Business eases parental pains BECOMING PARENTS for the first time can be an ex- citing and emotional experience for new moms and dads. Now a new West Vancouver business has opened its doors to help first-tirae parents through the process of raising their first child or children. Vera Berard started the Paren- ting Resource Centre to help fami- lies prepare for and cope with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting. The centre, said Berard, aims to help new parents gain a greater understanding of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting so they can play a more active role in the process. **Becoming a new parent can be really exciting and very scary. A lot of changes have to take place to deal with becoming new parents," says Berard. She adds that ‘‘even the little things’ in a person’s life change when a baby is on the way. **t use a Jot of audio-visual aids and try to answer people’s ques- tions about the birthing and parenting process. f offer them all kinds of research material, but I never tell them what to do. ‘*They have to make that deci- sion themselves,’? says Berard, who works as a nurse and a mid- wife. She says she first started think- ing about opening a_ parenting resource centre when she had her first child and was living in Los Angeles. ““When I became a parent, we were living in Los Angeles and we didn’t know very many people. It was just me and my husband and By Surj Rattan News Reporter my daughter.’" Berard is also associated with Grace Hospital and acts as a liai- son with such loca) health-care groups as North Shore Health, North Shore Family Services and Lions Gate Hospital. She also offers a wide selection of workshops to meet diverse needs where new parents will be offered relevant and unbaised in- formation in an enjoyable learning environment. Berard said participants will de- velop realistic expectations, learn how to gain control and deal with the demands of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. **Raising a child should be one of life’s most exciting, rewarding experiences. At the Parenting Resource Centre we believe this demanding experience can be made more rewarding through education, by the expansion of values and beliefs and by making lifestyle choices which positively affect the child-bearing and parenting process,"’ said Berard. The Parenting Resource Centre is a private enterprise and receives no funding from governments or social agencies. Berard has assisted in over 1,000 births in her 10-year career. For more information, call 922-8470. | VERA BERARD of the Paren- ting Resource Centre offers help to first-time moms and dads from her West Vancouver location. SOME MODELS IN LIMITED STOCK COME aeaee BEST SELECTION 14g! 00 PLUS — King Regal 2 NOW © Porcelain cast iron grids # Ceramic briquettes e 50,000 BTUs Reg. 415.00 “§340%) LP Pressure Gauge && Laak Detector with euch BBQ purchase (while quantities iastg Sunday, July 19, 1992 - North Shore News - 39 OFF sugg. retail the same fabulous savings on Levolor Pleated Skylights Hurry! Offer ends July 30/'92 FREE regular Valance with every Levolor® vertical blind order, A SHADE BETTER Specializing in Blinds and Draperies for over 7 years 1877 Marine Dr., N. Van. 984-4101 #4-38018 Progress Way, Squamish 892-5857 Whistler 932-6647