The History of the Maison de naissance Colette-Julien

The Maison de naissance Colette-Julien in Mont-Joli, founded in 1994, is the first birthing centre to open in a remote region in Québec. It all began when women and families in La Mitis set out to establish midwifery services in the region. The CLSC de La Mitis followed suit and set up a pilot project. Odile Saint-Pierre, the director of the Childhood-Youth-Family team at the time, backed by the CLSC’s executive director, Gilles Tremblay, spearheaded this initiative. Johanne Gagnon, an experienced midwife who was returning from the Far North where she had been practising as a midwife, created a working committee to develop the project’s clinical component.  

A non-profit corporation was created to allow the Famille-Mitis organization to acquire the house and manage the building that it now owns. On June 21, 1994, the pilot project was officially presented and accepted by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. The Maison de naissance Colette-Julien officially opened its doors. 

A parent-led advisory committee was created. Its role: to monitor and provide feedback on the development of services offered at the birthing centre. Now known as the parents’ committee of the Maison de naissance Colette-Julien, it is still active today. Each year, it organizes activities for parents and families.  

Who was Colette Julien?

Colette Julien was born in Mont-Joli in April 1927. She worked as a nurse at the Unité Sanitaire de Rimouski until 1950 and then at the Saint-Charles-Garnier medical service. In 1952, she founded a private obstetrics hospital. The institution was incorporated in 1960 under the name Corporation de l’Hôpital Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire de Mont-Joli. In 1969, the government ordered the closing of all institutions of this kind across the province. The Mont-Joli facility was converted into a hospital for chronic patients. With a strong will and boundless energy, Colette Julien was a woman ahead of her time who devoted her life to serving others. Everyone who knew her valued her unwavering dedication, openness,  generosity and compassion. Nurse Julien died on November 9, 1978, and her maternity work will forever be etched in the region’s collective memory. In gratitude and as a tribute to Colette Julien, the Maison de naissance de La Mitis was named after her.