First Long Island 'Baby Cafe' Opens At Southside Hospital

BAY SHORE, NY - Long Island's first ever Baby Cafe recently opened up in Bay Shore.

The new cafe, which is located at Southside Hospital on 301 Main Street, hosted the first weekly breastfeeding support group last Tuesday. A total of 30 moms and their children attended the event.

Baby Cafes were created as a free resource for pregnant or breastfeeding women to learn about this process and share their experiences with other moms.

They are also places where women can receive help from a certified lactation consultant, such a Southside’s Wendi Andria.

Andria spearheaded and has been running a free weekly breastfeeding support group at Southside for a few years and has helped many women reach their personal breastfeeding goals.

“When you’re a scared mom just trying to make sure you’re feeding your baby appropriately, having a place to turn where you can learn from a lactation consultant and swap tips with other moms is incredibly helpful,” Andria said. “It’s been such a rewarding experience helping moms through their breastfeeding journey via the support group and I look forward to helping more now that we are a Baby Cafe.”

Amy Dekeris, of Smithtown, a soon-to-be mom of three girls, said the breastfeeding support group became a great resource for her when her first daughter was five weeks old.

“I’ve learned that with each baby there’s a new latch,” she said. “and I’m looking forward to learning the new latch with my youngest daughter and the help of the breastfeeding support group.”

The non-profit group Baby Cafe USA has been working to open new locations across the U.S. In addition to the Bay Shore location, there are a total of 16 Baby Cafes in New York.

Other locations include:

• Batavia
• Watkins Glen
• Newark
• Jamestown
• Buffalo - Sisters of Charity Hospital
• West Seneca
• Buffalo - Durham's Central City
• Canandaigua
• Buffalo - Wyoming Avenue
• Buffalo - Barton St
• Plattsburgh
• Schenectady
• Spring Valley
• Bath
• Troy
• Penn Yan

The Bay Shore location was funded by a five-year, $1 million grant from Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park.

Henry Bernstein, DO, professor of pediatrics at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, is the principal investigator of the breastfeeding promotion grant that Cohen’s received from the New York State Department of Health.