Before Baby: Programs for Parents-To-Be
Biological and adoptive, LGBTQ or straight, single or couple, Jewish or non-Jewish, people of all abilities – all are welcome to get ready for parenthood at the Edlavitch DCJCC.
News about our Renovation
The Edlavitch DCJCC is undergoing a major renovation of our building, beginning in the fall of 2018, with completion by September of 2019. The renovation will enhance the Center as a whole and will bring some very exciting changes and improvements to our early childhood programs. During the renovation period, our entire building will be closed. While our programming calendar will be more limited than usual during this time, we will be offering a few parent workshops in other locations around the neighborhood.
We look forward to resuming our robust slate of programming when we are back in our building! See below to get a sense of the kinds of workshops that we have offered in the past few years.
Past Edlavitch DCJCC Before Baby Programs
Pregnant for the first time? Looking to create a community with other expecting moms to exchange ideas and find support? This group will meet weekly for six weeks to provide a safe and facilitated space for moms to discuss their experiences and learn from one another. We will explore several topics, including: concerns about childbirth and parenting; balancing family with work outside the home; navigating new relationships with your partner, parents, and in-laws; and recognizing post (and pre)-partum depression. Facilitated by Heather Diamond, Psy.D.
Join the EDCJCC’s Before Baby team for an evening of connecting around impending parenthood. Learn about prenatal self-care, post-partum red flags, childbirth and baby care basics, activities and support for after the baby arrives, and more, while meeting local experts and forming community with other new parents-to-be.
Prepare for your birth, your way in this comprehensive 4-week series covering labor anatomy and physiology, pain management, common variations and complications, practice exercises designed specifically for labor and delivery, and a thorough and JUDGEMENT-FREE discussion of all labor and delivery scenarios, including un-medicated births, epidurals and c-sections.
Many women experience ongoing emotional and physical challenges following a pregnancy loss, and are often not afforded the time and space to process the experience. This workshop is designed to help you connect with your emotional and physical self after pregnancy loss. Our time together will consist of gentle movement, journaling, guided visualization, discussion, and mindfulness, all aimed at helping you to integrate the experience of loss, feel greater ease within your body, and find support and community. Led by Emma Basch, licensed clinical psychologist, and Manisha Tare, occupational therapist and yoga teacher.
Thinking about growing your family or looking for support after struggling to conceive? Join us for an informal discussion about different paths to family building. This symposium will include experts such as a fertility doctor, an adoption expert, a mental health provider, a a legal expert with experience facilitating egg donor and gestational carrier agreements, and more! Before and after the panel, there will be time for informal connecting and community building. LGBTQ and straight, couples and single parents, Jewish and non-Jewish — are all warmly welcomed. Come prepared to ask questions — and plug in for support.
Co-presented with GLOE, in partnership with the Tinina Q Cade Foundation
Please join us for an informal discussion about various paths to adopting a child. Hear from an adoption lawyer, representatives from a private adoption agency and from the foster care system, and parents who have gone through it successfully. LGBTQ and straight, couples and singles, Jewish and non-Jewish — are all warmly welcomed. Come with questions!
The Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.