Fall will be here before you know it — mark your calendar for WBWC’s annual birthday party! When: Saturday, October 27 2-4 PM Where: Great Meadow Park in Briar Chapel Bring your family for a fun afternoon of refreshments, games, and celebration of our wonderful community!
Babies love music. This will come as no surprise to you if you’ve ever soothed your newborn to sleep with a lullaby or bounced him to the beat of your favorite song. But did you know your son or daughter is also a natural music-maker? It’s true: We are each born equipped to respond to music from a remarkably early age. There is a lot you can do to nurture your new little musician—even if you don’t think of yourself as a “musical” person. Making music together from the very beginning will lead to a lifetime of shared musical enjoyment for both you and your child. The Music Together® Babies Class will start you on the path to becoming a musical family. Specifically designed for infants eight months and younger, this one-semester introduction to Music Together allows babies to embrace, enjoy, and express their inborn musicality. In your weekly class, you will spend forty-five music-filled minutes singing, dancing, and playing with your child, all in the company of other new parents and guided by an early childhood music specialist. You’ll learn how your child is developing musically and how you can support this growth at home. Plus, you’ll leave with lots of ideas on how to play and bond musically together and infuse music into your baby’s everyday life. Erica Berry, the owner of Jammin Baby, has been teaching children’s music for over 11 years. She is a classically trained vocalist and a musician. She will sing and play the flute for your babies in this class and lead you in making music of your own in the class and at home. Join our Fall Session by visiting www.jamminbaby.com. While babies are welcome in all of our many mixed aged classes, we have made this special class for our new mommas on Mondays at 9:45 a.m, starting September 10.
On June 24 Women’s Birth & Wellness Center co-sponsored the Chapel Hill Climb Out of the Darkness walk to raise awareness and funds for perinatal mood disorders. The Climb brings people together all over the globe near the solstice (the longest, brightest day) to shine a light on a darkness we often don’t speak about. We shared stories of hope and celebrate recovery as we gather together to raise money, raise awareness and give a voice to those who no longer have one and walk together to symbolize our ‘Climb’ Out of the Darkness. Fit4Mom Chapel Hill Carrboro hosted the event in Briar Chapel and together we raised $2,745 for the North Carolina offices of Postpartum Support International. It was a wonderful celebration of those who have survived perinatal mood disorders and in recognition of those currently battling. Thanks to those who shared their stories! For those currently struggling, WBWC hosts a Coping with Motherhood (link: https://ncbirthcenter.org/groups/coping-with-motherhood/) support group on the first and third Thursdays of each month, 10:30 am – 12:00 noon at WBWC, in the Living Room (Suite 304). Email Nancy (nancy@ncbirthcenter.org) for more information. WBWC is also a co-sponsor of the Durham Climb Out of the Darkness this Saturday, June 30 at the offices of Emerald Doulas – https://ncbirthcenter.org/event/climb-out-of-the-darkness-2/. Join us for a day of celebration for the many survivors in our community. Join us to shine light on the need for better information and better treatment for families with perinatal mood disorders. Join WBWC as a Climber or donate to our team at https://climb-out- 2018.causevox.com/WBWC-team.
New to Babywearing or have a baby carrier that is uncomfortable to use with your child? The Well Carried Child (TWCC) offers a Basic Babywearing small group class or private consultations to up your game! The Basic Babywearing class demonstrates proper comfort and support using four types of baby carriers for the caregiver and child, ages infant through preschooler. Carriers are available to try on. Participants are welcome to bring their own carriers. This class is family- and child-friendly. Private Babywearing Consultations are a one-on-one conversation about your babywearing needs with hands on help to perfect your technique with your child(ren) and your carriers. Choose one or a combination package to receive a discount. Registration will take place through TWCC (via Square or email thewellcarriedchild@gmail.com). June 25, 6:30-7:30 PM at WBWC $15 per individual or couple Alex Sparrow, Certified Babywearing Consultant Alex discovered her passion for babywearing five years ago with the birth of her first child. It continues to be an invaluable tool used in her family’s daily life through attachment parenting and outdoor activites like hiking with her three children. She also volunteers with Babywearing International of the Triangle as an Advanced Babywearing Educator, and loves seeing caregivers find the perfect carrier for their child and their lifestyle. She received her certification as a independent Babywearing Consultant through the Center for Babywearing Studies in June 2017.
It was a beautiful day for our first Open House! We had a wonderful turnout and enjoyed seeing all of you (and getting another glimpse of those babies as they grow)! We hope to make it an annual event. We’d like to thank all our community partners who helped make this day happen: Babywearing International of the Triangle Megapixie Photography La Leche League Triangle Area Parenting Support Allison Koch, CNM, Arvigo therapist WomanWise Doula Collective Armonia Health Imagine Chiropractic Red Wines Floral Triangle Acupuncture Clinic Triangle Mindful Birth Cherish Pads Triangle Doula Collective Wanda Sundermann Vitality Physical Therapy Triangle Yoga Fit4Mom
By Maureen Darcey, CNM On Saturday, April 7th, WBWC hosted a booth at the Women’s Health Awareness Day Conference at North Carolina Central University. Tracey Jones, Pam Reis, CNM, and I, along with two of our WBWC moms, Maya Jackson and Ashley Gatling (in picture), helped “woman” the booth. All participants could access free health screenings, health education sessions, healthy living sessions, and booths showcasing local health resources. Over 600 people attended. We had great interest in our booth, especially when we discussed the fact that we do more than just catch babies: we also provide primary health care for women from the time a young girl started her menses through menopause and beyond! Many women were surprised to learn that we also accept Medicaid and Medicare. We are looking forward to participating next year and hope that our clients will attend and take part in the very informative sessions. Follow our Class and Event schedule to see where you might find folks from WBWC doing community outreach in your neighborhood. We welcome anyone interested in having us come out to your women’s group, sorority meetings, church, or professional group to talk about the services offered by WBWC. Please contact Maureen@ncbirthcenter.org for further information and also leave a phone number. We are women helping women take care of themselves throughout the life cycle!
by Nancy Albrecht, RN, BSN, MA On Sunday, March 11, Maureen Darcey and I and 200 other family, friends, and associates in the birth community gathered to honor the life of Svea Oster. She was a doula, home birth attendant, childbirth educator, and fierce advocate for maternal-child health for over 40 years. At the Celebration, many women and men spoke about the impact on their lives of their childbirth class experience with Svea. She gave them insight into birthing and parenting and a support network that many still rely upon today. I took Svea’s class 30 years ago with my fourth child, even though my husband and I had taken Lamaze classes three other times and I was a childbirth educator myself. I wasn’t sure I had much to learn, but she helped me turn inward to fully nurture that baby and that birth. Maureen and her husband took childbirth classes with each of their three babies, even though she was a midwife and they had both trained as Bradley childbirth educators; her husband wanted to connect with other dads. My husband became more excited and interested in the experience during Svea’s class. Peter says, “Svea was serenely confident in every woman’s ability to birth a healthy baby safely, with little or no intervention.” A childbirth educator with that kind of confidence inspires all the parents in the class with invaluable lessons and creates lasting bonds between families. Childbirth education in the United States developed in the 1970’s as a grassroots movement to give parents the knowledge and support they needed to be active participants in giving birth rather than being delivered by doctors. “The movement grew out of the realization that you didn’t have to be zonked out on drugs during labor, and that you could have someone you love in the delivery room with you,” says Henci Goer, a Lamaze International resident expert and the author of several books on childbirth.1 In 2012, according to the Listening to Mothers Survey III, 59 percent of first-time mothers took some type of childbirth class. Alternatively, 97 percent of all mothers used the Internet as a primary source, with up to 60 percent considering pregnancy and childbirth websites to be “very important sources”.2 More parents now rely on the Internet than a certified childbirth educator to learn about pregnancy and birth. Parents may feel that childbirth classes take too much time … Read More
Join us Saturday, April 28 from 10 AM-2 PM as we open our doors to WBWC families and the community. We’d love to see families who have birthed with us before, or who are planning a WBWC birth sometime in the future! Come meet our experienced and supportive midwife team, tour our birth center and clinic, enter to win door prizes, and get to know some of our fantastic community partners. Bring the whole family – there will be activities for kids and light refreshments. Learn about out-of-hospital birth and see what makes WBWC special: the people! We hope to see you there!
by Gabe Lazarus, CD(DONA), HCHD *Womanwise Doula Collective will be hosting a Birth Circle on the last Sunday of every month on the 2nd floor of WBWC, in the clinic library, from 1-3 PM. Each meeting will have a topic that will be led by a Womanwise member. Pregnant, new, and experienced mothers are invited into a safe space to share and glean wisdom, prepare for and process their births, and build community. Snacks and tea will be provided. To learn more about Womanwise Doula Collective, please visit womanwisedoulas.com *Piedmont Community Doulas hosts a Meet the Doulas event every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7pm on the 3rd floor in the Living Room of WBWC. Come learn and explore what a doula does and what a doula brings to your birth experience. There is time for questions and to meet one on one with some local doulas. Members of the group include Gabe Lazarus, Johanna Wright, Heather Grissom, Wanda Sundermann, Kristie Wells, and Hannah Smith.
Many of you may already know Brianna Bennett as WBWC’s business director, but did you know she has also been a yoga teacher since 2005? She recently earned her prenatal yoga certification and is now teaching a prenatal yoga class on Mondays at 6:15 PM at Triangle Yoga, just upstairs from the Birth Center! WBWC patients can get a free class with the purchase of a passcard. Brianna strives to make classes accessible, understandable, and challenging to individuals at any level of fitness. In class, you will work through a series of flowing yoga poses to help synchronize the breath to the movement, develop concentration, strength, flexibility, balance, and clarity. Class will end with a guided meditation and optional aromatherapy. Brianna structures the prenatal class to offer a well-rounded combination of poses for strength, flexibility, and endurance with opportunities to increase mental awareness, and time for bonding and sharing expectations.
