Thursday, March 19, 2009
Birth and Baby Expo: All about babies
An expo is planned March 28 for all the people involved in welcoming little bundles of joy.
ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times
Hannah Mann, a certified nurse midwife, listens to the heartbeat of Deborah Tillman's baby, who is due in May. A number of pregnancy and childbirth professionals will be on hand at the Birth and Baby Expo on March 28 in Roanoke.
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For Dawn Kubik, the idea for a Birth and Baby Expo was born during her International Cesarean Awareness Network chapter meetings.
Kubik had founded a local chapter of the network in 2003.
"During our chapter meetings we often said, 'I wish there was a birth expo here in Roanoke' which turned into me saying, 'Why don't we do one ourselves?' " Kubik recalled.
So, the first expo took place in April 2006. Kubik hoped it would link women with resources and quality, evidence-based information about birth.
She coordinated the second expo almost a year a half later, in September 2007. Each event drew at least 300 people.
Kubik said she ended up spending countless hours and even some of her own money on the events.
"I think both years I used about $200 to $300 of my own money to pull it off," she said, "A lot of volunteer hours, gas and some all-nighters."
This year, Kubik was too busy with her 9-month-old son to coordinate the expo, so Karen Winstead, executive director of the New Life Birth Center, volunteered to take the reins.
For this year's expo, Winstead arranged for a whole array of professionals from around the Roanoke Valley to attend. They include childbirth educators, nurse midwives, obstetricians, chiropractors, pediatricians and doulas -- birth assistants who provide nonmedical support for a mother before, during and after delivery.
Alice Bailes, a certified nurse midwife who owns Birth Care and Women's Health in Alexandria, will be the keynote speaker.
Admission to this year's expo is free, but Winstead is accepting voluntary donations of $3 or baby items at the door. The donations will be used to offset the costs of the expo and the baby items will be donated to local charities.
Each person attending this year's expo will also receive a bag that includes information from local vendors as well as a sleepy wrap, a special carrier for babies.
The New Life Birth Center currently provides education to the community through its Web site and phone contacts. But Winstead said the center hopes to provide more than that in the future.
"Our goal is to establish a free-standing birth center staffed by midwives that will provide prenatal, postpartum and birth services," Winstead said. "We will also provide basic gynecologic exams."
Winstead estimated that it will cost about $750,000 to get a birth center like this up and running, but said that the gains far outweigh the costs.
Based on figures from the March of Dimes, Centering Pregnancy and the American Association of Birth Centers, Winstead said she expects to save the Roanoke community more than $1.5 million in health care costs for every 350 women served and at the same time improve both maternal and newborn care.
"A birth center would pay for itself quickly," Winstead added.
