Denise Spatafora is revolutionary in her approach to how to help women have a less fear-based birthing process. By focusing on the mind, body, spirit connection, Denise teaches women and their partners how to more smoothly and peacefully enter into child birth.

Denise points out that endorphins released during intense relaxation are 400 times more powerful than any man-made pain killer. Further by understanding to “ride out” and go with the sensations, women are able to experience a profound paradigm shift. Anticipatory fear can be released once a full understanding of both partners thoughts, feelings and potential misconceptions are brought to the forefront, discussed and worked through.

Better Birth: The Ultimate Guide to Childbirth from Home Births to Hospitals is in book stores today. www.betterbirthbook.com

Despite the long-held popularity of the lullaby Rock-a-Bye baby, the song’s lyrics are actually kind of disturbing. What parent wants their baby’s cradle to come crashing down?!

Falls can range in severity from minor to fatal. And that is just one of a number of unintentional injuries that can occur in the home.

Fortunately, baby proofing and child proofing supplies have become more commonplace. However, child proofing does not and really cannot account for all injuries.

The experts suggest parents-to-be baby proof their home before their bundle of joy arrives. Each year 2.5 million children are injured in the home - and many of these injuries are preventable.

A few tips:

• Children should never be left alone in the kitchen
• Turn off burners when not being used
• Never leave a hot oven door open
• Put the microwave out of toddlers reach
• All pools should be fenced in with a self-locking gate
• Buckets should always be emptied after use.
• Never leave a child in the bathtub alone
• Always check the temperature of tap water
• Keep plastic wrap and bags away from children
• Keep balloons away - they can be inhaled and cover the windpipe
• Never let your children run or play while eating

These tips are simple and yet may seem overwhelming. If taken one at a time, each is manageable. Use common sense.

And, please, sing a different lullaby…

Approximately one infant (12 months & under) suffers an unintentional injury every 1.5 minutes.

Causes of injury:

• FALLS - leading cause of injury; more likely to be male than female (~55% vs. ~ 45%)
• HEAD or NECK area: puncture injuries, bruises, foreign body injuries and abrasions most frequent
• FRACTURES: more than 1/3 of fractures were to the arm or hand
• The BED is the most common product as being involved in the injury in every age except:
• 2 months - the car seat became the most frequently noted product
• 12 months - the stairs because the top “product” involved in the injury

Social environment, physical environment and products change as infants grow through their first year of life.

Safety and awareness must continue to adapt as your infant grows. Actually, what’s cool about SafetyMate for the New Parent is it can grow with your family. Not only does it have information for infants, it also has information for children and adults.

Be prepared to know how to deal with these emergencies. We don’t often think of infants getting injured. They seem so passive, soft, sweet, and resilient. These stats make it evident accidents do happen. We all hope it won’t happen to us. Underneath that, we all kind of believe it won’t happen to us.

It could. I think that’s why gifting SafetyMate to a friend can help break through that denial we all have that it won’t happen to us. Once the SafetyMate is in hand, learning about what to do in case of a fall is simple. Just press a button. It becomes less scary and more manageable once you know what to do. Be ready. Learn how to handle first aid issues.

Best wishes for health and well-being in all your families.