If you live in Douglas or Josephine County, Oregon, we invite you to attend our next virtual community baby shower! This weeklong event will be held primarily on Facebook from September 20 – 24, 2021. Visit our Welcome Baby Shower Event page or Facebook page for details, and we look forward to celebrating with you!
Whether you’re expecting, planning, or already adapting to your new life with baby, our Healthy Start community baby showers are an excellent place to get to know the local resources available for Southern Oregon families
Our community showers are a little different than a typical baby shower — our goal is to connect families with resources, other local families, community support and more to improve health outcomes for moms, infants and all family members. Don’t worry, we still have some great giveaways, too!
What is a Community Baby Shower?
Baby showers offer opportunities for new parents to receive gifts and guidance from those around them as they enter the world of parenthood. They’re also a time for camaraderie and strengthening relationships that will support the new family.
According to an article from the Journal of Community Health Nursing, baby shower gatherings can reduce feelings of isolation and promote bonding; help with information sharing and modeling to others; and enhance self-esteem of mothers-to-be. And lastly, they are FUN!
Of course, there are a few differences between a community baby shower and a private one. While a personal baby shower is a great time for food, gifts, and close friends, (which are all great!), a community baby shower welcomes the larger public and offers education, in addition to prizes and games.
Generally speaking, community baby showers are particularly useful for combating a specific public health issue that is prevalent in the community. The games, prizes, and other fun aspects of the baby shower are all wrapped around this goal, as well as the services of the organization(s) that is hosting the shower, like Southern Oregon Healthy Start.
About Healthy Start’s Community Baby Shower
In Douglas and Josephine Counties, our communities struggle with high rates of infant mortality and low birth weight. The Healthy Start program is designed to assist our region in lowering these rates, and one of the ways we do this is through educational community baby showers. When we host a community shower, we include information for parents about reducing health risks during pregnancy, as well as during the first year of their child’s life.
Before COVID Precautions
Traditionally, we hold community baby showers at each county’s fairgrounds with the help of our many community partners. Folks who attend the showers have chances to win prizes, socialize, play games, and learn about resources and support from local organizations whose job it is to improve their health.
During COVID Precautions
We do not want our local families to miss out on the benefits of the community baby shower while staying home for their health. Our current solution is to host the shower virtually! In 2020, we utilized social media to host one, large shower for both Douglas and Josephine Counties through our online following. Prizes were delivered by mail, and participants were able to interact with local organizations in real-time via streaming.
Stay Tuned for Information About our Next Community Baby Shower
If any of this sounds like something you would enjoy participating in, and you live in Southern Oregon, we invite you to attend our next virtual community baby shower! Our community baby shower event page is continually updated as each baby shower event gets closer. If you would like to learn more about the resources we will be sharing, check out our Welcome Baby Resource Center anytime.