Creating Community at Home and in School

Healthy Families Conference Announcement

Vancouver, BC – On April 18-19, 2009 educators and parents from across the Pacific Northwest will gather to participate in an event designed to inspire, support, and connect the amazing individuals who contribute to building community for our children at home and in school.

Conference visionary Margo Running, of LifeWays Childcare Society, is launching this new conference in Vancouver because she hears educators and parents asking the same questions: “How do we simplify, slow down in order to give quality time to our children, in our home, in our care and in our school? How do we create a community around our children?” Margo says this two-day conference is packed with presentations, breakout sessions, workshops, discussion groups, and meals that will create a collaborative and participatory setting; each participant will gain a toolkit of resources and contacts.

The Healthy Families Conference is aiming to provide individuals with the skills and strategies they need to nurture strong relationships within their families and create strong ties for children within their community and is the first of its kind in Vancouver.

This conference has attracted some of the biggest names in parenting and early-childhood development. Peggy O'Mara (Editor/Owner of Mothering Magazine - Santa Fe, New Mexico) jumped at the chance to come to Vancouver for the opportunity to connect with this diverse audience of parents and educators; Peggy will be speaking on Finding & Creating Community.

Event Details – Healthy Families Canada is hosting the conference at the UBC Student Union Building (6138 Student Union Boulevard) on April 18-19, 2009. Registration is available online at www.healthyfamiliescanada.org and individuals can register at the early-bird rate of just $200 prior to March 15, 2009 (group discounts are also available). Questions about the conference can be sent to info@healthyfamiliescanada.org.

Media Contact – If you are a member of the media and would like to learn more about emerging stories regarding the Healthy Families Conference or would like to interview Margo Running or Peggy O’Mara please contact Corwin Hiebert by phone at 604-803-2019 or by e-mail at: corwin@redwagonmanagement.com.

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!

Beautiful Breastfeeding Resources

Just a quick post to share some wonderful breastfeeding resources I came across today. These were posted on the BC Baby-Friendly Network as resources for World Breastfeeding Week in October 2008. There are all kinds of interesting things including posters for your workplace, clinic or shop, a doorhanger for a new mom that on the front reminds guests that mom and baby are resting and explains on the back how to nurse side-lying and a list of all the ingredients in breastmilk among other things.

I particularly liked this great Motivational Breastfeeding Poster Series:

Support - large or small
Satisfaction - large or small
Protection - large or small
Preferred - large or small
Healing - large or small
Family - large or small
Connection - large or small

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!

Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge

Join us to celebrate breastfeeding in a fun “competition” where every child “wins” because they are breastfed!!

What: Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge 2007 This fun event is a challenge for which geographic area ( province, state or territory) has the most breastfeeding babies, as a percentage of the birthrate, “latched on.” at 11am local time.

When: September 29th 2007

Why: to celebrate breastfeeding and demonstrate promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding women and their families. It’s a chance for education and peer support done in a fun social way.

“Latch on”: 11am local time. Some sites are a few breastfeeding women who get together to “be counted” and others are much larger events with lunch, raffles, education, speakers, door prizes etc.

Registration: online at no cost and submit some simple paperwork to be counted on the big day. Dial up www.babyfriendly.ca

Background: In 2001 when this event started, there were 856 babies at 26 sites in British Columbia, Canada. Last year there were 4,687 babies at 156 sites across Canada and the US. This year we would love to see that number increase dramatically. Do your part, join us – organize a site – big or small! Every breastfeeding baby counts in the final count.

Find a location near you!

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!

World Breastfeeding Week

Breastfeeding first!

"Breastfeeding first – breastfeeding within one hour of birth” is the theme for this year’s World Breastfeeding Week, to be celebrated in Canada, October 1-7. The theme promotes the idea that the initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth is the first and most vital step towards reducing infant and under-five mortality. Thousands of babies can be saved every year – beginning with ONE action and ONE message: begin breastfeeding within ONE hour of birth.

Learn more…

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!

Inspiration

Interested in how you can help?

Support Midwifery:

• Donate to UBC's midwifery school


• Become a supporting member of your local midwifery association:
• Midwifery Association of BC
• Canadian Association of Midwives allied member


• Join an advocacy group:
• Yukoners for Funded Midwifery
  
• Midwifery Coalition of Nova Scotia
  
• Birth Options Research Network PEI


• Share positive stories about your experiences with friends, family, co-workers

Learn more about homebirth:

• Talk to your midwife about whether you would be a good candidate
• Find books in the library
• Visit Sweet Home's homebirth page
  

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!

Creating our Own Birth Rites

As we brainstorm ideas for our own birth rites, try to keep in mind that in addition to honouring the baby, we can and should also honour the mother, the father, the family, the community and if spiritual, the deity. It is especially important that the mother and father play a part in the ceremony or ritual because they too are born out of the birth. There is also a growing body of evidence that suggests that rites for the mother are most beneficial when they involve gathering fellow women and mothers around her for support, advice and encouragement.

What can you do to create special birth rites for your birth or for a friend or family member?

The Birth

• Carefully consider who you would like present at the birth, who you would like as the first visitors. Ask that they respect the sacredness of the event.


• Think of ways that you can honour the baby in the first moments after the birth. Light candles for mother, father and grandparents. Keep the last candle (for the baby) unlit until after the birth. Have a special person light the baby’s candle.


• If you have had a healthy, complication-free pregnancy, research the possibility of having a homebirth, even if you hadn’t thought of it previously. Homebirth is often an extremely rewarding and uplifting experience. You have more control over who is present and where and how you labour. In terms of rites of passage, the added bonus is that your baby will arrive into the safe, comforting atmosphere of his/her own home. Think of the ways that home and shelter are important to you and consider whether you would like to honour those values in your birth. For more info on homebirth, how to prepare and safety concerns, visit www.sweethomebirth.com or talk to your health practitioner.


• If you decide that homebirth is right for you, search for a practitioner who will be willing to attend. Try your local Midwives Association for a referral to a midwife.


• Commit to Lying In. That is, to spend the first 5-15 days of baby’s life in, on or near the bed. This means, mom and baby for sure but if possible, dad and siblings as well. Don’t have too many visitors and don’t venture out of the house. Cocoon, recover and get to know each other. Cement your new family. Have dad or relatives take care of cooking, cleaning and laundry. Set the number of days for lying in and stick to it. (Read the article in Mothering Magazine Sept Oct 2006).

Baby's First Bath

• Organize a special setting for baby’s first bath. Use candles. Recite poetry or say some special words of thanks for your baby. Make the bath as calming and enjoyable for baby as possible.

• Request that the nurses not bath your baby. Perform the first bath yourself. Turn the lights down low. Make the occasion an intimate first moment as a family. Count toes. Whisper. Make eye contact. Get to know each other.

Remember: baby has just come from an environment of warmth and wetness. As long as they are warm enough and feel supported, there is no reason they shouldn’t relax during their first bath.

Food/Feast

• If your family has a special meal that you eat at certain times of the year, have a close relative prepare it for you as the first meal after the baby is born or comes home from the hospital.

• If you have an ethnic dessert or sweet in your family traditions, make a big batch to distribute to visitors in honour of your baby’s heritage.

• Make a Groaning Cake during early labour to share with birth attendants and well wishers after the birth. Amy McKay talks about Groaning Cakes in her novel, The Birth House and she has a recipe on her website: http://www.thebirthhouse.com/recipes.htm.

• Have a friend bring over a birthday cake for the baby when you return home from the hospital.

Ceremonies/Naming

• Plan a Welcome Baby party/Presentation Ceremony. Invite friends and family to a gathering to meet and celebrate the baby. Remember to wait an appropriate amount of time before committing to a large gathering. You want to enjoy the occasion and not tire yourself when you are recovering from birth and learning to parent. Try to enlist a friend or relative to do most of the planning and hosting.

• Consider keeping the baby’s name a secret until you can have a formal presentation at your home, place of worship or another planned gathering like the one suggested above.

• Invite friends and relatives to bring small symbolic gifts to present at the ceremony. Have them explain what the gift represents for the baby. Eg. a coin for wealth, an apple for health, a needle and thread for industriousness, a plant for growth and respect of nature. Encourage guests to use their imagination or to look for ideas online.

• Provide guests with a list of flower meanings before the party and have each bring a single flower representing their hopes for the baby. After guests present and explain their choice, combine all of the flowers into a single bouquet representing the support of the baby’s community. Take a picture of baby and guests with the bouquet.

• Think of ways you can incorporate the spiritual into your celebration. Say a prayer or sing. Read a religious text. Ask your religious leader if there is some formal presentation that could be done in your place of worship.

Miscellaneous

• Ask the doctors to give you the placenta. Plant it in your garden under a new fruit tree. The tree will receive extra nourishment from the mineral rich placenta. In years to come, your child will know this tree as their tree.

• Keep a pregnancy journal and continue writing in it in the first months after baby is born to document and work through your feelings.

• Write out your birth story and consider sharing it with friends or an online community such as www.mothering.com or have it posted at www.sweethomebirth.com. This is a great way to process and reflect on the event.

• Read Birthing From Within by Pam England and try some of the many many great suggestions.

• Have friends organize a Blessingway rather than a baby shower. A Blessingway is a mother-centered ceremony/celebration based on the Navajo tradition and preformed late in pregnancy. Usually attended only by women, it is meant to acknowledge and give strength to the mother for the sacred journey she is about to undertake. For more info, check out Blessingways; A Guide to Mother-Centered Baby Showers by Shari Maser www.blessingway.net

• Brainstorm ways you can involve the father over and above the usual (announcing the birth by calling family and cutting the umbilical cord). Ask him if there is something special that he would like to do. Acknowledge that he is undergoing a passage as well (even if he may not show it).

Sources

Blessingways - http://mother-care.ca/blessing.htm

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Sweet Home Birth Boxes - the supplies you need no matter what your birth plan includes!