Several needy families have found themselves in a better position to take care of their newborns after benefiting from a range of gifts that were on offer at last Sunday's Lullabye Blooming Baby Expo, which was staged in Montego Bay.

The gifts were secured for the expo during a charity-collection drive, where persons, who had items that they did not need, were asked to donate them to meet the needs of expectant families, who were in need of such items.

The collection drive, which was launched two weeks before the expo, also had another component in which members of the public were invited to drop items into a collection barrel, which was located at Fontana Pharmacy in Fairview, Montego Bay.

According to the organisers of the expo, who used the opportunity to educate the mothers about how to care for their babies, the drive was fairly successful as based on what was collected, they were able to hand out baby diapers, clothing, and other supplies to many thankful families.

"It is a wonderful event and you gain a lot of information that will help you as a mother to be a better parent," said Kerry Ann Sterling, one of the pregnant mothers who attended the event.

Jody-Marie Hussy, the event's logistics manager, told The Gleaner that given the positive feedback from parents, the organisers had decided to have the collection drive ongoing until the next staging in 2017.

"One of our aims is really to give back to the community and mothers who are unable to afford or not able to effectively raise a child," Hussy explained. "So we want to be able to give as much as we can to these parents. We asked persons to contribute and we will continue to ask them."

Throughout the day, where experts discussed matters relating to pregnancy and child upbringing. There were also activities such as baby races and baby talkers.

"We were able to answer questions that any parent had and they were able to visit the different booths for excitement and giveaways as well as have their children play in the kiddies' village," said Zenaide Whittley, the founder of the event. "We are had happy with the way things went."

The expo featured a week of activities leading up to last Sunday's grand finale. The list of events included a church service at the Mt Salem Open Bible Church and a date night for couples at the Pier One complex.