Tugging the heartstrings

It’s taken Pierrette d’Entremont and Danica Surette close to two years to research and develop Heartstring Baby’s Companion, a soft, pliable, colourful pendant secured to a cotton lanyard. The necklace-like product is designed as a practical accessory to hold an infant’s interest during feeding.

The businesswomen placed second in the InNOVAcorp I-3 Technology Start-Up competition last fall and received $25,000 cash for expenses and $15,000 in kind services for the development of their business: PIDA Infant & Maternity Products.

D’Entremont, an accomplished jeweler, has developed her first business into a worldwide venture that expanded to include a wholesale division in 2001.

She says she used her background in human kinetics, which included motor development in infants, to develop the heartstring idea.

“I used a lot of my textbooks and what we had covered, plus having three kids too - noticing what they did - it all helped with the idea,” she said.

Surette is a licensed practical nurse by trade, who left her job to put more effort into PIDA.

“As a mother of two, I knew the importance of breastfeeding and basically that’s what we were going to use this product for to endorse,” she said.

The product helps to bring breastfeeding to the forefront by attracting the child’s attention.

“A lot of time children are looking everywhere else and you’re trying to keep them looking here. Another thing they do is tug on everything, your hair, your glasses, your shirt and this way they have something that is completely non-toxic that they can play with, chew on, and suck on. It’s a little brighter than a lot of jewelry that moms wear,” said D’Entremont.

“One of the main reasons that it’s interesting is that a lot of moms stop breastfeeding when the baby starts to get a little bigger and more engaged in the world. But babies should breastfeed up until 18 months. Around here that’s really uncommon and the World Health Organization endorses that a lot. Once the baby starts to fidget and look around and engage in the world, moms get a little nervous, or frustrated, or self-conscious,” added Surette.

The engineering crew at Dalhousie University is assisting PIDA in modifying their design and can manufacture the product for an incubation period. No mass production is planned until early 2009.

After that the partners will examine buying their own injection mold machine or find another contractor.

Surette and D’Entremont have already secured distribution at several California stores after launching their product at a trade show there. They’ve also been selected to debut at the Théa Showroom in the California Market Centre, Los Angeles in mid-January.

“It’s great because they love the product and they want it to work as much as we do,” said Surette.

Their website is located at: www.heartstringcompanions.com