After the cute pregnancy announcement comes the slightly less-adorable reality of childbirth education. But it doesn’t have to happen in a sterile environment with a group of strangers. The Parent Craft Collective, tucked into a garden apartment in Brownstone Brooklyn is a space so cozy you’ll think you’re dropping in on a friend. This new one-stop-shop offers an intimate experience of personalized classes, prenatal care, and newborn expertise. We went along to check out their new digs.
photo: via Parent Craft Collective Facebook page
Personal Space
There’s a simple mid-century modern aesthetic to the Parent Craft Collective. The subtle wall art of the pelvic bone and the uterus is one of the few giveaways that it’s actually a prenatal education center.
Parent Craft founder and midwife, Casey Selzer is one of the key players in the collective and offers birth and labor sessions that are practical but not prescriptive. A mom of three, she was determined to offer personalized classes that were less about having a rigid birth plan and more focused on embracing the unknown with confidence. (As anyone whose given birth will tell you, that’s a healthy mindset!)
Meetups for All
Parent Craft offers classes for every stage of pregnancy. Group birthing classes are limited to no more than five couples and provide a toolkit of techniques to prepare for labor. A class dedicated to the first weeks of newborn craziness (aka The Fourth Trimester) is offered to graduates of the birth sessions and covers the basics on the postpartum body and newborn care.
There’s also a preconception Seeds class for couples still in the planning-a-pregnancy stage who have questions or want help choosing a provider. Private sessions on any topic are also available, either at the Parent Craft space or in your own home.
Call The Midwife
The collective has a room overlooking the garden dedicated to prenatal visits by Community Midwifery Care. The staff of certified midwives provides the full range of pregnancy and postpartum support. At the heart of their practice is the understanding that each pregnancy is unique and they emphasize the importance of individualized care.
Community Centered
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, babies replace bumps when the Parent Craft Collective hosts weekly breastfeeding and infant support sessions through Baby Caravan as well as newborn movement sessions provided by Child’Space NYC.
Community is at the heart of the collective and in addition to helping parents feel informed and able to enjoy their childbirth journey, staff are keen to partner with other organizations going forward to make their services more accessible to everyone, as well as strengthen and celebrate the bonds that are being made under their roof.
371 8th St.
Park Slope
347-762-6244
Online: parentcraftcollective.com and parentcraft.org
where did you do prenatal care and education? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
-Emily Myers
photos: unless otherwise noted, Emily Myers; main photo: Jerry Lai via Flickr
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