Mom-Made, Doctor-Approved Video "Bringing Baby Home" Eases Stress of New Parents

    MONTREAL/TORONTO, Dec. 8 /CNW/ - Did you ever wish babies came with an
instruction video? Well, now they do. Bringing Baby Home is a step-by-step
visual guide on caring for a baby from birth to 6 months -- a comprehensive
video with lessons on a whole range of things every new parent needs to know.
Covering everything from breastfeeding to recognizing the signs of post-partum
depression, Bringing Baby Home has become a grassroots favourite on the baby
shower scene - and the best gift anyone can give a new or soon to be new
parent: clearly demonstrated information on how best to take care of your
infant.

    Created by Lianne Castelino and Andrea Howick, two moms who are also
broadcasters, Bringing Baby Home features over an hour of real-life footage,
demonstrations and interviews from baby-care experts at leading Canadian
medical centres. Featuring and endorsed by Dr. Denis Leduc, the video's
medical advisor and president-elect of the Canadian Pediatric Society,
Bringing Baby Home is winning raves amongst parents, doulas and doctors for
its practical, user-friendly approach to one of life's most rewarding, but
potentially stressful journeys.

    "There is nothing as comprehensive as this on the market right now," said
Amelie Chiasson, an obstetrical nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital. "When a
mother leaves the hospital with her baby, she is basically going into the
unknown. Bringing Baby Home explains all the things that are a concern for new
parents, because they don't really know what to expect. This takes them
through the entire process."

    According to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
(OECD), the average post-birth hospital stay is a mere two days - hardly
enough time to learn all the various aspects of newborn care. For Lianne
Castelino, president and co-founder of Liandrea Productions, necessity was
quite literally the mother of invention. Lianne came up with the idea for
Bringing Baby Home when pregnant with her first child and unable to find  
well-produced videos that clearly laid out the information on what to do and
how to cope as a new parent. Lianne explained: "Becoming a parent is
wonderful, terrifying, thrilling, exhausting and overwhelming all at the same
time. What we've tried to do with Bringing Baby Home is take the edge off of
the overwhelming part."

    "Until you've had a child, you don't really understand what you're up
against. But information is power - and Bringing Baby Home is designed to put
the power into new parents' hands by guiding them through what they need to
know in those first key months," added Andrea Howick, vice-president and    
co-founder of Liandrea Productions.

    In an effort to make Bringing Baby Home as accessible as possible, and in
response to recent events, Liandrea Productions has created Liandrea Cares, an
arm of its company that will work to ensure that at-risk parents have access
to the video through community and charity based organizations. Liandrea Cares
will be reaching out to at least one charity in each province to help get
Bringing Baby Home -- and its vital, potentially life saving information --
into the hands of those who need it most.

    "We believe that every baby deserves a good start in life, and that every
parent, regardless of his or her circumstances, deserves access to the best
parenting advice possible," remarked Andrea.

    "We know how challenging being a new parent can be, even under the best
of circumstances. But it can be even more so for single mothers and fathers,
young mothers and the economically disadvantaged. It can be truly daunting,"
agreed Lianne.

    The ultimate baby care video, Bringing Baby Home has recently earned
itself a captive audience. Both Sears Portrait Studios, the name in family
photography, and PHSN TV, seen monthly by over 1.2 million viewers in the
waiting areas of more than 2,000 health care professionals across Canada, are
running clips from the mom-produced-how-to-care-for-your-baby video. Coupons
towards 15% off online purchase of the video at www.bringingbabyhome.net are
available to anyone who stops by Sears Portrait Studios. Todaysparent.com,
website of Canada's No. 1 parenting magazine, Today's Parent, and Canada's
favourite online parenting destination, is also featuring excerpts of Bringing
Baby Home.

    Bringing Baby Home has become an indispensable teaching tool for
hospitals, doctors and doulas everywhere. Said Dr. Denis Leduc: "Bringing Baby
Home is ideal because it contains pertinent information to help parents deal
with the many challenges that await them with the arrival of a newborn. It is
designed to give parents the necessary tools to maximize their infant's health
and safety."

    Bringing Baby Home is the first production in a series of videos and
products all geared to helping families grow as healthy, happy entities.
Liandrea Productions will go into pre-production on its second video in the
spring.

    Bringing Baby Home is available in VHS and DVD formats, in English and
French (Bébé arrive à la maison) online at www.bringingbabyhome.net and in
some hospitals and specialty boutiques.

For further information: or to arrange for an interview, please contact: 
Susan McLennan, Babble On Communications, Inc., Ph: (416) 699-1846, 
cell: (416) 525-5177, s.mclennan@sympatico.ca

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