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Advocacy group formed to lobby local recreation department New mothers ask for childcare programs |
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By David Lennam Oak Bay News When she was nine months' pregnant, Valerie Irvine didn't like having to drive all the way out to Victoria General Hospital to take pre-natal classes. When her daughter was born, she loathed having to strap her into a child car seat and drive to Pearkes Arena in Saanich to attend post-birth classes. Now she wants to see Oak Bay step up and offer the sort of prenatal and childcare classes that young mothers don't want to drive all the way across town to attend. "Why are these things not in my own backyard?" the McNeill Bay area resident asks. Irvine is part of a group of Oak Bay mothers (the Mothers of Oak Bay) whose discontent with the lack of local options has drawn them together to take a stand and make something happen. "The babies," says Irvine, "are a demographic that don't really have their needs met in Oak Bay, and particularly in South Oak Bay." Josie DeGreef has seen the demographics of Oak Bay change in the four years she's lived on Epworth Street. "When I first moved here, there were very few young children on my street. In the last three years, the demographics have changed dramatically. There are at least seven people in one block who have babies under the age of three." DeGreef knows a thing or two about having easy access to parenting classes. She's completing her master's degree in child and youth care, specializing in the importance of parent-child play. She indicates that classes the municipality might look at offering involve pre-natal and post-natal health, drop-in play, singing and storytime sessions, and baby massage and baby first aid. The dozen women in the group find that any such classes offered outside Oak Bay either fill up quickly or are overcrowded. "It's just nuts," says Irvine, explaining that a recent baby song/storytime class at the Oak Bay library had each of its spots snapped up within 45 minutes. Several mothers in the group have registered for programs at the Gordon Head Recreation Centre, where staff have assembled a small room that's clean, carpeted, temperature-controlled and bounded by couches - perfect for nursing mothers. Irvine says she's approached the municipality about creating some classes for new moms, but says she only got a tepid response. Recreation Oak Bay is willing, but doesn't have the facilities, she says. What she's found in Oak Bay are either dank, sparse rooms with hard, cement floors or rooms with inadequate furnishings to keep toddlers safe. The mothers say they're not asking Oak Bay to build them a special facility - just to turn an existing space into something usable. "We're not asking for anything more," adds Krystina Walton. "We're all taxpayers here. There's a lot of money poured into seniors facilities (in Oak Bay), but not for mothers and babies - and it would cost so little." Oak Bay's manager of recreation program services is ready to come on board. "We'd love to offer them some programs for pre and post-natal care," says Lorna Curtis, adding that - without constructing a new room for the moms - staff is willing to change the decor to suit the group. "We're trying to work with them and I agree that having those classes here would be wonderful." DeGreef says it's vital for a community to have a recreation centre that caters to the needs of everyone. "All of us Oak Bay moms are taxpayers here. I think it's very important that a community centre involve young and old people." DeGreef complains that, because classes she wants for her kids don't exist in Oak Bay, she's been forced to travel and support the recreation departments of other municipalities - despite the fact that her tax dollars help fund Recreation Oak Bay programs. DeGreef points out that by taking classes in Saanich, she misses out on connecting with other moms in her neighbourhood - mothers who could create a support network for each other. "New moms are desperate for a sense of community and to build relationships with other families. It's important for early infant-parent attachment that happens through play, and these facilities encourage that," she says. "Parents need support when they have children." The mothers channel a little W.P. Kinsella when they say: "If you build it, they will come" - with hopes that Oak Bay will take notice. Irvine is hoping that other mothers will come forward to join them (they can e-mail her at oakbaymoms@shaw.ca). She is creating an online community so that moms can share information on parenting, as well as arrange walk or play dates. "Most people say it's hard to find friends in your age group. I can say I've developed more friendships in the last seven months (since I gave birth to my daughter) than I have in working in the community." Irvine has started a petition at www.petitiononline.com/MOB/ to urge the municipality to address the concerns of the Oak Bay moms. |
© Copyright 2004 Oak Bay News
