Year-round Mom-friendly companies, places and seminars

Although we only celebrate Mother’s Day once a year, treats and perks for mothers should be available all year long. GMA News Online has compiled a list of seminars or events, companies and places that provides mother’s day services throughout the year. Seminars and events Mom and Me is a series of lifestyle events aimed at fostering bonding between children and parents. From cooking and baking to more physical activities such as yoga and zumba, moms and their kids can choose sessions to attend that will surely energize their relationship.  Date: May 25 and 26, 2013 (Saturday-Sunday) Time: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Venue: Rockwell Tent For more Mom and Me events, visit or contact the organizers on Facebook, Twitter or at (632) 542-1480 and mommyandmePH@gmail.com. Breastfeeding Philippines offers not only breastfeeding seminars, it also provides parenting sessions all year-round to moms and dads. With Breastfeeding Philippines’ 12-session package, couples are guided step by step to birthing, breastfeeding and parenthood. For more information, check out their website. The Perfect Latch is an organization that offers a wide array of services from seminars, membership perks to peer counselor training. The groups' unique feature is the Mom2Mom Hookups, which lets moms connect with other moms who have gone through the similar situations. Aside from breastfeeding workshops, it offers events such as post-partum classes. To join their organization, visit or contact: info@theperfectlatch.com / 0917-532-5643 Makati Medical Center offers year-round seminars for moms or couples every 4th Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at their Hall 1 Auditorium, on the 8th floor of Tower 2. It offers a selection of courses particularly on pregnancy. Admission is free. On May 25, the topic is “Being the Fab and Sexy Mommy: Touch Therapy and Safe Toys.” For more information, go here. And, of course, Mommy time is alone time. You can leave your young ones with an educational, fun and trusted company while you spend some time alone or catch up with friends. Gymboree provides classes for kids aged 0-5. You may choose from Gymoboree’s family packages play, music or art classes. A sneak peak will cost P500 but is deductible if you enroll on the day of your preview class. There are 12 Gymboree locations. Companies How do you know if a company is mom-friendly? if it caters to their needs by providing amenities such as lactation or breastfeeding rooms. Smart Parenting magazine has posted online some companies that do so: Aegis People Support – the outsourcing company has nine breastfeeding “portalets” which provide basic necessities for breastfeeding: an electric outlet, a table and a chair. Accenture – The BPO firm has nine breastfeeding rooms with amenities like tables, chairs, a refrigerator, an outlet for electric pumps, and a sink. Citibank, NA – The international bank has five nursing lounges complete with a table, chairs, a refrigerator and a sink. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas – the central monetary agency has three nursing rooms with has a table, chairs, an electrical outlet and a refrigerator. Punongbayan & Araullo – the audit firm has two nursing lounges with the basic amenities such as a refrigerator, a sink, tables, chairs and an electrical outlet. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. – the company has one lactation room with basic necessities Hewlett Packard – the solutions provider has two lactation rooms, one for each of its site equipped with a refrigerator, a table, chairs and an electric outlet. Asian Development Bank – the multilateral lending agency has one nursing room called Expression Room with two chairs, a table, electrical outlets, a sink, and an electric airpot continuously stocked with hot water Trend Micro – the anti-virus software company has one nursing room complete with a refrigerator, phone, and hand sanitizer. Chevron Philippines Inc.
- the gas company has one “Mother’s Room” provided with a personal refrigerator, chairs, radio and cabinets. The Coca-Cola Export Corporation  - the soft drink corporation has one lactation room, called the Isolation Room, complete with a table, a chair, electrical outlets and a personal ref. Lawson Software – the company has two "Mom Rooms," one at each of its sites, which has a table, chairs, electrical outlets and refrigerator. For GMA network employees, there is also a lactation room located in the Clinic. Malls There are 40 breastfeeding stations across 46 SM Super Malls outlets in the Philippines, which have catered to more than 135,000 mothers nationwide. “We also give mothers an option to breastfeed their children at any location in our malls and have trained our staff to assist them so that they can nurse their children comfortably,” SM management said on its website. In Ayala Malls, there are two places where mom can do breastfeeding: the VIPinoy lounge, available for free for VIPinoy cardholders and available at P10 for non-members; and the Family Lounge. Both have amenities such as private nursing stations, diaper changing stations, bottle warming facilities and children's reading and play area. VIPinoy Lounge Locations: GLORIETTA: 3rd Floor, Glorietta 5 MARKET! MARKET!: 2nd Level, near mall entrance connecting to parking building; between Kevin’s Kut and Alteresi MARQUEE MALL: Level 2 facing MarQuee Park TRINOMA: Located at the lobby level, beside Alveo Family Lounge Locations: ABREEZA:
 Second Floor – Near Timex ALABANG TOWN CENTER:
 Upper Ground Level, Corte de las Palmas GLORIETTA:
 3rd floor, Glorietta 4 MARKET! MARKET!:
 2nd Level, near mall entrance connecting to parking building; between Kevin’s Kut and Alteresi TRINOMA:
 Located at level 3, beside Sony Center Local government offices At least three city halls in the country have breastfeeding stations: San Fernando City in Pampanga, Quezon City Hall and Manila City Hall. — BM, GMA News