Welcome to Bellies and Babes

Our goal is to provide a resource for parents to ask questions, seek advice, gain knowledge, and implement new skills for their parenting journey. In our website you will find local resource, links to other informative websites, our personal parenting journey, and tips to make parenting a little bit easier. We are all about positive and respectful parenting. If you have questions or advice to share, contact us! Follow us on our facebook page @bellies.babes and our instagram at @bellies.babes.

Hellem Stamm

Hi! I’m Hellem, the founder and content creator of Bellies and Babes. I am Jude and Hope’s mom! I have created this platform as a way to help guide parents, provide support, encouragement, tips, crafts, recipes, and to document the ups and downs of parenthood through mine and Matthew’s experiences, as parents. We believe in gentle and respectful parenting. As a Latina mother, I am hanging on to my culture and passing down to my children the beautiful parts of it while letting go of the not so beautiful parts. I am growing and healing my inner child from the negative parts that come from the Latinx Culture. I am teaching my children the value of love, family, culture, and language through love, patience, and compassion.

Career:

I have a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Human Services from Appalachian State University. After graduating, I began working at a local nonprofit. Through my work there, I discovered my love for families, children, and the nonprofit world. I led a support group for Latina moms, began an (English as a second language) ESL Class, worked with pregnant and parenting teens, facilitated home visits for moms right after they gave birth to provide support, and provided Triple P classes for parents. Through all of these programs, I gained trainings such as Triple P, Partners for a Healthy Baby, Circle of Parents, and the Be Safe, Be Proud, Be Responsible Curriculum. Working in the nonprofit world encouraged me to pursue my Masters Certificate in Nonprofit Administration. Within a year I had completed my certificate. Right on time because I was seven months pregnant with my first.

Later, I changed to a different career, Foster Care Social Worker. This was such an intense, frustrating, overwhelming, but yet humbling job. It reinforced my love and support for families and children. It also gave me a different perspective to families, children, and trauma. I quickly became burnt out due to the continuous increase in children in the foster care system and I was too emotionally exhausted. Here I was about to have a baby that was not going to receive all of my attention simply because I was doing too much. It got to a point that I was not able to really enjoy my pregnancy because of my job. So I made the conscious decision to change positions within my agency and I became an adoptions worker. This job was part time and it allowed me to be at home with my son a bit more and move my schedule however I needed it to be. I stayed at this position until Hope came along in 2020.

Now:

I gained a lot of knowledge through trainings, school, and my career, but most importantly I gained experience. One thing that I noticed right off was the enormous lack of support this country lends to parents and families of little ones. Everything from prenatal, postnatal, postpartum disorders, and maternity/paternity leave are all essential to the health and wellness of the child and its parents. This is what encouraged me to do this. Even if we’re helping just one mom who is struggling and alone or a dad who is overwhelmed, we are still making a difference in that child’s life. After having Hope, I decided to stay home with both of our kids and dedicate my time to growing this platform. I have so many ideas and plans and I hope you tag along as we grow and expand!

So, we want to say THANK YOU!

Thank you for all the hard work that you do. For all the sweat and tears that you’ve been through to do your best as a parent. And thank you for stopping by our website! We hope you’ve gained a little knowledge and felt more at ease knowing you’re not in this alone. Please feel free to reach out, leave a comment, or a tip! We’d love to hear your input.

Much love,

Hellem

Holly Teague

Hi everyone!

I’m Holly Quivera-Teague, editor for Bellies and Babes. I recently earned a BA in English and Global Health from Duke University. My major concentrations were Medical Humanities and Medical Sociology and I am currently attending graduate school for an MPH at the University of Michigan.
My investment in Bellies and Babes stems from my passion for community-centered support and solutions. As well as the importance of story-telling in building a sense of unity and empowerment.

Holly Teague