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A group of 18 local people, most Indigenous People, stand and sit together around the trainer on a large screen who taught via Zoom. And the Mendocino Doula community grows with Indigenous Doulas.
Community Partners, Newborn, Parent Support, Prenatal, Uncategorized, , , , , , by

New Indigenous Doulas Train to Diversify Support for Mendocino Families

First 5 Mendocino held a training for Indigenous Doulas with Melissa Brown of Zaagi’idiwin! From around Mendocino County, 14 Indigenous Doulas and 4 allies attended this training at the beautiful Redwood Valley Rancheria Learning Center. Melissa is a Dine and Anishinaabe Midwife, a Registered Midwife and an Indigenous Doula Trainer. Zaagi’idiwin is her training organization. Local Indigenous Cultural Practitioners- Rose Steele and Martina Morgan supported the training by sharing local birth, cultural traditions, and practices of Tribal communities including the Elem, Yokayo, Pomo, and Kashia Band of Pomo. Wait a minute . . . what’s a doula? To learn more about doulas, check out our previous blog posts.  Why Train Indigenous Doulas? For equity and justice! Mendocino County has the 3rd highest percentage population of Indigenous People in California. In the US and in the Mendocino area, more Indigenous babies are born with low birth weight, preterm, without adequate prenatal …
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Strong Starts – World Doula Week 2024

We are big fans of doulas. There are more than a few reasons why. On our team, we have personal experience having doulas attend our own births and some of us even trained and worked as doulas. There’s also the science. It tells us doulas help families come out stronger. What’s a doula? Centered around the birthing family, doulas are important partners in the birth care team, along with nurses, midwives, and doctors. Here’s a little bit of what doulas do: Doulas and the Birth Team Some people don’t realize this- that doulas are not health care providers. They are helpers! Doulas focus on care, support, and advocacy. And they are important part of the birth team! Doulas share hours together with families during pregnancy. They stay with families through the whole labor while nurses, midwives and doctors in the hospital usually must divide time between families to ensure everyone gets …
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Child Health & Development, Community Partners, Early Learning & Care, Parent Support, , by

First 5 Mendocino Hosts Another Successful Children’s Mental Health Summit

We are thrilled to announce the incredible success of the State of the Child Summit, which took place on March 6 and 7 at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center. The summit brought together nearly 150 professionals, representing 42 different agencies, serving Mendocino County families to hear from renowned experts and speakers, including Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, MaryCatherine McDonald, PhD, Georgie Wisen-Vincent, and Gaelin Elmore, to address critical issues related to children's mental health and well-being.
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Press Release: First 5 Mendocino Champions Positive Parenting Awareness Month

January is Positive Parenting Awareness Month, a time to focus on educating parents and the organizations that support them about the vital practices, programs, and services that contribute to the well-being of families and children in our community – this is the work of First 5 Mendocino.
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Staff from First 5 Mendocino with Dr. Bryson and Gaelin Elmore
About our Team, Child Health & Development, Community Partners, Early Learning & Care, Parent Support, , , , , by

First 5 Mendocino Hosts Successful Children’s Mental Health Summit

As part of its ongoing work to support the well-being of local children, First 5 Mendocino hosted its annual Children's Mental Health Summit in Ukiah on May 11 and 12. This year’s event featured renowned experts Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, Dr. Robert Sege, and Gaelin Elmore, who addressed the critical topic of children's mental health and included a community-wide conversation on nurturing resilient and emotionally healthy children.
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