Community

Spectrum Health Parenting Class Focuses on Grandparents

Being a grandparent is great—you get to dote on and spoil the babies, and then return them to their parents at the end of the day. However, the responsibility of care can still be a challenge and a refresher on newborn care is not a bad idea.

Spectrum Health’s Healthier Communities program is offering a parenting class designed to meet the unique needs of grandparents-to-be. Whether long-distance grandparents or primary caregivers, grandparents will benefit from hearing the latest education and recommendations for infant care by attending “The Grandparenting Journey” on Monday, February 4, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, 665 Seward Avenue NW, Suite 110, Grand Rapids.

The class provides information and discussion for grandparents who would like to know about current trends in prenatal care, childbirth and infant care, and about ways to offer support to the new family before and after the baby’s birth.

Registration for the class is required. Call 616.267.2626 and select option 4, or toll free 877.495.2626 and select option 4. Cost to attend is $10.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a state of the art children’s hospital that opened in January 2011, and 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 700 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,000 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.