Becoming a Peer Supporter

BECOMING A PEER SUPPORTER

Contact Our Team: Jo O Connor

What is a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter?

Listens to whanau.
Understands how breastfeeding happens.
Socialises breastfeeding reflecting the relationship between mama & pepi.
Cares about whanau, enabling parents to be the parents they were born to be.
Has enhanced knowledge & skills in helping new parents which supports breastfeeding.

May be a mother, father, partner, aunty, nana, co-worker, neighbour, uncle, papa, sister, brother-

anyone who cares

What whanau expect from a peer supporter?

That they care.
Listening with openness, fairness, respect, and empathy.
Focus on whanau needs and priorities.
Validate whanau experiences
Confidentiality- they will not discuss whanau with anyone else without consent unless they have serious concerns for safety/wellbeing.
Respect the boundaries of their role as peer supporter; their perspectives, expertise, experience, or knowledge.
Present themselves as a peer supporter with knowledge & insights to support the typical or physiological course of breastfeeding.
Acknowledges that all whanau members are important.
Present or share information in an impartial way.
Accept what they whanau tells them.
Not represent or explain the perspective of another organisation or provider.
Seek to uphold the mana of other organisations, individuals or providers.
Share up to date and validated information that is relevant to the whanau to support or enable decision making.
Be clear when they are sharing their own experience, values, opinions, or thoughts.
Keep their knowledge and skills as up to date as they can.
Adhere to the Vulnerable Children’s Act.
Adhere to Data Protection principles.
Seek guidance/ counsel from locality programme coordinator when required e.g. redflags
Refer to their own lived experiences only when relevant and helpful (usually when it is asked for).

Be a perfectly imperfect parent themselves

What a peer supporter can expect from a Central Lakes Breastfeeding Charitable Trust?

Understanding and empathy if they make a mistake.
Opportunities for ongoing personal development and support skills development and learning.
Help for when they are unsure about how to help a whanau.
Support for when they identify red flags.
An accessible locality peer support programme coordinator e.g., easy to get hold off and opportunities to meet up.
Opportunities to practice their skills.
Opportunities to reflect on their experiences.
Judicious use of their personal data.
Respect for their role as a volunteer.
That they are not out of pocket for helping whanau.
Recognition that their contribution has value.
Resources and tools to support whanau.
Have a say in the future direction of the programme.
Practical and pragmatic help to pursue new approaches for supporting whanau.

What peer supporters need from whanau:

Respect for their role as a volunteer.
Acceptance that they will prioritise their own tamariki/ whanau.
Accept that the peer supporter is not perfect and may say or act in way that is perceived differently to how they intended.
Understand that peer supporters make mistakes just like anyone else.

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