Community Baby Shower with Queen City Cocoa B.E.A.N.S.
As a part of the Contradictions in Contemporary Motherhood course, we volunteered with Queen City Cocoa B.E.A.N.S. to put on their It’s Only Natural community baby shower. Queen City Cocoa B.E.A.N.S. (Breastfeeding, Education, Advocacy, Normalcy, Support) is a nonprofit sponsored by the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition based in Charlotte, NC. QC Cocoa B.E.A.N.S. works specifically with the African American community in the area to educate and empower families and their community to support breastfeeding as a cultural and social norm.
The baby shower, co-sponsored with the Mecklenburg County Health Department and the WIC program, is an educational event on the benefits of breastfeeding for new and expecting families in the Charlotte area.The shower will consist of a 90-minute presentation of the It’s Only Natural materials listed on womenshealth.gov., which are designed to help African American women and their families understand the health benefits of breastfeeding (womenshealth.gov). The shower includes food, donated giveaway items, along with games and prizes. Participants are also invited to attend QC Cocoa B.E.A.N.S.’s monthly cafes to meet with other new moms and their families.
QC Cocoa B.E.A.N.S, comprised entirely of volunteers, uses a holistic approach to promoting breastfeeding reflecting the diversity of their volunteers as doulas, dietitians, health educations, lactation consultants and peer counselors. QC Cocoa B.E.A.N.S. hosts monthly cafes bringing together expecting and current mothers as a support network to share personal stories about breastfeeding and motherhood which serves to share personalized knowledge of breastfeeding amongst the members.