Community Baby Shower at LMH to offer help navigating parenthood

“Oh Baby! A Community Baby Shower” is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at LMH.

If you are a new parent, expecting parent or a grandparent, then please join us at Lawrence Memorial Hospital later this month for our first-ever baby shower.

“Oh Baby! A Community Baby Shower” is set for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at LMH.

“We are excited to share with the community what the birthing experience at LMH is all about and show how LMH and our partners in the community support families,” said Cora Koch, a registered nurse who is maternity navigator in the Cindy Murray Family Birthing Center at LMH.

This come-and-go event will feature information booths and tours of the birthing center, as well as short presentations on a variety of topics, including maternal mental health, safe sleep for babies, pelvic floor health and fatherhood. Attendees can sign up for sessions when they arrive for the shower.

You’re invited

• We’re looking forward to seeing you at our inaugural baby shower.

• The come-and-go event is from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Please enter the hospital from the circle drive, which is in the 300 block of Arkansas.

• The shower will feature light refreshments and lots of information from Lawrence Memorial Hospital and our community partners.

• No registration is necessary for this free event, which also will include a chance to win prizes.

• For more information about the shower, contact Allison Koonce, community outreach and engagement supervisor at LMH, at 785-505-3081 or Allison.Koonce@lmh.org. If you can’t attend our shower but would like more information about having a baby at LMH, contact Cora Koch, maternity navigator, at 785-505-2728 or Cora.Koch@lmh.org.

In addition, there will be demonstrations on labor positions, relaxation techniques and babywearing.

“We wanted to give the opportunity for hands-on learning — similar to the opportunities we offer in our classes at LMH,” said Beth Porter-Sakumura, a registered nurse who is an LMH community outreach and engagement specialist.

When you attend the baby shower, you also can register for upcoming LMH parenting and prenatal classes, or you can visit lmh.org anytime to select a class and sign up.

This event isn’t just for moms, and it isn’t just about LMH.

Fathers will be able to enjoy all the presentations and booths, and there will a presentation specifically for dads. A local organization, Dads of Douglas County, will be at the event discussing their activities for dads and children.

“Dads of Douglas County is looking forward to connecting fathers with other fathers for support at this event,” said Charlie Bryan, chair of the organization.

Family members also will have the opportunity to receive the Tdap vaccine — the whooping cough vaccine — for a fee at this event. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone who is around your baby have an updated whooping cough vaccination.

Booths featuring LMH departments and community partners will focus on car seat safety, child care, breastfeeding, healthy food choices and more. With more than 25 booths, you will be able to get the answers to your parenting questions.

LMH also will provide light refreshments and a cake to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Build Your Village, which is a free peer support group for new mothers who have pregnancy or postpartum adjustment challenges. Build Your Village meets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursdays in the LMH Auditorium.

— Allison Koonce is community outreach and engagement supervisor at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, which is a major sponsor of Lawrence Journal-World’s Health section. She can be reached at allison.koonce@lmh.org.