Welcome Baby Members

How to find a Family Doctor

• Find a doctor or nurse practitioner or call 1-800-445-1822
• Search for family doctors in Hamilton and area that are accepting new patients
• Hamilton Family Health Team

Health questions

• Telehealth Ontario 1-866-797-0000 to speak to a Registered Dietitian Monday to Friday or a Registered Nurse 24/7.

Walk-in Clinics

• Walk-In Medical Clinics - Hamilton

Accessing Food and Baby Supplies

• Essential Aid and Family Services of Ontario
• Food Access Guide
• Community Fridges Hamilton - Locations of Community Fridges listed in FAQ

Community Programs and Supports

• Register for Free Online Prenatal Program
• Health Connections - Public Health Services - speak to a public health nurse Monday to Friday 8:30am-4:30 pm.  905-546-3550
• Visit Healthy Families Hamilton on Facebook for daily topics related to parenting, health and local events and resources or to ask a question to the nurse or dietitian.
• Healthy Babies, Healthy Children – home visiting program for new moms. Call Health Connections 905-546-3550.
• EarlyON Child and Family Centres - Free, high-quality programs for families and children from prenatal to 6 years old. You can learn and play with your child, meet people and get advice from early childhood professionals. In person and virtual program options are available so you can choose the type of program that is right for you and your family.
• Hamilton Public Library - Attend free programs for families including storytimes, borrow print and ebooks for children through a local branch, bookmobile or online.

Mental health during pregnancy and after your baby is born

• Emotions During and After Pregnancy
• Online support during pregnancy and after birth (Crown Point Family Health Center)
• Mental health and well-being before and after your baby is born(PDF, 505.71 KB) (Hamilton Public Health postcard)
• Good Beginnings - volunteer assistance program for infants younger than 6 months of age. Provides free in-home weekly visits to support mothers facing the challenges of parenthood, or who are at risk of postpartum depression
• MindShift mental health app – education, coping strategies, peer-to-peer support and more
• My Anxiety Plan (MAP) - anxiety management program including calming strategies
• iHEAL app, helps Canadian women who have experienced abuse from a current or past partner to find personalized ways to stay safe and be well. 

Healthy Eating for a Healthy Baby

• Healthy Eating for a Healthy Baby
• How to Make Healthy Choices While Breastfeeding
• Canada's Food Guide

Learn about weight gain during pregnancy

• How Much Weight Should I Gain During My Pregnancy?
• Pregnancy Weight Gain Calculator

Food Safety in Pregnancy

• Food safety for pregnant women
• Keeping Your Baby Healthy During Pregnancy
• Substance Use
• Caffeine and pregnancy

Cooking and recipes

• Cooking videos
• unlockfood.ca/Recipes
• cookspiration.com
• Canada's Food Guide - Recipes
• Canada's Food Guide - Healthy Eating Habits

Vegetables and Fruits

• Canada's Food Guide - Eat Vegetables and Fruits
• Foodland Ontario
• www.halfyourplate.ca
• All About Canned Vegetables

Whole Grain products

• Canada's Food Guide - Eat whole grain foods
• Cooking with Whole Grains

Protein foods

• Canada's Food Guide - Eat protein foods
• Introduction To Protein And High Protein Foods
• All About Tofu

Buying processed foods and reading food labels

• Canada's Food Guide - Limit highly processed foods
• Canada's Food Guide - Use food labels
• How to Choose the Best Cold Breakfast Cereals
• How to Choose the Best Yogurt
• How to Choose the Best Sliced Bread

Ways to save money on food and meal planning

• Canada's Food Guide - Healthy eating on a budget
• Best Buys at the Grocery Store
• Canada's Food Guide - Meal planning

Breastfeeding

• Breastfeeding Support in Hamilton
• Breastfeeding Guide
• Video: Stanford Medicine - Getting Started with Breastfeeding
• Video: Global Health Media- Attaching Your Baby at the Breast
• La Leche League Canada

Feeding Cues

• Baby Feeding Cues
• Trust Me Trust My Tummy

Starting solids

• Feeding Your Baby – A guide to help you introduce solid foods
• Video: Trust Me, Trust my Tummy - Babies to Toddlers
• Video: Making food for your baby
• Infant Feeding UnlockFood.ca
• Food safety information for children ages 5 and under

Coping with changes during pregnancy

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me Download the free PDF Chapter 5

Dental Health

• Oral health and pregnancy
• Dental Clinics & Programs

Infections in pregnancy

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 4

Physical activity for you and your family

• 2019 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity throughout Pregnancy
• Physical Activity Throughout Pregnancy
• Have a Ball Together

Sexual health

• www.sexandu.ca
• Sexual Health Clinics

Vaccinations

• Vaccination & Pregnancy
• Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Immunization

Comfort measures during labour and birth

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 6

Making informed decisions during labour and birth

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 6

Medical Options During Labour and Birth

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 6
• Planning for Labour and Birth
• www.pregnancyinfo.ca/birth

Preterm labour

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 1
• Preterm labour

Signs and Symptoms and Stages of Labour

• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 6

Looking after you and your baby after birth

• Your guide to postpartum health and caring for your baby

Building a Strong Relationship with your Child

• Attachment: A connection for life
• Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development - Attachment
• Have a Ball Together

Car seat safety

• Choosing a child car seat or booster seat
• ParachuteCanada.org - Car seats

Coping with your baby’s crying

• Colic and crying
• Coping When Your Baby Can't Stop Crying

Dental health

• Healthy teeth for children
• Video: Lift the Lip with Healthy Smile Happy Child: Preventing Early Childhood Caries
• www.hamilton.ca/DentalHealth

Safe Sleep for baby

• Safe Sleep
• Is Your Child Safe? Sleep Time

Vaccinations

• Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women
• A Healthy start for Baby and Me - Download the free PDF Chapter 7

• The Welcome Baby dietitian and nurse will facilitate the groups. There will be time to learn and time to ask questions and connect.
• We are using a City of Hamilton online platform called Microsoft Teams that is approved. However, we can’t guarantee the virtual platform is 100% secure.
• All things shared in the group are confidential. Do not record the virtual Welcome Baby group sessions.
• Be mindful of sharing your personal/private information within the group or in the chat. Microsoft Teams does not have a private chat feature. You can ask the Welcome Baby facilitator about arranging a separate time to talk if needed by asking out loud before the topic session or waiting until the end of the topic session to ask.
• We will be taking attendance each week, using the name you used to join our session. We may have to ask you to identify yourself if you are using a name we don’t recognize.
• When taking attendance, for everyone’s safety, we ask you to please turn on your camera so that we know it is actually you who is joining us each week.
• We invite you to keep your camera on during the group time. There may be times when you might need to turn your camera on and off and that is okay.
• Your microphone will be muted during the group time. Feel free to unmute yourself if you have a question or have something to share with the group. Or you can type your comment or question in the chat box and we will spend some time answering questions during or after the topic.
• Show kindness and respect to other members of the group. Listen to others without interruption or judgment. No offensive language please.

You will need to download the Microsoft Teams app to be able to join the group by visiting https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/microsoft-teams/download-app.

Joining Microsoft Teams Meetings

When you click on “Join the meeting now” in the e-mail invitation, your name and e-mail address will come up. Please change your name to your first name and last name initial (e.g., Mary S.).  This will show up for other participants to see. Your e-mail will not be visible to others.

You will be able to join 5 minutes before the group starts. If you are having any trouble joining the group, please read “I can’t join a meeting in Microsoft Teams” here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/i-can-t-join-a-meeting-in-microsoft-teams-85f8eb98-b815-4007-90c9-0c56b87e288d