Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital hosts baby shower for moms

Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital joined forces with the Iota Theta Zeta Nassau chapter to throw a baby shower for five new moms and their families. Each expectant mother is a Nassau County community member and was gifted items off of their Amazon wish lists, as well as care packages that were donated by the different departments across LIJVS.

A principle of the Iota Theta Zeta Sorority is community service, and the Nassau chapter thought that a community baby shower was the perfect opportunity to show women in the community support during a very vulnerable time. Members of the sorority reached out to churches, shelters, and social media to find expectant moms interested in attending this event. “This was our first community baby shower, and we hope to partner with other organizations to bring this event to Nassau County” said Amenatha Austrie Iota Theta Beta Chairperson.

Not only were the new moms in attendance showered with gifts, but they were also able to take part in educational services regarding child care. State trooper Dan Ahlgrim joined the event to teach a car seat safety course to the new moms. “So many car seats don’t get installed properly, so it’s such a gift to be able to share this information for the safety of children and infants” he said. There was also information about safe birthing and post-delivery care, but there were also lots of traditional baby shower games played as well.

The staff of LIJVS really jumped into this event headfirst, “The hospital is always ready to support any venture we do for the community” said Reneè Chase an emergency room nurse, who was one of the main coordinators of this event. “I think the education we provided is so important, because we’re on the other end of incorrectly installed car seats,” said Alicia Hardy, an emergency room technician, who was also one of the main coordinators. The donated gifts were bought by the staff of Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, who have proven their ongoing dedication to show up for their community. The baby shower was filled with lots of happiness and gratitude, and staff made an appearance to see how their hard work and dedication improved their community.