Who are we?
Our mission
Nourri-Source Montreal's mission is to develop a supportive community and environment that creates a positive breastfeeding experience for mothers who wish to breastfeed and for those around them.
Our mission is achieved by :
- Normalizing breastfeeding in the public space, through the creation of the Route du lait;
- Supporting mothers through a free matching service with breastfeeding mentors;
- Promoting and disseminating informative content, adapted training materials and reliable tools;
- Creating places of belonging through the participation of breastfeeding mentors in a support network that allows mothers to break the isolation of the post-natal period.
Our vision
Nourri-Source Montreal contributes to the normalization of breastfeeding
and the sharing of breastfeeding knowledge from mother to mother.
Our values
Openess
Explore new possibilities and new ways of doing things, seek to understand others and their reality, encourage discussions and the sharing of ideas.
Respect
Be considerate and listen to others by establishing a relationship between equals and not judging the personal choices they make. Recognize that each person is in the best position to make their own choices.
Solidarity
Facilitate a committed relationship between people who support each other.
Autonomy
Foster the ability to act freely and independently. Encourage the empowerment of women.
Our history
In 1982, Ms. Liette Bernier gave birth to her first child.
She realized that breastfeeding was not sufficiently supported and that as a result, many women felt constrained to give up breastfeeding.
She would have liked to know someone who could answer her questions; someone who would understand what she was going through and who would accompany and reassure her.
Faced with this realization, Ms. Bernier, who was a nurse at the CLSC Mercier-Ouest (now called Olivier-Guimond), founded an association whose mission was to support women who chose to breastfeed, by breaking the isolation of the first few weeks after childbirth.
The first meeting of the Association des femmes allaitantes took place in September 1982.
The Association grew and, in 1983, the Rosemont and Saint-Leonard CLSCs joined the group, which then changed its name to Nourri-Source.
From 1983 to 1999, the organization grew in size. As a result of this expansion, a collaboration with the CLSC perinatal teams was formed, aiming to create groups of breastfeeding mentors in their territories, called sectors.
After restructuring in 2000, Nourri-Source expanded, and the Régionales de Nourri-Source were founded, along with the Fédération Nourri-Source. The role of this provincial group is to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organization.
Today, the Nourri-Source network has grown to include eight Régionales, which are autonomous community organizations whose mission is to promote and support breastfeeding.
- Central Quebec
- Eastern Townships
- Lanaudiere
- Laurentians
- Laval
- Monteregie
- Montreal
- Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean
A word from the founder
«It is true that breastfeeding is something natural, that it exists since the beginning of time and that, throughout history, women have always breastfed. However, women have not always expressed out loud what they were experiencing and have not been in solidarity for long.
Well, at Nourri-Source, this is the first thing we have to offer: the opportunity to share and understand each other; the opportunity to learn and get to know each other a little better. I believe more and more that breastfeeding or weaning can be experienced at its best when we are not going through it alone on an island. »
Liette Bernier, November 1983