This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Barnabas Baby Fair at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey with NJ Mom.
I delivered Nathan at St. Barnabas back in August of 2017 and will (g-d willing) be delivering there this time around. So, when they reached out to me, I jumped at the opportunity to attend! We had such an amazing experience there with Nathan. All of the nurses were GREAT, especially my labor and delivery nurse (if only I could remember her name – I would TOTALLY request to have her again). And…LADIES, ALL OF THE ROOMS AT ST. BARNABAS ARE PRIVATE. This is a MAJOR PLUS. Who wants to share a room after just having a baby? Definitely NOT ME.
I didn’t realize that St. Barnabas hosted FREE fairs like these, otherwise I totally would have tried to attend one before having Nathan.
When I arrived at the hospital for the fair, they had the CUTEST step and repeat “red carpet” set up with different props to take pictures with. It was so much fun and really unexpected. They also gifted each mama-to-be with a Noobie Box after taking a photo. The fair was hosted inside the Islami Auditorium on the lobby level of the hospital.
After signing in, and stopping at the snack table (because baby wanted a few cookies and a blueberry muffin), I wandered into the fair and it was PACKED! So many mamas-to-be and their significant others visiting ALL of the educational tables. Many of the hospital departments had tables at the fair, including Labor and Delivery (of course), the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Pediatrics, Lactation, Perinatal Mental Health, Physical Therapy, and others. Each table was staffed by real nurses and employees of the hospital. It was great to be able to ask questions to all of the professionals. They were also offering tours of the private maternity rooms.
In addition, there was a Cord Blood Banking company on site explaining the benefits of their program, as well as the Newborn Photography company that the hospital partners with. The hospital also was running hourly raffles with fun prizes including diapers, baby clothing, a massage, etc. My three FAVORITE tables were the the Newborn Care table, the Livingston Police Department table, and the Daddy Boot Camp table. I loved the Daddy Boot Camp table because I had NO IDEA that the hospital even had such a thing. It would have been so great for E to have had something like this before or just after Nathan was born. We learned so much of what we know now on the fly! The Newborn Care table was amazing because they were teaching how to properly swaddle a baby. As someone who had no clue how to swaddle before having Nathan, this would have been a great skill to learn ahead of time. Lastly, the Livingston Police Department had a representative on site speaking about infant car seats, demonstrating how to properly install them and how to adjust the straps inside of the car seat for your baby. While we did have the car seat installed ahead of Nathan’s arrival, we did NOT have the car seat fitted for a newborn. When it was time to finally take Nathan home from the hospital, E, myself and my parents struggled to adjust the straps inside the car seat. Next time, we are doing that IN ADVANCE!
If you live in New Jersey and are pregnant, or thinking about having children, I would HIGHLY recommend attending one of the St. Barnabas Baby Fairs. They are very informative! In addition, it gives you the opportunity to feel the place out and take a tour. Click HERE for a list of their events.
Thank you NJ Mom and St. Barnabas Medical Center for sponsoring this post.
