Resources.

Full Time Dads Magazine Goes Online

Full Time Dads will no longer publish their magazine on paper. It is instead available over the internet where readers will have easier access to their extensive Resource File and to the editors with feedback and suggestions.

Full Time Dads is available through ParentsPlace, an award-winning website that provides space for Full Time Dads as well as many other resources and connections for parents. The location is http:// www.parentsplace.com/readroom/ fulltdad. Their phone number is [phone].

Happy Birthday Cards

Jan Whitcomb, author of Teaching Natural Birth: Deciding to Teach and Establishing Your Own Successful Business, makes birthday cards for you to send to previous clients as their babies grow. She can personalize them to read, "Happy Birthday from your [Labor Assistant, Doula, Midwife, Childbirth Educator, whatever]. For further information about the products Jan offers, call her at [phone].

Encouragement Letter for Parents

This monthly publication offers uplifting poems, anecdotes, and informative articles in a short, easy-to-read format. Call 1-800-977-4626 for a complimentary issue. A one year subscription is $12.

Encouraging You also offers a catalog of books, gifts, music, and notecards that nurture parents, grandparents, and teachers -- all who live and work with children. Writer and publisher Reggie Mantei is a parent, Montessori teacher, and trained facilitator for Joyful Child, Inc.

Too Many Handouts?

Prepared Chidbirth -- The Family Way is a 90-page handbook for childbirth education classes. It reviews all the information usually covered in childbirth classes from nutrition and birth fitness exercises to postpartum and breastfeeding and claims to do so in such a concise fashion that most teachers do not need to use extra handouts. An eighteen page workbook section is loaded with handy charts and forms for students to complete. Single copies are available for $4.50 (quantity discounts available), but you can order a preview copy for $2 plus $1.50 shipping. Call [phone]; write 5804 Furneaux, Plano, TX 75093.

Expectancy Resources

Everyone should order a copy of this catalog. To evaluate materials for your classes, you can also order a Sample Pack for $5 postpaid. It contains one of each item from the catalog, with the written materials offered in either Spanish or English.

Judy O'Connor is a childbirth educator who developed these materials for her own classes. She offers class evaluation forms, birth reports, invitations, class completion certificates, nametags, notecards, and a fan with labor tips. Call [phone], or leave a message at [phone]. The address is Expectancy Resources, 317 South Delmar, Decatur, IL 62522.

Calendars for the Childbearing Year

The Pregnancy Calendar serves as an educational tool and journal. Each month gives the mother-to-be information on the changes in her body and the growth and development of her baby. It is offered in both English and Spanish.

Baby's First Year Calendar is also educational, with each month describing baby's growth and development and offering parenting tips. It has plenty of space for recording memorable events during baby's first year.

Both calendars are sold in quantity by Sundial Productions. For more information, phone [phone].

Breastfeeding Promotion

The Learning Curve offers stickers, notepads, and brochures that promote breastfeeding. They also have t-shirts and sweatshirts and a multicultural book, "Why Should I Nurse My Baby?" Call 1-800-795-9295 for a complete catalog.

Prego Pillow

The Prego Pillow is a large pillow on which the expectant mother can lie face down even late in her pregnancy. At $150 to $200, it is targeted at massage therapists and chiropractors rather than average-income families, but it would be a great service if you could join with others in your area to make it available to different mothers. It comes with an optional face cradle so the mother can lie truly face down and comfortable. For more information, call 1-800-55-PREGO.

Ancient Art Midwifery Institute

Introduction to Midwifery is a basic survey program for aspiring midwives and those who are investigating the possibility of a future in midwifery. The primary textbook required is Helping Hands, the Apprentice Workbook by Carla Hartley. Most applicants take 3-6 months to complete the program and a majority of them go on to enroll in The Apprentice Academics Home Study Course. The fee for this introductory program is $75 plus $25 for the textbook. If you enroll in the Midwifery Home Study Course within one year, $75 is deducted from your fee.

The Institute also offers Midwifery Review back issues. Each issue of Midwifery Review is designed to be a topical study and review project. Topics include Muscles of the Pelvic Floor, Terminology Review, Nutrition During Pregnancy, Female Reproductive Anatomy, and History of Midwifery.

For more information on any of the Institute's courses, books, or workbooks, write P.O. Box 788, Claremore, OK 74018-0788, or call [phone].

InJoy Videos

Injoy Videos, producers of the video Special Delivery, are now offering a free preview of their Birth Stories Video Library. It has different types of births on tape -- single mom, epidural, culturally diverse, birth assistant, cesarean, twins, midwife-attended, and many more -- each edited into its own five to ten minute module. You can combine as many modules as you wish into your own personalized tape.

InJoy offers many other wonderful videos: Knowing the Unborn, Comfort Measures for Childbirth with Penny Simkin, A Guide to Water Birth, Lizzie and the Baby: The Childbirth for Children Video, Postpartum: A Bittersweet Experience, and many more. They carry The Farm videos, tapes explaining medical procedures, videos for teens and single moms, and Spanish videos.

Many of these videos are in the $30 price range. Some are more expensive, but InJoy is willing to discuss price discounts for individual ALACE members. (Carole Summer is on their staff; as Carole Shane she was one of Informed Homebirth's first directors and for many years she taught the Childbirth Education workshops, which have evolved into the ALACE Childbirth Educator certification program.) You can preview all the videos for $10, with the preview cost then applied to the purchase price.

For more information, call 1-800-326-2082.

The Childbearing Years

This catalog offers many educational materials for use in family-centered care programs. They have stickers that read, "I'm a Big Sister!" or "I'm a Big Brother!" They have a 15 page booklet on Understanding Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. They have sample birth plans and worksheets, inexpensive videos, books, and even preconception handouts.

The catalog also offers a 100 page, three ring binder that is designed for practicing doulas and those just beginning their practice that has numerous ready-to-copy forms to assist in record keeping and organization of your doula practice.

For a full catalog, call [phone], or write them at P.O. Box 245, Rochester, MN 55903.

Comfort Food for Mothers

This new monthly publication is designed as a smallish personal communication from mother to mother that is inspirational and supportive of all we do. It has stories of various women and their techniques for balance and fulfillment, uplifting poetry and quotes, tips for keeping perspective, etc. The first issue contained information about journaling (this mother keeps three journals -- one for her dreams, one for her daughter about things she said and did, and one for her own thoughts and happenings), infant cranial decompression, book reviews, and an interview with a massage therapist specializing in care of women during the childbearing year.

A one year subscription can be ordered for $18.95 from Comfort Food for Mothers, P.O. Box 21104, Boulder, CO 80308-4104.