Happy birthday, Parents as Teachers!

The National Center staff celebrates YOU!

25 years of Parents as Teachers…what comes next?

Saving babies with prenatal visits

Zen Mommy

ZenMommy’s virtual baby shower to benefit Parents as Teachers prenatal work couldn’t have come at a better time. According to a government report issued yesterday, premature births are the number one reason the U.S. ranked 30th in the world in infant mortality in 2005. Good prenatal care is the critical factor.

Everyone agrees: we do a good job of saving premature babies in this country, but we’re not so good at preventing them in the first place. That means, among other thing, focusing pregnant moms’ attention on social and behavioral factors that affect prematurity, such as smoking and alcohol and drug use.

That’s exactly what Parents as Teachers does.  And that’s why funding … including the donations from the lovely folks who entered the silent auction at ZenMommy’s virtual babyshower as well as the sponsors who made it possible (Kolcraft, Artistic Sensations, Viewpoints, Snap Stories, and of course My Mommy Manual) is so critical to what Parents as Teachers does.

Babies are our future. These are the folks who are ensuring they have a healthy start to a bright future. Join them.

It’s a virtual baby shower: please come Nov. 3!

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a baby shower. But Zen Mommy is pregnant and I’m super excited about her upcoming virtual baby shower on November 3! That’s because even though I’ll be at work at the National Center for Parents as Teachers, I can tune in to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/my-mommy-manual from my desk between 11 am – 1 pm CST.

You see, My Mommy Manual and Kolcraft, along with friends at Artistic Sensations and Viewpoints are celebrating not just Zen Mommy but all pregnant women. Kolcraft and Artistic Sensations are giving 2.0 of everything in the silent auction to benefit Parents as Teachers.

Just look at some of these items up for bid:

• 2.0 Jeep Tandem Strollers ($249.99 value) Bidding starts at $25
• 2.0 crib mattresses ($259.99 value) Bidding starts at $25
• 2.0 booster seats ($39.99 value) Bidding starts at $3
• 2.0 walkers ($69.99-$99.99) Bidding starts at $6
• 2.0 Sealy mattress pads 2-pack ($99.99) Bidding starts at $9
• 2.0 Sealy mattress pads ($19.99) Bidding starts at $1
• 2.0 baby bedding from Artistic Sensations ($400 value) Bidding starts at $40

Please come. Please bid. Please wish Zen Mommy a successful pregnancy.

Up in smoke

Resident of St. Louis County (MO) are about to vote on a smoking ban. The proposition would prohibit smoking throughout the county…with plenty of exceptions. Why is this even up for debate?!

A new study just out in the November issue of Pediatrics looks at secondhand and prenatal tobacco smoke exposure and makes a flat statement: “Secondhand tobacco smoke exposure of children and their families causes significant morbidity and mortality.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boroda/ / CC BY 2.0

Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke sensitizes the fetal brain to nicotine, the study found,  resulting in a higher likelihood that a child will become addicted to tobacco at a later age when the brain is exposed to nicotine.

The evidence supporting the association of secondhand smoke exposure of children with respiratory illnesses is long:

• lower respiratory illness
• middle-ear infections
• tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy
• cough
• asthma
• hospitalizations
• sudden infant death syndrome

As Congress grapples with issues of health care, it should consider this: exposure to secondhand smoke causes asthma symptoms in 200,000 to one million children and contributes to as many as eight to 26 thousand new cases of asthma per year.

Early exposure to neurotoxins (including nicotine) can lead to lifelong learning, behavioral and development problems. Parents as Teachers helps early childhood professionals learn how to share prevention strategies with parents. Like pediatric clinics, Parents as Teachers settings offer “teachable moments” for parents, too. Smoking parents can be motivated to change their behavior for the benefit of their child’s health.

At the very least, they can vote for smokefree facilities.

Start early and don’t stop.

On November 16, Missouri business leaders have been invited to a Business Leaders Summit at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to learn about the return on investment they can achieve from investing in early childhood programs. Fewer than 100 have responded so far. There’s a lot at stake.

The Missouri Business Leaders Summit is co-hosted by the National Center for Parents as Teachers, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Coordinating Board for Early Childhood, and the Missouri Child Care Resource and Referral Network and is sponsored by the Partnership for America’s Economic Success which is funded in part by The Pew Charitable Trust. Additional funding by Deaconess Foundation and Missouri Children’s Trust Fund.