In the quiet hush of the labor & delivery room, where the air is charged with anticipation and the scent of earthiness and birthyness, a new chapter in your life unfolds. The rhythmic cadence of your breath is mirrored by the gentle whispers of your doula, a reassuring presence in this oh so sacred moment. The culmination of nine months… maybe more, leads to this: the first hour with your newborn.
When I was selecting items for my baby registry, it was really important to me to not go overboard. As a doula of 14 years, I’ve seen families get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in their homes and nurseries and I knew I wanted to keep things on the simpler side. I also wanted to be mindful of the impact on not only the environment, but also my baby’s microbiome - which meant finding a lot of eco-friendly products to keep waste down and keep our home as “low tox” as possible. Here you’ll find some of my favorite sustainable and most useful items that I registered for.
The Doulas of Orange County office phone rings.
I pick up. “Hello! Doulas of Orange County. Lauren speaking.”
A strained voice sounds relieved to hear me, and it sounds like she has been crying. She’s an exhausted new mom of 12-week old twins and a 20-month-old toddler (who won’t let her out of his sight). She’s drained from her twin pregnancy, a difficult birth, and breastfeeding challenges. She struggles to keep up with laundry and wash enough dishes to have plates for the next meal. Her partner has been trying to feed the baby at night, but she’s still waking up to pump for multiples and can’t help but feel guilty about how tired her partner will be at work the next day. She really needs a postpartum doula in Irvine, CA.
“Can you help me, even though my babies are so old?” She asks.
Today concludes Doulas of OC's First Annual Diaper Drive to benefit OC Rescue Mission in Tustin, CA. We are happy to report that we had a huge response from the community and were able to hand-deliver your contributions to the donation center earlier this afternoon.
In September of 2016 KTLA, OC Register and other news outlets put out the word about a dire need for diapers & wipes at OC Rescue Mission’s Village of Hope; a transitional community for the homeless in Orange County. Being that we are in the business of birth and babies, we quickly decided that this would be a wonderful cause to get behind and looked to enlist our community to help.
Our First Annual Diaper Drive launched in November. We partnered with Laguna Beach OBGYN and The Yoga Mat in Orange where we set up collection boxes for patients and patrons to drop-off diapers during business hours. Our own office in Costa Mesa served as a drop-off hub as well.
Weeks went by and the empty boxes at each drop-off location began to fill up with diapers & wipes. The holiday spirit of giving was in the air and people generously donated to this worthy cause. Soon our entryway was overflowing with diapers just waiting to cover those cute little baby bums.
Our collection efforts officially ended last week and today we commenced tallying the final numbers prior to dropping off the diapers. We are excited to report that we collected 2,281 diapers and 2,760 wipes. Experts say that with this amount you could diaper 1 child up to a year! Yay for clean and happy babies!
The highlight of our experience was meeting "Guitar Kenny", one of the Warehouse Managers. He shared his personal story of how the OC Rescue Mission helped get him off the streets and recover from addiction. It was encouraging to hear about all of the great work OCRM is doing in the community, not only for babies, but for women, children, and men of all walks of life.
It goes without saying (but we want to say it, so we will) that we could not have done this without you! Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your generosity and enthusiasm in getting behind this cause. Thank you to Dr. Kenneth James & Allison Molinski at Laguna Beach OBGYN and Courtney Short & Natalie Ostad at The Yoga Mat! Your partnership in this endeavor is extremely appreciated.
The success of this community-centered donation drive has inspired us and given us many new ideas to consider in regards to philanthropic involvement. We truly want our community to thrive and are eager to continue providing assistance and support wherever we can. Stay tuned for another community drive in April - this time focusing on the importance of well-woman care. And again in late-2017 for our 2nd Annual Diaper Drive!
