Go Ask Mom

The Family Nest provides support, services for moms

Karissa Binkley, a doula and mom who started the popular Diapering Doula diaper service, is building a gathering spot for moms. The Family Nest will host the breastfeeding event MilkFest 2012 this Saturday.

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By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Karissa Binkley, who launched The Diapering Doula diaper service more than three years ago, thought the boutique she'd opened in her storefront in a Morrisville shopping center would be a great place for her to spend her days with her toddler daughter.

Not so much.

"It doesn't work very well," said Binkley, whose daughter Cora is now 18 months old. "And I wasn't able to be the mother I wanted to be."

So in April, even though business was booming in the cloth diaper market, Binkley switched gears. She still offers the cloth diaper cleaning and delivery service - The Diapering Doula. But she closed down the boutique and reopened the space as The Family Nest with the goal of serving as a gathering space for moms.

The Family Nest now is home to regular classes and programs about childbirth, breastfeeding and other topics such as infant massage and nutrition. She's signed on other partners, who offer programs at the space in the Grace Park development in Morrisville.

They include Capri Health, Angel Food Nutrition, Stephanie Goulet Photography and Unity Acupuncture Clinic. Binkley, a doula, teaches childbirth education classes. The Family Nest also hosts a regular La Leche League Breastfeeding Cafe, along with a moms group and a birth circle where moms share positive stories about their labor and delivery experiences.

"Every dream has been realized a couple of years in advance," said Binkley, who I featured more than a year ago when she ran the boutique. "And I can spend time with Cora."

The Family Nest will host MilkFest 2012, part of The Big Latch On, an international event to promote breastfeeding. The event seeks to set a world record for the most women breastfeeding simultaneously. It's from 9 a.m .to noon, Saturday, Aug. 4, at The Family Nest.

The world record attempt is at 10:30 a.m. sharp. But the morning includes other events including a yoga class and sessions on cloth diapering, nutrition during breastfeeding and tongue tied babies (which can hamper breastfeeding in the early days). Stephanie Goulet, the photographer, also will be taking pictures.

And I'll be there too as a judge for the world record event.

For more about The Family Nest and MilkFest 2012, click here and watch my video interview with Binkley.
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