BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP JUNE 23 – JUNE 29, 2017 37
Moms showered with love and
info at Sunset Park health center
BY DANIELLE KOGAN
EDITORIAL@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Approximately 50 moms-to-be
were showered with gifts
Wednesday, June 14, at a baby
shower organized by the Family
Health Centers at NYU Langone.
The celebration, held at NYU Lutheran
Harbor Hill Senior Housing,
5613 Second Avenue in Sunset Park,
was meant to inspire the women, all
around 27 weeks pregnant, to follow
through and keep track of their visits
to doctors, as well as to provide them
with important information through
presentations on poison control,
dental health, and the optimal way
for women to take care of themselves
while pregnant.
Spearheading the program alongside
her team, organizer and Managed
Care Director Yoly Bazile said, “This
is a larger group than our first baby
shower; we’ve registered 72 moms. If
they come with their kids, we have
activities to keep them entertained.”
In the meantime, the shower is the
second to be thrown so far, hosted in
English and in Spanish.
The room brightened with the arrival
of the diverse families, with an area
for kids tucked away at the side of the
room with arts and crafts. During the
event, a volunteer painted the arms
of the children, who later jumped to
have their photo taken to feature the
designs.
Towards the end of the event, each
woman got a swag bag along with a box
of Pampers, and two women won car
seats in a raffle after an educational
presentation by Safe Kids Coalition
representative Renso Vidal of the DOT.
According to Vidal, car seats expire
after an average of about six years, or
whatever date is found on the registration
card attached to receipts. Ideally
placed in the middle of the backseat,
rear-facing car seats should be used,
according to Vidal, until the age of two
and can then move on to front-facing
car seats until about the age of eight.
Also vital after birth are vaccinations,
said Network Chief of Child
and Adolescent Health at the Family
Health Centers Dr. Norma Villanueva
who said the first shot a baby gets after
being born is to prevent Hepatitis B,
with the goal of staving off liver complications
in the human body.
Mothers-to-be should definitely
not neglect themselves according to
Dr. Farah Yasmeen of NYU Lutheran’s
Department of Dental Medicine. Yasmeen
said folic acids typically found
in tooth hygiene products are vital
to health and hygiene, and cited new
research which showed that oral hygiene
or the lack of it on the mother's
part can impact the baby.
"Fillings are okay, and x-rays are
okay," said Yasmeen, "If you really
feel like you just can't brush your
teeth, use high fluoride mouthwash or
baking soda for your gums." Yasmeen
also said sharing utensils, kissing
your baby on the lips, and extensive
amounts of juice can result in mouths
full of bacteria.
"I think the most important parts of
keeping kids healthy is their nutrition
and their living environment," said
guest mom Yana Ivanov. "I'm having
two of them!"
That said, their living environment
was addressed by Poison Control
Center representative Luz Martinez,
who mentioned keeping a "poison"
cabinet at home to isolate dangerous
substances. Comparing liquids that
look the same on the surface, Martinez
showed that car oil packaged with
pictures of bees could very easily be
mistaken for honey, and squeezable
juice packs could look like heavy
cleaners unsuitable to drink.
The key is to slow down, she said, and
when it comes to medicine, be sure to
supply kids with the correct portion
size of any drinkable or edible medicine.
As a mother herself, Martinez
said, "The most important part is prevention.
How to navigate healthcare
access falls into that same issue, too."
WELLNESS
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by
Danielle Kogan
Fun and information were
on the agenda during a
baby shower hosted by
NYU Langone Family Health
Centers for patients who are
expecting.