Shalom Birth Beginnings

12/20/2025

YOU are the protection 🤱🏼❤️

12/20/2025

👏👏👏

12/20/2025

And might we just say that if you don't believe both exist, you might be part of the problem.

There are some truly fantastic midwives, OBs, and nurses out there. Ones who fight hard for their clients, ones who help their patients change positions, who respect their right to informed refusal as much as informed consent. There are providers and nurses out there who believe in physiological birth and work hard for their patients to have positive birth experiences.

AND

Some providers and nurses push unnecessary cesareans. There is obstetric violence that runs rampant. There are women of color who are ignored and dismissed. Some providers and nurses believe their way is the only way. There is care that starts with "I'm just gonna..." instead of informed consent.

If you believe that hospitals are *never* a safe space for women, think again. And if you believe hospitals are *always* a safe place for women, think again. We will not make changes by living in extremes. We WILL make change when we celebrate the positive and the beauty and the progress, WHILE calling out what isn't okay.

12/20/2025

Stop telling moms they can “just pump” or “just bottle feed formula” when they’re expressing struggles with breastfeeding.

When a mom opens up about how hard breastfeeding feels, she’s not asking for an exit strategy.
She’s asking to be seen.

Telling her to “just pump” ignores the reality that pumping is still exhausting, time-consuming, painful for many, and mentally draining.
Telling her to “just use formula” skips right past the grief, the effort, the goals, and the emotional weight she’s carrying.

Sometimes a mom doesn’t want an alternative.
She wants support within the choice she’s already made.

Breastfeeding struggles don’t mean she wants to quit.
They mean she’s tired.
They mean she’s touched out.
They mean she’s carrying the invisible load of being the only one who can feed her baby and she needs compassion, not redirection.

Support doesn’t sound like “you don’t have to do this.”
Support sounds like “this is hard and you’re not weak for feeling that way.”

Let moms talk about breastfeeding without immediately offering them a way out.
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can give her is permission to feel and someone willing to sit with her in it. 🤱

12/15/2025

I'm laughing SO hard from my oldest daughter, Eden's comment. She took this pic from out shopping today. "Mom, I'm not sure what you're doing to my brain, but I swore this logo was a uterus when I first saw it" 😆😂

12/11/2025

12/11/2025

Incredible!

Breast milk is still doing BIG things after 12 months….

Most people think breast milk “loses its benefits” after a year… But research says the opposite.

A 2025 (Kenney et al., 2025) study found that the core sugars in human milk (HMOs) continue actively supporting your toddler’s gut health and brain development well into the second year of life.

HMOs don’t just feed your baby.
They feed the good bacteria in their gut, the ones linked to:

✨ stronger immunity
✨ healthier digestion
✨ reduced inflammation
✨ better cognitive development

And here’s the fascinating part:
Even after age one, HMOs are still shaping the gut microbiome in ways formula simply cannot replicate.
They continue guiding your child’s immune and neural pathways during one of the most rapid periods of brain growth.

So no…
Breast milk doesn’t “turn to water.”
It transforms with your baby, and keeps delivering biological instructions their body knows exactly what to do with.

If you’re breastfeeding into toddlerhood, this research is one more reminder:

Your milk is still powerful.
Still active.
Still biologically designed for your child.

And still worth every drop.