Mothercraft Ottawa’s Jessica Dwyer co-facilitates a new weekly peer-support group for mothers at the Somerset West Community Health Centre.
Two local health organizations have launched a program to help isolated women handle the demands of raising young children.
The Somerset West Community Health Centre, in partnership with Mothercraft Ottawa, a family resource outlet, is hosting a free weekly parent-child peer support group until the end of June.
“For women who are just having their first babies, we can give them a comfortable way to start out,” says Jessica Dwyer, the program’s manager and co-facilitator.
Immigrants and teenage mothers are among those who may feel uneasy in traditional parenting social settings, Dwyer says, adding many women don’t know how to ask for the information they want.
“This network is different in that it’s a facilitated environment,” Dwyer says. “Everyone sits around in a circle together and there are parent educators there who make sure to engage all of the different members.”
Free bus tickets and on-site childcare accommodate women whose mobility may otherwise be restricted. With their children nearby, Dwyer says mothers are responsible for choosing discussion topics, such as discipline or food security.
The concept of peer support is as old as motherhood, says Hiltrud Dawson, a health promotion consultant at provincial parenting think-tank Best Start.
Parents across Ontario, however, are learning to demand and accept a more interactive approach to raising children without emptying their bank accounts, she says.
“Sharing experiences brings a normalizing and validating reassurance to women,” she says. "It helps them not have to rely so much on professionals.”
Liz Briggs, Dwyer’s co-facilitator, says she’s excited to see the long-term effect the program will have on parenting.
"This program offers the services that help parents build their own communities in a safe space," she says.
Dwyer says a similar centre in Blackburn Hamlet had seen positive results, so she wanted to bring the model closer to the city.
Both facilitators say that if enough women request their peer support services, they will hold sessions through the summer and consider ways to provide similar outlets across Ottawa.
“We do not have the capacity as it stands now to keep starting new parent support groups,” Dwyer says. “What we can do is support other agencies who are interested in doing a similar kind of thing.”
Mothers can attend meetings every Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Laroche Park Field House.