If you have no mat, please contact Skylor before class at 503.886.9101 so that she can be sure to provide you with what you need! We look forward to seeing you!

NOTE: We will not have class on October 31st.

Mothergarden
A free drop-in group for moms & babies
Come meet other moms, laugh, cry, tell our stories, and most of all, support each other.

Mondays 10:30-noon, starting September 7
Nurture, Center for Growing Families
1614 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
www.nurturepdx.com/mothergarden

Hosted by Welcome with Love Family Care (www.welcomewithlovefamilycare.com), and Nurture, Center for Growing Families.

What is Mothergarden? Mothergarden is a space to relax and share your experience of being a mother, meet other moms, trade stories and suggestions, find the support you need, and simply enjoy the company of other moms & babies.

How did Mothergarden come to be? Mothergarden has been birthed from a lovely partnership between Nurture and Sarah Nuxoll of Welcome with Love Family Care. Sarah’s vision of helping women as they grow into their roles as mothers is perfectly complemented by Nurture’s mission to provide a warm and welcoming space for growing families to find the support they need. Our intention is to bring together moms & babies to help bring forth the collective wisdom, humor, and compassion that sustain and nourish us as mothers.

Who is invited? Although we created Mothergarden to help new mothers find support and companionship, we also welcome expectant mothers, dads & partners, grandparents, friends, and others who are interested in creating a parenting community to support each other.

For more information, visit www.nurturepdx.com/mothergarden, or contact Sarah atwelcomewithlove@gmail.com

Angi Gunther is a mom of three, birth doula and a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator. She teaches for Providence Health & Services and offers Confident Birthing classes and workshops at Nurture Wellness Center in NE Portland. She encourages parents to take an active role in their care during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Angi believes that parents need complete information regarding their options so that they can make truly informed decisions.

Please join Angi at Milagros on August 6th from 10 am to noon to learn more about Options for Childbirth.

Another great event this week is the MotherSource celebration on Friday, August 7.

The Bella Band is the one maternity accessory you’ll use during your entire pregnancy – and after baby arrives as well. (It was definitely Jen’s favorite maternity accessory).

So it is no surprise to use that Bella Bands are the first place winner in the Maternity Must-Have Category of Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards. Congrats Bella Band!

We also stock a selection of like-new, affordable, high-quality maternity clothes. These have been previously enjoyed but a little wear means a lot of savings. And when you are changing sizes every few weeks, why break the bank to look good? Great brands at great prices is what you will find at Milagros. We also have locally made maternity skirts from Hazel Blue!

Hazel Blue a-line skirts are lovely, flattering and fun! Many of the materials that used in Hazel Blue skirts are vintage or short-run. As a result, these skirts are often one-of-a-kind or few-of-a-kind. In addition to Hazel Blue skirts, we also have mama-skirts made by Karina Potestio.

A must-have clothing accessory for the mama-to-be is the Bella Band. The Bella Band is an ultra-soft seamless knit band that stretches and supports but offers its own stylish layered look instead being bulky or obvious. It can be used during all stages of pregnancy.

In addition to clothing, we have a number of pampering items for the mama-to-be from Earth Mama Angel Baby and Wild Carrot – these make great gifts!

This class meets 3 hours a week for four weeks beginning on Wednesday, July 4. The cost is $250 per couple, sliding scale available.

For questions and to RSVP, please contact Gretchen Kraig-Turner at gretchen@mothertreebirth.com or at 503.975-0754. You can also go to mothertreebirth.com for the instructor s biography and additional class and doula information.

Please note: Unless otherwise noted, all classes and events offered in the Family Room at Milagros are managed and operated by third-parties. Information on classes and events are presented by Milagros on its website for information only.

This is a six month class series that is designed for the pregnant mama who wants to fully and consciously enjoy every moment of her pregnancy.

Topics covered in this 12 week series include:

• Learn the foods that will best nourish you & your growing baby
• Learn how to avoid morning sickness
• Understand and tune-in to the wisdom of your cravings
• Connect with your baby through art and meditation & your own mama wisdom
• Get fun and appropriate exercise for your body
• Create support networks for your pregnancy, birth, post-partum and beyond

Also included with the series:

• Delicious, nutritious foods that every mama needs
• A pregnancy journal
• A hands-on cooking class
• Valuable articles and giveaways
• Unlimited online support between classes
• A Belly Cast and much more!

When: Every-other Sunday 6:00 pm -7:30 p.m. Beginning on June 24th

Where: Milagros Boutique 5433 NE 30th Avenue Portland, OR

Cost: $295 for the 12-class series. This includes all materials and giveaways.

To reserve your spot please contact Liselle at 503.970.1627 or email her at lcv@food4health.org

Please note: Unless otherwise noted, all classes and events offered in the Family Room at Milagros are managed and operated by third-parties. Information on classes and events are presented by Milagros on its website for information only.

1) Birth Setting: We planned for home births for our children. However there are other options out there. In addition to the many midwives that support home births, some midwives operate in birthing centers and a few in hospital settings – nurse midwives.

Planning a setting for your birth is a good place to start in determining what midwives to consider.

2) Seek Recommendations/Referrals – with a grain of salt!: You may have friends, or family, or read postings on websites such as mothering.com that outline an amazing birth with a fantastic, supportive midwife, angels sang, and everything was beautiful. Thus in their humble opinion, there is clearly only one choice for you: the midwife that shepherded their personal wonderful, life changing experience.

As a parent, you will always have people in your life – and even strangers – who will offer well-meaning recommendations or opinions for you on every aspect of parenting. Well…it turns out that this trend can begin with your pregnancy!

So here is our well-meaning advice, remember that you are in charge of your pregnancy. The midwife you choose will be at YOUR birth, make sure you are making a choice that is right for you.

Definitely seek out recommendations on midwives but get the details, not just the afterglow. Here are some key questions to ask:

• What were prenatal visits like and where were they held?
• What happened at prenatal visits? Did you get all your questions answered at appointments? Were appointments leisurely or rushed? Were they professional or casual?
• Was it easy to contact the midwives between appointments if you had questions or concerns?
• What were postpartum visits like and where were they held?
• How organized was the midwife? Did you have any issues or surprises with billing or record keeping?
• What was the birth like? Did the midwives come as soon as you needed them? How did you feel their “emotional” support was during labor?
• Although you shouldn’t base your decision on price – remember that the safety of the mama and baby is paramount – it is still good ask: What were your out-of-pocket expenses for the birth? What was included in that?

3) Meet the Midwives: Most, if not all, midwives will provide a complimentary consultation. You don’t need to approach this consultation as a formal interview but you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity to get any and all questions answered.

During our consultation, our questions focused on the issues outlined previously as well as certification and training of the midwives.

Since it was our first birth (and first home birth) some of our questions also focused on emergency transfer plans and their own experience with emergencies and labor challenges. These types of questions aren’t always easy to ask but are important. If there is an issue during labor, your midwife is your first responder. You should feel comfortable with what their decision-making would be in this regard.

Also if you haven’t already talked with former clients of the midwife, be sure to ask for some client references. Follow-up on any issues that may arise from discussions with any former clients, don’t leave any concerns unresolved.

4) Making a Connection: The births of Mila and Gael were medically uncomplicated (the midwives were still VERY busy) but in both cases the midwives provided some key emotional support during the labor.

A final thing to remember when choosing a midwife is that they will be providing you emotional support as well as medical expertise during your pregnancy and your labor. So It is important that you can see your midwife as being able to support you on a personal level as well as a professional one.

Photo: Jen being silly shopping for pumpkins last October at Kruger’s Farm. Gael is the bump.