The Menifee County Family and Consumer Sciences agent partnered with the Menifee Family Resources, Menifee Health Department, Gateway Early Headstart Program and the UK Nutrition Education Program to host a virtual community baby shower for expecting and new parents.

The virtual event consisted of three guest speakers who spoke on prenatal nutrition, breastfeeding and infant nutrition and early childhood development. Our speaker for prenatal nutrition was a University of Kentucky dietetic intern who had previously worked with the Nutrition Education Program. She shared information on the caloric needs throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, important vitamins and minerals to ensure adequate intake of, and also shared healthy snack ideas to supplement diets during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The Menifee County Health Department breastfeeding peer mentors shared helpful tips on starting and maintaining breastfeeding, the value of breastfeeding for moms and their babies and shared resources available at local health departments for breastfeeding support. Lastly, the Gateway Early Headstart Program shared information and resources on infant development and developmental milestones for children. Each attendee who participated live or watched the recording and completed a survey received a gift basket for their participation. These re-usable baskets contained, diapers, wipes, baby wash, a Menifee Wildcat onesie, a teething toy and information relevant to pregnancy health, infant health and local resources for parent support. Each attendee was also entered in a drawing to win a door prize which included a pack of bottles, a high chair seat cover, a pack and play and an infant car seat.

A total of ten participants joined our virtual event and completed a survey on their experience. All participants stated in their follow-up survey that they were very satisfied with the event and would recommend the event for an expecting friend or family member. One participant stated “I enjoyed the breast feeding information there we’re definitely things I didn’t know before.” Another person stated “I actually saved and shared the video to my expecting mothers (friends).”

In addition to educating expectant mothers on how to maintain a healthy pregnancy and baby, partnerships were developed with the health department, Gateway Headstart program and family resources (who donated door prizes) and plans were made to partner again in future programs and events.