Modern Breastfeeding + Education

09/24/2025

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08/25/2025

Boots on the Ground. What a great call to arms.

Happy

This week highlights the unique challenges Black families face around infant feeding. From cultural barriers to access gaps, we’re raising awareness and honoring the community leaders building stronger support systems.

This year’s theme is "Boots on the Ground", honoring the frontline champions, parents, peer counselors, doulas, lactation professionals, and community leaders who are Boots on the Ground every day, helping to make breastfeeding support more accessible.

💜 Stay tuned this week as we share tips every Black mom should know about breastfeeding and highlight resources for our moms and advocates!

08/14/2025

🤣

08/02/2025

Day 2 of World Breastfeeding Week!

Did you know every year has a theme?

And this years theme is INVEST. That’s right, simply investing.
Investing in breastfeeding, investing in the future.

Because supporting breastfeeding means reducing healthcare costs and improving outcomes for children and breastfeeding people.

So how do you invest? Do you support people nursing in public? Support exclusive pumpers getting the time they need? Share resources / books? Advocate for real, informed support over online “advice”?

Let me know!!

07/11/2025

This sounds like me on repeat these days. And I know, I know, it not what you WANT to hear. I’m sorry. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Trust us.

Take it out of your cart.

Portable/wearable pumps are not good primary pumps. Yes they might have worked for an influencer (who was probably paid to promote it). They might have been okay for someone with oversupply. But they are NOT good primary pumps. We said what we said.

Also "hospital grade" and "hospital strength" are marketing terms. They don't mean anything and the pumps don't have to meet any sort of requirements to claim that.

Share with a friend!

10/08/2024

🙌🏼

Ruby Jackson, a 23-year-old student has developed an app, "Melanatal," to address gaps in the recognition of maternal and neonatal conditions

08/02/2024

It’s World Breastfeeding Week!

( I’m a day behind 🤦🏻‍♀️ Blame Grad school!)

This year’s theme is “Closing the Gap: Breastfeedibg Support for All”

So I thoughts I’d spend the week highlighting what that means. The main topic: what gap??

There’s a huge gap between those who report they want to breastfeed and those who do not end up “successfully” breastfeeding. Successfully is in quotes because it is ultimately in the metaphorical eye of the … milk makers owner.

But why IS there a gap between breastfeeding goals and actual outcome? Support.

It all comes down to support. Which also takes education, so that you, your partner, and family know what normal breastfeeding looks like. Which is hard BTW.

So in the comments I’ll post a few books I really like to educate yourself on breastfeeding - ideally before that birth day comes. Feel free to add your own if you want to share what you loved!

But that’s not all! Throughout this week there will be more. Happy

06/08/2024

See?!?!!

11/26/2023

Dear parents - whether new parents or those with older kiddos who ALL NEED US ALL THE TIME -
Run that dishwasher twice.
Don’t worry about folding towels.
Let the kids decorate haphazardly and wrap gifts.
Happy Holiday Season from Modern Breastfeeding + Education 🥰

RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.

When I was at one of my lowest (mental) points in life, I couldn’t get out of bed some days. I had no energy or motivation and was barely getting by.

I had therapy once per week, and on this particular week I didn’t have much to ‘bring’ to the session. He asked how my week was and I really had nothing to say.

“What are you struggling with?” he asked.

I gestured around me and said “I dunno man. Life.”

Not satisfied with my answer, he said “No, what exactly are you worried about right now? What feels overwhelming? When you go home after this session, what issue will be staring at you?”

I knew the answer, but it was so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say it. I wanted to have something more substantial. Something more profound. But I didn’t. So I told him,

“Honestly? The dishes. It’s stupid, I know, but the more I look at them the more I CAN’T do them because I’ll have to scrub them before I put them in the dishwasher, because the dishwasher sucks, and I just can’t stand and scrub the dishes.”

I felt like an idiot even saying it. What kind of grown woman is undone by a stack of dishes? There are people out there with actual problems, and I’m whining to my therapist about dishes? But my therapist nodded in understanding and then said:

“RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE.”

I began to tell him that you’re not supposed to, but he stopped me.

“Why the hell aren’t you supposed to? If you don’t want to scrub the dishes and your dishwasher sucks, run it twice. Run it three times, who cares? Rules do not exist, so stop giving yourself rules.”

It blew my mind in a way that I don’t think I can properly express.

That day, I went home and tossed my smelly dishes haphazardly into the dishwasher and ran it three times. I felt like I had conquered a dragon. The next day, I took a shower lying down. A few days later. I folded my laundry and put them wherever they fit. There were no longer arbitrary rules I had to follow, and it gave me the freedom to make accomplishments again.

Now that I’m in a healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and put them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry. But at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson:

THERE ARE NO RULES. RUN THE DISHWASHER TWICE!
Also Read https://fabliyo.com/11-year-old-young-boys-selfless-act-of-kindness-rewarded-after-returning-wallet-by-hotflav-april-22-2023145010/
Credit ~ Kate Scott

11/22/2023

LOVE this guide! Which would you be: nice, spice or ice?

09/01/2023

Join us!

08/04/2023

Long Post Warning.
Storytime:

So back in the day (*ahem* 2011) when I became a CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor) we were taught / told that returning to work did NOT statistically impact breastfeeding success rates.

Ummmmmmmm 🤔 🧐 🤨 HUH?!
Mad respect to our professors who were exhausted and could have left it at that. But they encouraged us to spend the night post class looking up the reference materials. And we did.

1) WORLDWIDE we’re actually talking about maternity care. Meaning length of PAID / subsidized post work leave, resources available ranging from mental to pelvic floor health. Yep it does exists… elsewhere.
2) With maternity care extended you’re eliminating the stress of returning to work when barely recovered from birth hormonally and physically. 6 wks for a vaginal birth and 8 weeks for a cesarean birth is the most common in the USA. However it’s still privileged. Students and minimum wage workers often get 2 wks.
3) Not returning to work as soon means less childcare concerns.
Pumping.
Bottlefeeding.
Breastmilk storage.
Feeding concerns.
Drs appts. Specialist needs - usually unexpected.
Sleep deprivation goes without mention unless you’re living it.
4) Thus a delayed return to the workforce = less stress. AND ALSO more time to establish breastfeeding success. Along with that bonding, restorative sleep patterns (ish 😉😅), a new normal for the family unit, etc. etc. it’s not ALL breastfeeding. It’s life.
(It is worth mentioning that this delay does unfortunately correlate to an overall and dramatic decrease in said person’s income over their whole life. BUT I DIGRESS…)

So back to the story. We read the stuff. We digest. We angry.
Because WORLDWIDE “returning to work did NOT statistically impact breastfeeding success rates.” smacks of a blindsight in MATERNITY care.
And that’s real life too. Real humans.
We can do better.
Let’s make breastfeeding and work, work.
People that grow humans actual deserve to do both.

Photo/Link: The New York Times 2021

The U.S. is one of six countries with no national paid leave. The Democrats have cut their plan to four weeks, which would still make it an outlier.