Meadowbrook Mall’s “Baby & Me” event draw parents of infants and toddlers who appreciate a one-stop shop for browsing products and services appealing and helpful to their parenting role.

 

“This event is always extremely popular and hopefully beneficial to moms-to-be and new moms,” said Meadowbrook Mall Marketing Director Robin Urquhart. “We typically register at least 200 moms each year and this year we have 26 vendors so far. Many of the vendors are state agencies that offer education, resources and even assistance to moms.

 

This year’s event – the 11^th annual – will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 7. Presented by WV Healthy Start/HAPI Project and sponsored by UniCare Health Plan of WV, Inc., “Baby & Me” will feature dozens of vendors, displays and demonstrations relating to everything from infant formula for baby to essential oils and chiropractic care for mommy. The event will also include a fashion show and the always popular baby crawl contest.

 

The free event is four hours loaded with prizes and fun – but also vital information, said Marketing Director Robin Urquhart.

 

“We pack a lot of fun and prizes into this event, but the information that we try to share with all moms and moms-to-be is serious,” she said. “When it comes to the health of your unborn baby and to the health of the mother during pregnancy, nothing could be more important. We bring in the professionals from agencies across the state to share this information to moms through the event.”

 

The first 200 moms to register at the mall’s WDTV5 Event Center will receive free goody bags, courtesy of Parents Magazine, The First Year. All registered moms will be eligible to win hundreds of dollars in door prizes including the Rocker/Glider Chair. Leading up to the event, check out the prizes, located just across from Christopher & Banks.

 

The sponsoring agency, WV Healthy Start/HAPI Project, actually receives grant funding which is used to purchase prizes.

 

 

“Those are typically prizes which are needed by all new moms. The most popular prizes are the video monitor, baby gates and the baby carriers,” Urquhart said. “We actually let moms choose which gifts they want to win by giving them 20 raffle tickets to place however they want only in the bags of prizes that they wish to win.”

 

 

The UniCare Baby Crawl Contest starts as 12 noon at the WDTV5 Event Center, but registration starts at 10 a.m. The big prize is a jogging stroller, but winners of all “heats” will be rewarded.

 

At 1 p.m., the Baby & Me Fashion Show presented by Crazy 8 will take place. Following the fashion show, names will be drawn for door prizes.

 

Participating in this year’s “Baby & Me” are Abbott Nutrition (makers of Similac baby formula), Beachbody, Buckle Your Baby for Life program by Hamstead, Williams & Shook, Central WV Center for Pregnancy Care, Colombo Law, Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department, Life Choice Pregnancy Resource Center, Marion County Health Department – Regional Tobacco Prevention, Pregnancy Resource Center of Marion County, Right from the Start, Square One Family Networks Corp., Taylor County Starting Points Family Resource Center, The Chiropractic Care Center – Mike Mason, The Navigator-Affordable Health Care Act, UniCare Health Plan of WV, Inc., United Hospital Center-Maternal Child Unit, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) of Morgantown, WV Birth to Three Region 2, WV Health Start/HAPI Project, WVU Children’s Hospital “Healthy Babies” program, WVU School of Dentistry and Young Living Essential Oils.