Asked to offer one piece of advice to first-time parents, new mom Carly Baker’s words are simple. “Seek out a community of moms; you’re in it together,” she says. And Baker did just that when her son Everett was born last spring. She sought out the new mama class at Amma Parenting Center. Founded by Sara Pearce, a certified nurse midwife, Amma offers classes and resources for parents and their littlest ones.
Pearce, also a board certified lactation consultant and registered nurse, says she realized once she had her own children, Bennett, 8, Caroline, 10, and David, 13, that the work does not stop at birth. “The bulk of the work, both emotionally and physically, is in the newborn weeks,” she says. This was the genesis of her idea for Amma. Pearce’s vision centers on a holistic approach and takes into account the full childbearing experience—prenatal, birth and postpartum. “The scope of what we do is so big. We are able to take care of a family from pregnancy through potty training,” she says.
When Amma first opened in 2007, it solely offered its new mama class, which still exists. It is a six-week mother and baby class. “Mothers come with their newborns when their babies are just a few weeks old. The class’s popularity grew so fast that by 2010, Pearce and her staff had moved to a new Edina location. Growth came with the center’s move. Amma now offers more than 22 classes on topics such as breastfeeding, labor, sleep and variations of the new parent class. It also added online classes earlier in 2014.
Amma’s staff is made up of registered nurses, lactation consultants and certified childbirth educators. Pearce has also made a point to form partnerships with 10 hospitals throughout the Twin Cities, including Fairview Southdale in Edina. Alissa Snowden attended a few prenatal classes when pregnant with her now 3-year-old daughter Sasha, and says she was hooked. She continued classes with Sasha, and later with son Ezra, now 1. She says the educational standard was a large draw and she appreciated “getting useful education about what to do in that stage of your life.”
Amma has partnered with Creative Kidstuff and MacPhail Center for Music by offering classes at those locations and providing music classes by MacPhail at Amma. Additional resources include a gift shop with organic products approved by the Amma staff, stacks of educational books and a scale to measure newborn weight. But it’s the community of new mothers that makes the new mama class, and Amma, so special.
Pearce says it is important for new moms to have validation. Building a trusted village, she says, is important for new parents. Mothers find this in the new mama class where they can share experiences and fears without trepidation. “There’s nothing I could send you to Babies R’ Us for that would help you out as much as intentionally building your village by coming here,” Pearce says.
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Amma Parenting Center
3511 Hazleton Road
952.926.2229
