The fifth annual baby shower is coming this Saturday, and the estrogen is already building up. Last year, hundreds of expecting and new mothers showed up to the event at the Santa Rosa County Auditorium. The county-wide baby shower hosted by the Healthy Start Coalition of Santa Rosa county offers parents the opportunity to see what baby services are our there for them and their children. “We hold it to make the community aware, especially the expecting and new parents aware of the resources available in the county and to give them education materials that might be helpful to them to help get them and their baby off to a healthy start,” said Martha Zimmermann, the executive director for the Healthy Start Coalition of Santa Rosa County. Zimmermann has been the executive director at Healthy Start for 12 years, and has worked for the organization for 18 years total. She said that about 550 people came out to last year’s baby shower. Because the event is only three hours long, she said that the Santa Rosa County Auditorium is usually packed with people. The baby shower will also help prepare mothers for healthy pregnancies and positive birth outcomes. This year, the event will run from 9 a.m. to noon. “It’s pretty packed, but it all depends on the time you come,” Zimmermann said. Like last year, the Healthy Start Coalition is handing out door prizes and three grand prizes to lucky parents or expecting parents. “At 11:30 a.m. we draw for three grand prize items,” Zimmermann said. “Right now, we don’t know what they’re going to be.” Last year, Zimmermann said that some of the door prizes included basinets, restaurant gift certificates, high chairs and other baby items. This year, Zimmermann said that they would also be giving away barbecue gift baskets. “We have a lot of education for the parents and expecting parents,” Zimmermann said. That includes close to 50 vendors that are going to be set up at the baby shower on Saturday. According to their website, the Healthy Start Coalition of Santa Rosa County’s goal is to reduce infant mortality, reduce the number of low birth weight babies, and improve health and developmental outcomes.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Shower for moms-to-be