Baby boom

At the CSSS university affiliated centre, Jean-François Labadie, an assistant to the development of the university mission, emphasized the high birth rate in this area compared to the whole island of Montreal during the three year period. This corresponds to the most recent data.

Households of four members or more account for 32% of families of the CSSS, compared to 26.7% for the Montreal area. "We find ourselves being one of the CSSS to have the greatest number of families of more than two children," he said.

On the island of Montreal, there are 12 health and social services centres. The CSSS of Bordeaux-Cartierville Saint-Laurent is ranked sixth for the number of births. According to most recent data, 1,722 babies are born each year in the area.

The CSSS de la Montagne is the front runner with 2,779 births. The CSSS West Island also has more than 2,000 births per year. According to Labadie, the high birth rate in the area is attributed to immigration. "The majority of nursing clients who are followed for their pregnancies are immigrants," he said, adding that immigrants have more children.

About half of the 124,655 people in the area (47.4%) were not born in Canada (27.6% for Montreal). "It is one of the areas which foresees a considerable demographic growth,� indicates a document from the Agence, the development agency of local area networks of health and social services, that draws a portrait of the population of the CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville Saint-Laurent. “It acts as a cosmopolitan area where the proportion of immigrants is more significant than any other area."

Among the principal countries of origin of the immigrant population in the area of the CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville Saint-Laurent are Lebanon (15%), Egypt (6.5%), Greece (6.4%), Morocco (5.1%) and China (4.1%). In addition to a lot of young people age 18 and under (21.2%), the population served by the CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville Saint-Laurent is also made up of a relatively high percentage of seniors (18%).

Beaudet takes part in the workshop with her two month old daughter. During the meeting, lasting one and a half hours, her three year old child partakes in a daycare on site.

Hosted by two nurses, the workshop takes on a different topic each week related to breast feeding. "This encourages me to nurse longer,� said Hafidha, an Algerian mom living in Quebec for three years. “This has also helped me to learn more, in the best interest of the baby.� (Translated by Michael Beigleman)