Newly Certified HUG Teacher Addresses Key Concerns of New Parents

Sarah Venzara is a CAPPA certified Labor Doula (CLD) and Postpartum Doula and Parent Educator in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Though a very experienced professional, she discovers that the HUG Your Baby content enhances the care and support she can provide expectant and new parents!

I am thankful for the experience to have worked with many families while helping them adjust to a new life with their baby and with the amazing responsibility to care for their baby!  Since being a birth professional I have been able to observe the lack of guidance, support and education for newborn care.  I have heard over and over again from newly parents, “after having my baby I just didn’t know what to do, I felt so unprepared.”  Our culture today is so different from how it was.  Families are spread apart and we just don’t have the same kind of support system we need with starting a family.  Most of us are lacking the support from our family to be educated and cared for during the postpartum period.

There are three main questions that I hear as a birth professional.   The first one is how will I ever get any sleep when the baby arrives?  The second one is how do I calm and comfort my fussy/colic baby?  How am I certain my baby is getting enough milk while breastfeeding?  After taking the “Hug Your Baby Course” I feel very confident that I can address these and other questions in a way that can be remembered and applied by the new parent.   I am able to take these techniques I’ve learned from Hug Your Baby and use them in a very practical way that meets the needs of me as an educator and parents needs for guidance, support and education.  I am able to walk in the room and be even more confident in my abilities to assist this new family. 

Will I ever get any sleep when the baby arrives?  The answer is yes, but not in the way you’re used to now.  With the knowledge, support and guidance from a Certified HUG Teacher you will be able to maximize the amount of sleep possible with your new baby after learning a few things about infant’s needs and abilities. With the HUG program, learning more about baby sleep patterns has allowed me to more effectively share with parents how to guide and support their baby when to sleep.  I’ve noticed the parents catching on to this technique and having a boosted confidence.

How do I calm and comfort my fussy/colic baby?  The first strategy “start here not there” has really allowed me to make a big impact on allowing parents to feel heard and deliver the necessary information to them to help calm their fussy baby.  I love seeing the parents relax after spending some time with them and their babies and knowing that I have truly helped them with something that will stick with them and continue to be useful and helpful.

How am I certain my baby is getting enough milk while breastfeeding?  I have found it very effective to discuss Zones with the mother and explain that calming her baby will help her know what her baby is trying to communicate.   This way the mother can feel that she knows her baby is satisfied with her milk.  Mothers want to know that they are able to understand their baby’s needs and support them in those needs.  I find that after the mother knows how to recognize what Zone her baby is in and listen to his/her needs that the mother feels much more connected and helpful to her infant.  Understanding what SOS is and how to decrease stimulation and increase support has also been a very important technique in helping breastfeeding mothers feel like they are bonding and breastfeeding is going well.