Celebrating moms in Cincinnati with UnitedHealthcare Community Plan
All moms deserve to be celebrated; however, many of our most vulnerable moms have never had a baby shower. Once we learned this, we knew we had to do something. In celebration of Mother’s Day, Cradle Cincinnati held a community baby shower in partnership with UnitedHealthcare (UHC) Community Plan for the mothers of Crossroad Health Center and UHC.
We invited moms for an afternoon of games, food and education – and we invited their families. Children decorated onesies for their new siblings and colored Mother’s Day cards for their moms. And family members – including fathers and grandparents – were encouraged to participate in the games and learning demonstrations. After all, it takes a village to raise a child, and these villagers need to learn baby basics, too!
Throughout the baby shower, moms participated in infant care demonstrations. The Southwest Ohio Breastfeeding Coalition addressed questions and concerns surrounding breastfeeding. WIC provided a cooking demonstration on how to make one’s own baby food. And the Cincinnati Fire Department provided an in-depth infant CPR demonstration. Of course, we also made time for fun baby shower games, including the Price is Right with baby items. Moms left the shower with a plethora of prizes, graciously donated from local organizations. Additionally, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan gifted every family with a sleep sack as a way to encourage safe sleep practice.
We’d like to give a big thanks to the organizations that participated in the shower:
- Head Start
- Help Me Grow
- Healthy Moms and Babes
- Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank
- Walgreens
- Cincinnati Fire Department
- Cincinnati Health Department
- Helping Young Mothers Mentor Inc.
- Southwest Ohio Breastfeeding Coalition
Thrilled with the outcome of our baby shower, we decided we can’t stop at one. Working in unison with UnitedHealthcare Community Plan again, we’re already gearing up for our next shower, which will be held in October. If your organization is interested in being involved, we’d love to talk to you. Please contact Jessica Seeberger at jessica.seeberger@cradlecincinnati.org or Valerie Hawn at Valerie.hawn@uhc.com for more information.