Green Sprouts 2010

It is time once again for the Green Sprouts Organic Baby and Family Fest. Come on over to Peninsula Park this Sunday, September 26th from 10am-5pm. A $3 suggested donation supports ICTC and the amazing work they do empowering families and healthcare professionals to support maternal and infant wellness.

This year, Nurture will have two featured activities at the festival. Mychelle Moritz of Heartworks together with Stephanie Sandmeyer of KAIROS Narrative Facilitation will be over at the Story Book Nook hosting the workshop: Telling Your Baby's Story. Melissa Cole of Luna Lactation will be hosting the Luna Lactation Station for breastfeeding mamas to relax and nurse their babies at any time during the event.

Story Book Nook: Telling Your Baby's Story
What stories of your baby and your experience as a new parent do you want to preserve? Which stories from your own babyhood do you wish you knew? What do you wish you knew about your parent's experience of new parenthood? Join us at the Story Book Nook at the Green Sprouts Festival to sift out, piece together, and begin to hold on to the stories about your baby that you want to preserve for now and share with them someday.

Luna Lactation Station: Sponsored by Luna Lactation
Need a comfy place to sit down and nurse your little one while enjoying the festival? Swing by Luna Lactation’s cozy booth to get off your feet, nurse and visit with other moms! Luna Lactation will have a lactation consultant on site, a raffle, games, handouts and more!

Less is More

Cross-posted at: http://cascadiabirth.com/2010/08/30/less-is-more/

This is a lesson I continue to learn, in various ways. Sometimes it might mean going through my closet or bookshelf and letting go of things I no longer use. Sometimes it means looking at my various commitments and deciding to cut back a bit, creating more time for myself and my family. I think it's a common goal for many, especially parents who are already overwhelmed with so many expectations.

Over the next few blog posts I'd like to explore this idea of less being more, and how it might help your family regain a little balance. My first offering is actually a blog post by a fellow Montessori teacher, Marcy Hogan, down in California, who wrote a wonderful post about cutting back on the number of toys she has available for her young son. Marcy writes:

I know I've noticed a difference in the quality of play in my toddler when I keep the number of available toys low versus the days when I try to buy myself "extra time" by bringing out more toys. If he only has a few toys out, he'll choose one or two and play with them for much longer periods of time. When I bring out a boxful of toys, he'll get excited about all those toys to play with… but then quickly tires of them and looks for something else to do.

photo by Marcy Hogan

I notice the same thing for myself. My husband sighs knowingly when I come home from the library with a stack of twenty books. Although I'm a voracious reader, it's inevitable that I will start reading three at a time…and maybe, if I'm lucky, finish one. Paring down on the options makes decision-making much easier, allowing for a deeper level of engagement. It's a process for sure (as anyone who comes over right now to see my night stand will tell you), but definitely something to work towards.

Check out Marcy's article, then come back and tell me what you think. Share your ideas for simple toys, or strategies for cutting back when the toy box starts overflowing. If you're in Portland, you might consider participating in this toy and clothing swap at the Green Sprouts Family Fest on September 26th.

Lena Wood, labor & postpartum doula

Cascadia Birth Services, LLC
lena@cascadiabirth.com

www.cascadiabirth.com

503.307.8614

Luna Lactation September Newsletter - Milk Banking, Survey, Green Sprouts

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*News & Events Client Satisfaction Survey We are honored to support families and feedback helps us better serve the community! If you have received services from Luna Lactation, Click here to take survey (pretty please...it is short, just 10 questions...we promise!) Green Sprouts Organic Baby and Family Fest Sept.26th, 2010 10AM-5PM Peninsula Park, Portland Luna Lactation will be the official “lactation station” atGreen Sprouts! So, enjoy the festival fun and then swing by our booth to get off your feet, nurse and visit with other moms! We’ll have a raffle, games, Q&A, handout goodies and more!

On Sept. 23rd, the NW Mothers Milk Bank will be hosting a fundraising event that will help establish a milk bank here in the Pacific NW. What is a milk bank? We are all pretty familiar with donat­ing blood to blood banks and milk banks are pretty similar. A milk bank collects and dispenses donated human milk which goes to premature or sick babies whose mothers may not have enough of their own milk. Some milk banks also provide milk for other therapeutic, medical uses like treatment for adult patients with Crohn's, etc. Why should you care aboutmilk banks? As a society, we should care very much about the health of our medically fragile patients and babies that could benefit from human milk. There is a documentary being made called, “Prescription Milk”. I urge you to watch the educational, inspirational film trailer about this critical topic.

A premature baby’s hospital stay can cost up to $2000/day and babies that receive human milk are usually able to get discharged much earlier than their formula fed counterparts. So, you better believe that breast­feeding saves lives and money. Donated human milk matters! We are all pretty familiar with the benefits of breastmilk but the cost of sick or premature babies not getting breastmilk is even more staggering. Less breast milk for these fragile patients means more hospitalizations, more illness/disease and higher health care costs that impact us all. There are many opinions surrounding healthcare these days but the bottom line is that affordable healthcare begins with breastfeeding! On average the US could save $3.6 billion by simply increasing the rates of babies exclusively getting breastmilk.

When babies have a medical need for supplemental nutrition beyond what their mothers can provide, we are lucky to have feeding options. A much safer option over infant formula exists, donor human milk! Unfortunately there is not enough donor milk for all babies in need so here’s how you can help: · Support the NW Mothers Milk Bank; get involved, donate time, money, milk! · Read about milk banks, and donating and/or using donor milk · If formal milk donation isn’t an option, consider Milk Share, a site dedicated to informed consent milk-sharing.

Contact: www.lunalactation.com Tel.360.830.MILK(6455) or Email Have you received support from Luna Lactation? Email Or Click here to take survey . If you do not wish to receive emails from Luna Lactation, unsubscribe now

Diaper Changing Station at Green Sprouts Organic Baby and Family Fest

We have been hosting a diaper changing/nursing area (and more) booth at the King Farmers Market on Sundays. This Saturday (9/26 from 10-5) we will be bringing our booth to the Green Sprouts Organic Baby and Family Fest.

If you have not been to the Green Sprouts Festival, I would like to personally say that it is a fun family event. Last year, I had a great time sneaking away from our booth (that's me with my daughter strapped to my chest in that picture!) to enjoy some activities and educational workshops.

This year we will be over by the picnic tables and restrooms, stop by and say hello, learn about all of the wonderful services Nurture has to offer, change a diaper, or hang out and nurse your child in a comfortable chair. We will have a changing table, wipes generously donated by the Alberta Cooperative Grocery, a few extra plastic bags for soiled cloth diapers in case you forget your wet bag, hand sanitizer, a comfortable chair for nursing, a play space for siblings, and more.