Although most families have been lead to believe that childhood vaccines are mandatory in Canada, they are not, and giving a child a shot requires the parents to provide the doctor or nurse with informed consent. Unfortunately, the majority of parents are saying "yes" to vaccines without actually being informed about the real risks and benefits of either the vaccine in question or the associated disease.

My goal in 2009 is to create an information website for parents that will not preach a position either for or against vaccination, as all current vaccine websites do, rather it will provide easy to understand, accurate and complete statistics so parents actually can feel like they are making the best decision for their child.

Please vote for my project "vaccine awareness - donnabarker" to help me win $1000 to get the website developed and online. Thank you!

Citing a shortage of nursing staff and not wanting to jeopardize patient safety, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital has (temporarily) closed the Obstetrics Program. Because I cannot be there to physically show my support to my close friends and the community, I want to do what I can help reverse this decision and urge the Hospital, Covenant Health, the Alberta provincial government and the Calgary Health Region to re-open the ward and allow small town parents to have personal, calming hospital birthing experiences and support.

It turns out that most baby bottles contain Bisphenol-A, a hormone-disrupting chemical that has been proven to leach into milk when bottle feeding.