to create bonds between the families during the perinatal period. The partners support the ‘godmothers’ in the organization and the creation of assistance at the professional level, by the means, for example, of the availability of a nurse in perinatal care. The financial support of Val en Forme as does the CSSS de l’Estrie also contributed to the arrival of Nourri-Source in this MRC region.

The CSSS de Val-Saint-François encourages and supports the breast-feeding process. It is anxious to improve these services for new mothers. This is why; it has chosen to support telephone-partnerships with ‘godmothers of breast feeding’ as an experiment. During its incorporation in March 2010, la Maison de la Famille Les Arbrisseaux (MLA) included in its mission: “supporting the mutual aid, solidarity and initiatives between families of the MRC du Val- Saint-François to meet their needs.” The project of the ‘godmothers of breast feeding’ falls under this directive.

The MLA felt it was important to implicate itself in order to support this new service and the desire of mothers to apply themselves and to support themselves mutually. The MLA offers particular support to this organization, lending its buildings and material and offering babysitting services to the ‘godmothers’ during their meetings.

‘Val en forme’ is a regrouping of partners who wish to heartily promote the healthy practices of life in the population of the MRC du Val-Saint-François. The group of “godmothers for breast feeding” makes it possible for the families to acquire better life skills, by equipping them with information and supporting their efforts.

The Agency of Health and Social Services of Estrie, in direct reference to its public health program, is anxious to encourage the concept of breast-feeding. The CSSS de l’Estrie already financially supports, throughout Estrie, groups and services that encourage and support the concept of breast feeding. The Agency feels that it is important to support, protect and promote breast-feeding which is universally recognized for its benefits to both mother and baby against various diseases as well as contributing to the optimal growth and development of the child.  Families wishing to benefit from the support of a ‘godmother’ are invited to contact 819-542-2777, extension 55440 - Liette Pépin, nurse in perinatal care, resource person for the Val-Saint-François Nourri-Source program.