February 7, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb Prevention Coalition and the DeKalb County Health Department are partnering to offer a community baby shower on March 16 from 2 until 3:30 p.m. at the county complex in the UT Extension Office conference room.
Jennifer Matthews, Director of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition invites the public, especially expectant parents, to attend. Look for the balloons outside the UT Extension door entrance to the building and once you enter it is through the first door on the right.
“This is something we used to offer to the community pre-Covid but now with things getting back to normal we wanted to start it again,” said Matthews. “We will have light refreshments for expectant parents, free resources, information tables, and anything a new parent might need to help them. We will have resources about safe sleeping with infants, information about breast feeding, car seat safety, etc. The coalition is involved offering information about medication safety, how to lock up medication and we will have free medication lockboxes available that day to give parents who want to learn about how to keep their medication safely locked up in their home. We will also have door prizes and giveaways,” said Matthews.
“If you have a local business or are part of an organization that offers free resources or information which could benefit new parents and would like to participate contact Allison Keith at the DeKalb County Health Department at 615-597-7599. Vendors are welcome to attend but we need to have a head count in advance to make sure there is enough space,” Matthews explained.
“The DeKalb County Health Department also has a program called “Gifts” for parents. If you are pregnant and you smoke or vape, they offer a program to you for the first year of your child’s life. During your pregnancy you can be part of this program and if you participate in the right way, they will give you free diapers for the first year of your child’s life every month for the first twelve months. Again, call Allison at the health department for more information about that,” said Matthews.