Greetings,
2020 has been quite a year hasn’t it? It certainly has not looked anything like we were envisioning when I last wrote to you a year ago. Many of us have struggled to make ends meet this year. We have struggled with fear, anxiety, and perhaps illness or grief. We have felt disrupted and confused. We have had to learn new skills and new ways of doing our work and connecting with loved ones and have perhaps even found some unexpected space for rest and connection at home. The Birth Circle has flexed with these experiences of members, volunteers, and staff. We had really wonderful opportunities to connect and discuss at our January and February Monthly Meetings and Postpartum Support Groups, then we had to cancel our annual Pregnancy and Baby Fair and Prepared Parents Workshop due to COVID-19 restrictions in the spring. We took some time to regroup and learn how to proceed safely at this moment. We learned what Zoom is and how to hold and record Monthly Meetings there. We were able to provide many baby care items to past participants of Prepared Parents Workshop, as well as those who had signed up in February, and helped them sign up for a distance learning course offered by our partners at the Pregnancy Resource Center. And thanks to the tireless efforts of several board members, we were able to hold a modified version of our Yard Sale fundraiser on a donation basis which succeeded in both providing our organization some income as well as allowing us to give supplies and clothes to those who were unable to afford the items their children needed. We would love to keep this learning growing into 2020 and we need the help of generous people like you whose lives and families have been touched in some way by the work that we do here at the Birth Circle. Our goal is to raise $3,000 by the end of 2020.
Our board and staff have been wrestling with important questions about how to do this – will meeting spaces be open for any part of the year? Will it be safe to gather as a group? How can we support the families in our community when we can’t do what we do best: gather in person to share stories and make connections between families?
We strive to continue the founding principles of the Birth Circle by sharing stories of birth, postpartum, and parenting experiences and supporting each other as parents working to make the most informed choices for the good of our families. We have been and will continue to increase our presence on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram in hopes of helping people connect virtually. We have also begun to hold Monthly Meetings on Zoom, and record the event so that it is available to view anytime for those who missed it. We plan to go into 2021 working toward sponsoring several trainings that can be completed largely virtually and/or with safe social distancing guidelines. We hope that this will allow us the flexibility to be working toward future support services even if we are unable to gather for part or all of the year. We also hope to be able to hold a modified version of Prepared Parents Workshop, and have secured the use of a space at another organization that was retrofitted this year to allow for excellent fresh air ventilation and social distancing of participants. These trainings include:
- Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians: We plan to have three board and staff members pursue this training, so that we can offer car seat checks and safety information at every meeting and event we hold. The CDC reports that 35% of children who died in car accidents in 2017 were not buckled, and that 59% of car seats and 20% of booster seats are used incorrectly and thus are less effective than intended at protecting their occupants in a crash. Currently there is only one Technician in Athens County. The cost of this training is $95 per person.
- Doulas of North America Certification: In response to the legislation currently before the Ohio Senate (having passed the House) that would allow Medicaid to cover doula services, we hope to be able to sponsor a training to increase the number of available Doulas in our community. Research indicates that the presence of a Doula with a laboring mother can decrease risks for low birth weight, complications for mother and baby, and non-emergency C-sections, while increasing spontaneous vaginal births, and initiation of breastfeeding. The cost of this training is $545 per person.
- Mentoring Girls Training: We hope to be able to expand our circle of support in the coming years, beginning by sending a cohort of three women from the Birth Circle and partner organization Rising Appalachia to a year-long virtual training which seeks to provide the tools for mentors to engage girls and young women around the time of menarche and encourage their empowerment through through accurate health and wellness information relating to menstruation and its management throughout life, and by creating a positive environment where the many physical, emotional, and mental changes of adolescence can be explored openly. The cost of this training is $595 per person.
Please consider how you can help us continue to respond to the needs of growing families in our area with relevant programs based on education and a community of support. Contact us if you have expertise in a field relating to pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding/parenting young children and would be interested in helping us host a Zoom meeting. We are also searching for new board members who meet regularly (currently via Zoom) and together guide the direction of the organization and plan programming. The financial and volunteer requirements of facilitating all of these programs, in addition to being able to support new needs that come to light, is substantial; every dollar you contribute or hour you volunteer your time is worth far more than its face value to the mothers and families who come to us seeking a safe place of support. Thank you for all you do to support this work through the Birth Circle!
You can give safely and securely right here, today!
Or make checks payable to “The Birth Circle” and mail to:
The Birth Circle
PO Box 665
Athens, Ohio 45701
Sincerely,
Ariel Carver
Executive Director
