A Mother's Dream provides birth and labor doula support, belly casting, and placenta encapsulation to expectant families throughout the Saint Louis metro area.

The St. Louis chapter of the national non-profit organization Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFASL) offers a range of programs that help educate the community, schools, caregivers, students, and parents on the proper management of asthma and allergies.

AAFASL also runs Project Concern, a comprehensive asthma management program that provides medications, equipment, education, and support to uninsured or underinsured children with asthma and allergies. The organization can also help place parents in touch with certified allergists in the St. Louis area.

The Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center provides a range of social services and educational programs for community members. The center works to meet the comprehensive needs of abused, neglected, and abandoned children and their families.

The organization began in the late 1880s as the St. Louis Colored Orphan's Home and established its home in the Ville neighborhood. Business-woman and philanthropist Annie Turnbo Pope Malone became one of its biggest supporters during the 1920s, and the home was renamed to pay homage to Malone.

The services that the center provides include residential treatment services, family focus intensive services, family reunification services, parent education program, a therapeutic school, day care, and food & catering programs.

All-cotton, six-ply diapers with easy-to-use Velcro diaper wraps are delivered to your door by Baby Care Diaper. The company also picks up and launders soiled diapers.

Baby Care service is available at any point between infancy and toilet training. Registries and gift certificates are also offered.

Babymoon Boutique features a wide range of maternity, infant, and toddler wear. The store also carries slings and carriers, cloth diapers, and fun accessories and gifts.

Babymoon Boutique also serves as a Parent and Child Enrichment Center, helping parents with educational programs, peer support, and parenting groups that facilitate networking. Classes are lead by an experienced support specialist who has dealt first-hand with the trials and triumphs of pregnancy and parenting. Class topics include newborn care, CPR and first aid, breastfeeding 101, prepared childbirth education, infant massage, and a variety of topics related to health and fitness.

The facility includes a children's classroom, where kids can partake in games, art projects, and music classes while their grown-ups take in their own class.

Brentwood Center of Health is holistic health center that focuses primarily on treating chronic pain and women's health with physical therapy, alternative medicine, and massage and fitness training. The center also offers child/parent yoga classes and infant massage classes.

A full-service community center, the Carondelet YMCA features an indoor pool, full-size gymnasium, and several fitness and weight-training rooms.

Youth sports - including basketball, soccer, and T-Ball - are popular here. A range of childcare and summer camps for children ages six weeks through sixth grade is also offered.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best place for family community service in St. Louis,
Catch a Falling Star is billed as an inclusive recreational and educational facility. It helps strengthen the physical and social skills of disabled children, including those on the autistic spectrum, through special programs, classes, and events.

CAFS staff provides critical support for parents with programs like Parents Night Out, afterschool care, teaching them about early childhood development, or offering speech and occupational therapies.

As stationary babies turn into speedy crawlers, it's time to turn the house into a safe zone, complete with babyproof gadgets and parents armed with safety information. That's where Childproofers of St. Louis steps in.

The company provides home safety assessments, babyproofing and child-proofing products - including pool fencing and gator-grip bathmats, and professional installation.

The Churchill Center & School for Learning Disabilities focuses on children with a wide range of learning disabilities and uses a remedial program structured to help kids return to traditional classrooms as soon as possible. Children typically attend Churchill for about three years. The US Department of Education has twice recognized Churchill a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

Churchill extends its service to the public, non-students, and those without a learning-disability diagnosis by offering comprehensive tutoring and consultation services. The type of tutoring provided varies with the needs of each student; an hourly tutoring rate is charged.

The school's Terri's Tutors program offers free tutoring to children whose learning has been compromised because cancer treatment.

CooperElla Children's Cafe is owned and operated by St. Louis mom-to-three, Stacy Davis. It is the sister operation to CooperElla Children's Boutique, which is located just around the corner from the cafe.

Grown-ups love CooperElla for its family-friendly focus: Kids' play spaces - train tables, art center, reading areas, and a DVD viewing area for toddlers among them - are incorporated throughout the restaurant so that parents can enjoy a mocha or a bite to eat at a leisurely pace. Outdoors, families find a fenced-in outdoor seating area with a soft play surface and sandbox.

The cafe also has a "pee-wee powder room" with a tiny potty and small pedestal sink, plus a comfy diaper changing station stocked with essentials. Throw free wi-fi into the mix, and you've got a perfect hangout for everyone.

Best of all, the cafe schedules all kinds of activities for kids and playgroups like storytimes, playgroup meetings, and toddler playtimes, as well as adult parenting and hobby-related classes.

Menu items include soups, salads, sandwiches, bakery items, and all kinds of beverages; healthy options and petite versions are available for the littlest clients.

Expectations Ultrasound Studio offers both 3D and 4D prenatal ultrasounds. The elective Limited Diagnostic Ultrasounds are available to those moms currently under prenatal care and who have undergone their 18-24 week diagnostic scan. The venue and its procedures are overseen by a board-certified obstetrician.

The ultrasound studio is set up to maximize comfort: Mothers and her guests can rest in a theater-style room with an overhead viewing of the ultrasound.

First Step Pediatrics offers a unique service in St. Louis: Its family-centered therapists can travel to home residences, community centers, schools, hospitals, and day care centers to work with individuals in a natural environment. These kinds of visits allow therapists to see how individuals interract with their natural settings, and both can involve the entire family in treatment and can use items with which the individual is comfortable.

The staff includes several occupational therapists, developmental therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, professional counselors, registered dieticians, and clinical social workers.

The office helps families with nutrition & dietetic services, recreational therapy, massage therapy, life care planning, personal training and exercise, and the psychotherapeutic use dance and movement.

Grace Hill Health Centers provide professionally directed primary and preventive health care - including pediatrics, adult medicine, and OB/GYN services - through five community health centers, all of which serve low-income and uninsured residents of metropolitan St. Louis. Its website provides a listing of neighborhood health centers.

Grace Hill clinics provide dental services, optometry, pharmacy, transportation, medical social services, X-ray, mammography, and WIC (Women, Infants and Children) programs; it also helps with Division of Family Services on-site eligibility verification and enrollment services. Some locations assist with developmental and behavior problems in children.

HowsMyNanny.com is a nanny-reporting service: Parents purchase a license plate for their stroller, and the public is encouraged to anonymously report good or bad nanny observations. Registered parents receive emails alerting them to reports about their particular nanny.

"Maternity support center" - music to the ears of any expectant or new mom, right? Kangaroo Kids offers the services of five lactation consultants, as well as bra fittings, pump rentals and sales, and nursing accessories. The store also hosts a nursing mom's support group weekly.

The store also sells gently used children's and maternity clothing, toys, equipment, and furniture. The store pays cash for items in good condition.

Mid-America Therapy offers a wide range of therapy for children who need extra help because of, for example, delays in motor, social, and visual motor skills development or problems with sensory integration.

Staff members are trained to assist with many kinds of issues using several therapy techniques, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and therapeutic listening therapy.

The venue offers many classes like sensory motor fun, handwriting skills, and yoga for kids.

Mind, Body & Baby St. Louis is a network of local baby-minded businesses that work together to provide information and support to expecting and new parents about pregnancy and infant care. Specialists in the network educate about cord blood banking, doula services, stroller exercise classes, cloth diapers, baby slings, acupuncture, and pre-natal/infant massage and yoga, among other topics.

The group hosts classes and workshops throughout the St. Louis area; check the website for its current schedule.

MO-FEAT (Missouri Families for Effective Autism Treatment) started as a non-profit organization in 1997 to provide advocacy, education, and support for the autism community and to promote early diagnosis and effective autism treatment.

The group's website lists upcoming meetings, talks, and events that support the autism community and provides a broad range of information about legal resources, diagnois information, and regional resources.

An accessory that keeps us organized? We're so there.

The ingenuis momAgenda was created by a busy mom (is there any other kind?) who was frazzled by keeping track of her own schedule, along with her four children's appointments, lessons, playdates, and parties. Her solution is a refined day planner that provides a way to track multiple schedules with week-at-a-view spreads with rows for each child and mom, monthly views, and places for notes, dinner ideas, and other necessities. The colors range from all-business chocolate and black to vibrant lime or fuschia.

Take it everywhere, or check out the kitchen folio version for "command central".

Mommy & Me with a Jewish Twist offers a series of classes that allow moms and tots to experience Jewish tradition in a stimulating, fun, and creative environment.

Classes incorporate movement excercises, music, sensory play, crafts, and free play; snacks are provided, too. Check website for class descriptions and schedules.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers a Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator on its website. Searches can be done by zip code or by state, and can be filtered to include only stations with Spanish-speaking technicians.

A provisional licensed professional counselor, Pam Dyson uses play therapy to help children understand their feelings and find solutions to problems. Dyson also serves as a consultant to parents, teachers, and other professionals and facilitates workshops on topics related to children and families.

There are more than 245 Ronald McDonald Houses in 26 countries, offering support and practical assistance to families with very sick children. It's a safe bet that your local chapter can always use volunteers.

A non-profit organization in operation since 1950, St. Louis Arc provides a range of support for people with developmental disabilities. The organization fosters the self-sufficiency of people with disabilities and provides a range of support services for family members.

The Arc website provides an online form for donations, as well as a wish list that alerts the community to items and services desired by the organization and the people it helps. It also lists the ways in which St. Louisans can become volunteers.

Meeting once a month at Maryland Heights Community Center, St. Louis Holistic Moms discusses members' interests in natural health, "alternative" parenting styles, and holistic therapies. The group is not limited to mothers - grandparents, partners, and other caregivers are also welcome.

The St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association (LDL) works with thousands of local atypical learners each year to help them learn and grow to become independent, self-assured, and self-reliant adults in the community. LDL can work with any child from infancy birth through college, regardless of ability or disability.

LDL offers tutoring, educational consultations, study skills classes, early childhood outreach programs, and speech and language therapy, among other services.

The organization also works with families of atypical learners, as well as their teachers, offering support and methods to work with children in their homes and classrooms. Services include a wide range of seminars and workshops designed for parents, classroom teachers, education administrators, and other professionals.

The TABS website has listings of hundreds of schools and the database is accessible at no charge. The write-ups are sketchy at best, but do typically include contact information.

Stroller fitness classes help moms burn calories, build strength and flexibility all while singing fun songs, chatting with other moms and spending special bonding time with their little ones.

www.themommymovement.com

A range of childcare and nanny services is provided through TLC For Kids: Nannies, one-time babysitters, hotel sitting, childbirth doulas, baby nurses, and group sitters can be found by parents with the help of the agency. Caregivers are available seven days per week for both day and evening hours.

TLC recently began in-home tutoring services for schoolage children. Tutors can provide instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, history, science, foreign languages, music, and more.

Individuals are carefully screened before being hired by TLC For Kids: Applicants must complete a string of background and medical checks, as well as document proof of citizenship and the completion of a high-school diploma.

Tottoos.Org creates personalized temporary tattoo-like decals called "Tottoos" for children's safety. Decals can be printed with a parent's cell phone number in case the child and parent become separated. Parents choose the personalization that gets printed on the decals, such as "If I am lost, please call (phone number)" or "To reach my parents, call (phone number)." These decals are recommended for children six and under, who may not have a parent's cell phone number memorized, who would become afraid if they were lost.

Medical Tottoos are available for people of any age to alert to conditions such as peanut or bee-sting allergy, asthma, diabetes, autism, seizure disorders, multiple food allergies, Alzheimer's, allergies to medication, and more. They are a highly visible and waterproof way to provide vital information in case of emergency, and can include emergency phone numbers and special instructions such as "use EpiPen" or "heart medication in purse."

Also available are Be Visible, Be Safe Glow Lights, created to keep kids safe after dark. They are pre-printed with the phrase "Emergency Contact Number" and you can write whatever number is appropriate at the time of use. The lights can either be worn as a necklace or attached to clothing. Use with young children to help keep an eye on them at night and have your phone number visible in case you get separated, or with older children and adults when they go out after dark to ride a bike, go camping, or even when boating or out on a hiking trip. The light glows for 12+ hours and not only adds visibility, but enables your emergency contact to be reached if you become injured or lost.

Ultrasona St. Louis offers affordable access to prenatal ultrasounds and performs medical diagnostic scans, including limited medical fetal surveys and Level I ultrasounds. 3D and 4D imaging are also available. All studies are overseen and read by a board-certified physician, and scans are performed by certified or registered diagnostic technicians.