Empowering Pregnancy 3 Workshop

Under our O&G’s recommendation, my hubby and I signed up as early birds for this workshop organised by Pitterpatter.com.my held at Connection @ Nexus Bangsar South City on Sunday, 4 September 2016, from 9.30am – 2.00pm. We were advised however to arrive earlier when registration opens at 8.30am to give us time to browse the market place.

EP3's Brochure

Come the day of the event, parking and registration at the counter was smooth and easy. I was also pretty surprised by the number and variety of merchants present in the lounge area promoting their good and services to the moms and dads present, including Enfamamma, Cellsafe, Pfizer, Huggies, Goon, Tiny Touch, Pureen, Pigeon, QV, Moons, Melvita, Slimming Sanctuary, Lynn’s Catering, Delight’s Happy Full Moon, Red Seals Gift, Emma-Jane Maternity, MilkyBites, Prudential and Green Wellness to name most of them.  A surprising number of parents turned up as well, more than 200 I think as there were around 27 tables in the event hall for free seating. 

Event Hall filling up at 9.20am

Lounge area at 9.00 am. Registration counter is all the way in front

Itinerary for the day

Breakfast was simple, and according to hubby, abit bland. I believe the organisers had considered the appetite and food preferences of us preggie mommies whose tummy’s had yet to kick start digestion early in the morning and for that, I was quite grateful. Basic coffee/tea, cereals with milk, and chee cheong fun with curry sauce was provided. According to the itinerary, rest breaks were scheduled every 2 hours with tea and lunch provided at each interval. I believe this helped many mommies to cope with their frequent snack and toilet break times as well.

Hubby and I were pretty focused throughout the whole workshop, although some of the topics were at times a little dry. The best speaker of the day IMO was Ms Jasmeen Tay on her topic of Breastfeeding Roadblocks & Solutions. Her slot was switched to be the last and although it overran by over 45 minutes, and her audio was a little soft, her command of Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Malay during her speech, coupled with her casual open-hearted jokes and comments made almost everyone sitting on the edge of their seats to listen. This was the one topic where many parents laughed and enjoyed themselves, and many dads (including my hubby) were pretty much awake and having fun with their partners on the topics discussed. I was pleased on how she also took the effort to share her own personal tips on breastfeeding, and how the different foods during confinement for our individual cultures would impact our breastfeeding journey and how to work around them.

Ms Jasmeen Tay on stage

What also pleased me (and other parents present as well I think) a lot was the fact that almost every merchant had free door gifts at hand when you visited their booths, in exchange for your contact details. What did not please my hubby was the fact that I was more focused on these gifts and talking to the vendors rather than queueing up earlier at the buffet food tables. Oops!XD

I did not take any photos of the foods served during both breaks, nor of the vendors and their promotions/ wares as the timing for us to fill our tummies and get the product samples at each interval was just right. Food was catered for in-house and I will admit I was pleasantly surprised with the variety and healthy quality of food provided for, with the amount just right for everyone and refills only topped up when necessary to minimise wastage.

Lunch I believed catered very well to the dads with the substantial amount of variety present. From appetizers to main course to desserts, everything was scrumptious, and even a mini vegetarian section was provided for! I personally enjoyed the variety of salad mixes provided, tabbouleh, potato salad, mixed vegetables au gratin, and all the cakes and fruits provided on the dessert table. Maki rolls, fishball noodle soup, fish, chicken, steak, and prawn dishes were also provided for but I wasn’t in the mood for much meat that day. To make things easier for all parents, the organisers allowed us parents to dine in the event hall during lunch. Hubby said the food was decent, and worth the price we had paid as early birds. Seeing him stuff himself and wiping his dishes perfectly clean though made me grin from ear to ear.

My only gripe was the hands-on demo on basic childcare that was held after the lunch break at the registration counter. When hubby and I headed over to the counter after a full meal, the area had been swamped by at least over 30 parents standing around the table counter. The experts demonstrating it were not wearing any microphones either and for short people like me, I couldn’t see or hear much of the demo. Hence, as hubby was also getting drowsy from the full lunch and afternoon heat, we left without waiting for our turn to check it out.

Overall, I would say that the event was very well-organised and fun. If we had not get the early bird registration perk, I believe the knowledge and returns gained there would also have been well worth it. At the end of the day, the door gifts and sample would make up for quite abit of it, and as I was luckily seated next to the Enfamamma A+ booth, upon clearing up their booth, they filled up the remaining drinks from their drink dispenser and offered me a free 1.5litre bottle of their chocolate flavoured milk to take home. Although it’s going to take a while to finish, I can’t say no to it too though. Hubby was shocked to find it in our fridge when we got home too as I got it while he was away on his toilet break, hehe.

Goodies all chucked into 2 bags

All goodies gotten from event, excluding the complimentary Enfamamma+ milk in the fridge

 PS: The toilets were also very spacious and clean, no difficulty for us mommies navigating our huge tummies in there too.