UHS Chenango Memorial to Host Seventh Annual Community Baby Shower

UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital is bringing back its Community Baby Shower for a seventh year, with a free gathering on May 2 in Norwich aimed at expecting parents, new parents and families with babies under 12 months old. The event at 179 North Broad Street is designed to do more than hand out prizes: it puts hospital staff and regional partners in the same room with families who may need help before and after delivery.

Melissa Stagnaro, the hospital’s director of development and engagement, said the event is a way to celebrate families, answer questions and connect them to care and resources that support them during pregnancy and throughout the baby’s first year. That role has become more important as the shower has settled into a recurring local fixture rather than a one-time outreach effort. A seventh year suggests steady demand for low-barrier support, especially for parents trying to navigate a crowded first year with a newborn.

This year’s shower will feature community organizations from across the region offering information and resources. Families can expect raffle basket giveaways, maternity tours and access to agencies that work with new parents. The event listings also point families toward practical topics that often determine how smoothly those first months go, including immunizations, lead hazards, breastfeeding and other early-childhood concerns.

The event is coordinated through a broad local network that includes Mothers and Babies Perinatal Network, Chenango County Public Health, UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital, UHS Women’s Health, the Chenango Healthy Families PACT Program and the CAPCO Chenango County WIC program. It is also part of the Breastfeeding Partners Coalition of Chenango County, underscoring how the baby shower fits into a larger maternal and infant health system rather than standing alone as a social event.

That broader system matters. Chenango County Public Health says its maternal-child health services include immunization education and clinics, lead poisoning prevention, breastfeeding education with lactation counselors, postpartum depression screening, family planning, insurance navigation and referrals. The baby shower gives families a single, familiar entry point into those services, which can be easier to approach than a formal clinic appointment.

The hospital’s 2025 listing called the event the 6th Annual Chenango County Community Baby Shower and Pre-Mother’s Day Celebration, held May 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Main Lobby at UHS Chenango Memorial Hospital. With the 2026 edition set for May 2, the event’s return shows a stable community health model in Chenango County, one built around trust, education and early contact with families when it can make the most difference.