Baby Guide 2009

'Laugh and Learn' About Baby Basics

By Betsy Bethel

POSTED: February 6, 2009

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» Laugh and Learn Web site

Sheri Bayles' motto is "knowledge is power," and her goal is to empower expectant and new moms and dads through her three-DVD set titled "Laugh and Learn."

A registered nurse, board-certified lactation consultant and award-winning Lamaze instructor, Bayles served on staff at the Cornell Medical Center in New York for 24 years. She knows her way around the maternity ward.

"The scariest thing for anyone is to walk into a hospital room and have everyone speaking medical speak. (Hospital staff) tend to talk about patients (instead of to them) and we don't tend to define the terms," said Bayles in a phone interview.

In her first DVD, "Laugh and Learn About Childbirth," Bayles teaches five expectant couples all the relevant medical terms and the hospital protocol, so "they feel like they're part of the team rather than just an outsider."

The whole idea behind childbirth education, she said, is to help put the expectant parents, especially the mom-to-be, at ease. Less tension during labor and delivery, she said, means less pain. In "Laugh and Learn About Childbirth," Bayles gives the most up-to-date information available about childbirth processes, using the latest Lamaze International guidelines.

She encourages couples to attend childbirth education classes at the hospital where they will deliver, but she said the DVD can offer a refresher course and allows them to review the information as many times as they want. She also recognizes that not everyone can get to classes, whether because of work schedule conflicts, transportation issues (especially for rural families) or, in the case of many of her celebrity fans, the desire for privacy.

According to her Web site, celebrity fans include Brooke Shields, Liv Tyler, Monica, Halle Barry, Gabrielle Reece, Gwen Stefani, Selma Hayek, Jessica Alba, Nicole Ritchey and Christina Aguilera, among others, giving her the status of "Childbirth Coach to the Stars.

A few years after releasing the first DVD, Bayles decided to offer two more: "Laugh and Learn About Newborn Baby Care" and "Laugh and Learn About Breastfeeding."

On the baby care DVD, she actually walks expectant parents through the steps of sponge bathing a newborn and also immersion bathing with a 3-month-old. She shows them how to change diapers and a variety of other care necessities.

"The parents' biggest fear is that they are going to drop the baby or doing something wrong. There's really not much you do to hurt the baby while bathing them. ... They're really quite sturdy. They have to be - they're survivalists," Bayles said.

"I tell them the more you hold a baby, the more you change diapers, the more you bathe them, it becomes second nature. It's not so emotional anymore, it's just mechanical," she said.

The breastfeeding DVD provides crucial information for success, Bayles said. In her experience - and research backs it up - knowledge is power, once again.

"The more women knew ahead of time about what to expect and what to do, they really did so much better. If they had no information going in, there was uncertainty and lots of anxiety," which in turn actually impedes the flow of breastmilk.

She added that most people start breastfeeding, but they do not continue, usually because of obstacles associated with the baby's latch onto the nipple. There a variety of breastfeeding books on the market that can be helpful, but one of the benefits of watching the DVD, Bayles said, is that she shows the proper latch-on and holding techniques with real babies and mothers.

She recommends breastfeeding mothers find as much support as they can locally.

"Attach yourself to a lactation consultant and hook up with a La Leche League group or a local peer support group. Surround yourself with very successful breastfeeding friends. You want to talk to everybody you know who thinks breastfeeding is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And it's also important to get your pediatrician on board," Bayles said.

And it's also good to know that "most obstacles disappear after two weeks," she added.

Bayles is offering a free viewing of the first childbirth class, "Anatomy and Preliminary Signs of Labor," on her Web site, www.laughandlearn.com. The site also includes a store, where she sells products she recommends - everything from birthing balls to fitness DVDs and T-shirts.

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