Hey everyone! Since I began my commitment to work with families and children outside of daycare, For those who don't know, I worked in a daycare center with toddlers for about 6 years. That in itself daily with 2 teachers (me and one other) to 12 children was ALOT of work and exhausting. Since I have made the transition to commit to helping families in smaller more intimate settings, 1:1/1:2 I have found this work to be so much more rewarding in the sense of being able to give the children, nurturing and attention that they need with learning all the basics before they go to school and being able to give the moms and dads the time they need to adult. A commonality I hear is that it's such a relief to have someone to focus solely on the children. It truly takes a village when raising a newborn and tending to their needs and upon returning to work, in midst of a global pandemic that still truly is happening, for parents to make that decision to return their newborns and toddlers to a school setting is not always an option but having someone who can give their time even if not a full 8 hours to where they can tag team and work with mom and dad so they can run the errands, do the work from home for a certain amount of hours while they have someone to nurture and care for the baby during the most active hours of the day is some kind of relief. Family always means well but a lot of times it can become more of a family time visit than actual help.
This brings me to what I really wanted to discuss, COMMUNITY. What it means to me in building a community, is to have people to share and bounce ideas off of each other in regards to specific topics. A resource to have access to others who have stories and information to share and give ideas and suggestions of other resources, things to try, support, encouragement and a way to learn TOGETHER.
Diving into specifically, the birthing and pregnancy community, working with families, I keep learning more and more that there is a great lack of education and awareness of resources available to families for this incredibly common and life changing event. One of which can end up going down so many different pathways. From conception challenges to pregnancy leading to loss or defects in child birth, even full term healthy pregnancy getting adjusted to a new life and learning to manage it all and then there's postpartum depression which just like pregnancy loss is a failed topic of discussion because those 2 topics are almost considered taboo to discuss. And it's unfortunate because too many struggle with even the slightest postpartum depression symptoms. This is why COMMUNITY is so important. This is why it is important for those willing enough to share their stories and insights, that we share even if its to a couple close people in our life or even a therapist or counselor. There will always be someone to listen and your feelings prenatal and postpartum especially are valid.
So, aside from me being a continuous support to women in the world of successful, healthy to term pregnancies postpartum as I have been for going on 2 years as an independent Nanny, I am giving my time to provide resources I know of and find as well as offer up support to birthing persons and families who experience Pregnancy Loss. This is an area that is near and dear to me as well since I experienced my own ectopic pregnancy. I have created a community page of support for locals in my area because I have a greater goal in mind for birthing people who experience loss, to not feel alone. My phone is always available to those who are struggling and may need an ear and this is an area that I want to voluntarily be able to continue to help offer my time and support in. There will be more to share intermittently in this area especially for my locals. So, keep an eye out for more information in regard to this. You can find me on IG or Facebook to join the Private FB community page titled: "Finding Hope in Pregnancy Loss (Orange County NY)"
Thank you for all the continued love and support in these ventures and I hope to be able to continue being that person who help be an ear and help be a great guide and assist in finding resources to help families thrive and work through the struggles.
Happy Monday!