Tag: support

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Reflections from a volunteer CLC working on naval base

Many of our Our Milky Way interviewees launch into their advocacy for
healthy infant feeding after they’ve endured personal situations with their
own babies. This is not Crystal Grask’s, CLC origin story into the world
of breastfeeding though.  Now the mother of a darling little one, Grask
serves as a Red Cross volunteer lactation counselor at Naval Base Rota
in Spain, but her road to breastfeeding started before becoming a
mother.

We’re pumped to feature this interview with Grask this week on Our
Milky Way.

On discovering her passion for maternal child health…

I had really no insight into maternal child health until I found myself
interviewing for the Communications Coordinator position with the Rocky
Mountain Children’s Health Foundation and Mothers’ Milk Bank. Once I
obtained the role, I started working directly with Laraine Lockhart-
Borman, the then director of the milk bank…her staff… Donor Relations
Coordinators, Certified Lactation Educators, Doulas and more. I found
myself immersed in a totally new world and was soaking up the
knowledge like a sponge. Everyday I learned something new about
breastfeeding, donating human milk, or lactation and the impact these
things have on the mother-baby dyads and the families we served.
As I learned…I found myself becoming more and more passionate about
helping moms, babies and families have successful happy starts in life.
Through the RMCHF and MMB I learned about the the Lactation
Counselor Training Course (LCTC), learned about the importance of
breastfeeding, saw firsthand the impact donating and receiving donor
human milk had on mother-baby dyads and families, and was able to
observe and glean insight into dozens of parents’ feeding journeys
through the Foundation’s  programming and milk bank’s weekly Baby
Cafe pregnancy and postpartum moms groups.

On completing the LCTC…

… Life happened, and I was unable to take the course during my tenure
at the [RMCHF], but the passion didn’t go away. It continued to blossom. I moved to Washington State where the course wasn’t offered,
but I remained passionate and steadfast in my desires using my
previous knowledge about breastfeeding/lactation to help providers (OBs
and Pediatricians) communicate with their patients about breastfeeding. I
knew I still wanted to work in this realm, and decided that once I was
able to obtain my CLC certification, I would like to pursue a private
practice.

In 2020, the course became virtual, which allowed me to start my
training! I started in December of 2020, and soon after, we moved to
Spain with the Navy. It was there I finished my training, in June of 2021. I
loved the virtual nature of the training and found – even when I was an
ocean away – I could tune in, interact during office hours, and complete
the course with ease. I really appreciated that!

On her own breastfeeding journey…

Flash forward five years… I found myself breastfeeding my daughter,
Julieanne, and having a rough journey. We started off feeding well,
resolving minor latch issues right off the bat. However, despite having a
small but adequate supply, she struggled to gain weight. Our pediatrician
immediately suggested formula supplementation, and I struggled with
that suggestion. My husband was a huge supporter of breastfeeding,
and also felt like there wasn’t a huge need to supplement. I was able to
reach out to prior colleagues… for observations, but neither of them
could find anything truly amiss. My daughter latches well and has always
been very healthy, but didn’t gain weight well no matter how much or
what we were feeding her. We discovered she has a very high
metabolism and strong passion for eating, so I found myself feeding
round the clock, triple feeding for a few weeks, and eventually settling
into a combo-feeding routine. While it wasn’t my picture perfect image of
how our breastfeeding journey would go, I am proud to say we’re still
largely breastfeeding and she’s gained a significant amount of weight.

Photo by Taylor Marie Photography

I hope to help moms receive the support I lacked in the immediate
postpartum. With consistent help and follow-up observations, perhaps
we wouldn’t have needed to supplement. I want to be that resource for other moms, to help them feel validated, encouraged to meet their goals,
and support them no matter what their feeding choices are.

On landing her volunteer CLC position at the naval base…

One of the first things I noticed after arriving at Naval Base Rota was the
multitude of pregnant women around. We were still living in COVID
times, and I quickly learned while there was support for moms to
breastfeed from a command standpoint, there were not many staff or
programs available to support the station’s breastfeeding dyads either in
hospital or at home postpartum. I knew I could help bridge this gap.
After exploring a few different avenues, I found I was able to sign up with
the Red Cross as a volunteer CLC at the Navy Medicine Readiness and
Training Command Rota (Naval Hospital Rota) Maternal Child Infant
ward! This role gives me the unique opportunity to help moms within
hours after delivering her baby, and help these dyads and families start
their feeding journeys feeling confident and supported.

On a typical day in this role…

I come in, check in with the nurse on duty or head nurse for a rundown
of our patients to learn about their delivery(ies), their baby, their current
health situation, and how feeding has been going thus far. I also ask if
mom/family has presented them with any concerns/questions about
feeding thus far, so I can be as prepared as possible when I first meet
with a mom.
After ensuring I have all the information/resources ready, I go meet with
the mom/baby dyad/ family. While in their room, we talk about how mom
is doing, I meet their new little one, and we go over how their feeling
about feeding thus far. I often provide latch assessments, and observe
feedings while in the room as well. Sometimes, during this, we’ll be in a
more relaxed setting, and mom will ask questions about any concerns
she has for when she goes home, which I answer or refer her to her
provider or the base’s Visiting Nurse if it’s a subject outside of my scope.

Once my initial visit is over, I will make a follow up plan with mom if
desired, then input notes and do any supplemental research for her. At
my follow up visit (usually that day or the next) I will give her any
resources we discussed and provide answers to her questions.
In the LCTC, we focused a lot on listening to mom, hearing her story and
using that, her experience and her health history to guide our
counseling. I think I use that often to meet moms where they are and
give them the care they deserve. I also find I’m teaching the asymmetric
latch often, even to second and third time moms! I also cover hand
expression and storage guidelines often. We get a lot of questions
around pumping and building a stash of milk for returning to work,
especially for active duty moms.

I have also started seeing postpartum patients in the hospital’s OBGYN clinic.

On unique challenges…
Grask at Rota Breastfeeding Week 2023 presenting topics like skin-to-skin and hand expression 

I think there is a strong desire to help breastfeeding moms here, but
there is an apparent lack of resources, especially for postpartum moms.
The community has one Visiting Nurse who is a rockstar seeing many
moms daily, but she’s unfortunately the only one able to do so at the
moment. To help bridge this gap, I’ve gained approval to have a small
business, Asbury Breastfeeding Counseling, and am offering my
services to moms in the community in addition to my work as a
volunteer. I’m also working with the Visiting Nurse and hospital MCI
leads to host monthly breastfeeding courses at the hospital, promote the
existing pregnancy and postpartum support groups, and soon will be
offering a BYOBB (Bring Your Own Baby and Breastfeed) class at the
hospital for new moms to learn the various positions they can breastfeed
their babies in and be available to answer any questions/troubleshoot
any feeding/latch issues in person.
We also hosted Rota Breastfeeding Week helping educate the
community here on what is available for new moms and showcasing the
various lactation spaces. We also had a latch on nursing event.

On goals for next year…

 

Over the next year, I hope to reach more moms and families to help
them feed successfully… I know this community’s resources are slim. I hope to establish these classes and have imparted education to staff so
when I ultimately transition out of this station, I know I am leaving moms
with supportive providers who can help her achieve her goals.

Some favorite breastfeeding stories…

While working at the Mothers’ Milk Bank, I was able to sit in on several
Baby Cafe postpartum support groups. During a few of these groups, I
met a parenting duo and their little one. No matter what they did, this
mom struggled to make enough for her little one, but desperately wanted
to make breastfeeding work. I listened and observed them for weeks,
learning from their interactions as a couple, parents and individuals and
gleaning insights from the [lactation care provider]  helping them.
Ultimately, I believe they began to feed with donor milk and formula, but
it was their journey and the persevering passion to help their baby and
family thrive that left an impression on me.
Here in Rota, I have been lucky enough to see a few of the moms I’ve
helped in early days several months postpartum. Two such dyads come
to mind. One was a new mom, baby born a couple weeks early had had
an ample supply of milk. Due to her baby’s early arrival, the baby was
transferred to a Spanish hospital where they received formula instead of
her breast milk. I saw her about five days postpartum and her milk
supply had fully come in but the baby was fussy and struggled to latch.
We worked on several techniques, including skin-to-skin care, cross-
cradle and football holds, asymmetric latch and also discussed ways to
pump/store milk. I was worried as this mom seemed to be ready to give
up quickly, but I ran into her six months postpartum and her once small
baby was now thriving on breast milk! It was a beautiful thing to see and
she is still breastfeeding.
In January, I served the family who had the first baby of the year. The
parents were first time parents, and had no idea what to expect or how
to navigate breastfeeding now their arrival had made her debut. Mom
and I worked on recognizing feeding cues, latching, promoting skin-to-
skin care, using dad for support, and discussed various ways to pump– hand express, manual, double-electric, wearables, to help her build a
supply later on. Soon after I had my own baby, I ran into this mom at a
moms group and found breastfeeding was going well for her! Her little
one was steadily gaining weight and she felt confident in her feeding
routine and encouraged by the support she had received early on. I was
elated at this update and so happy to see them thrive.
Personally, breastfeeding hasn’t been as easy as I’d like, but when I feed
it is the most wonderful, almost indescribable feeling. One of my favorite
stories I have is from my early postpartum days. I had been hanging out
skin-to-skin with her on the couch and accidentally fallen asleep. A little
while later I awoke — to a baby suckling on my breast! I had heard and
known about a baby’s natural instinct to find the breast, but I hadn’t expected her to seek it out and find it on her own when she was so new
to the world. Now she giggles whenever she sees my breast and is
especially excited for boob food time!

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‘Full pandemic mama’ becomes full spectrum doula

Allysa Singer was, as she describes, a “full pandemic mama.” Singer became pregnant with her first child in the winter of 2019. As she became aware of the threats and the consequences of COVID-19, she started researching her options and her rights in the delivery room she’d find herself in August 2020.

What started as personal preparation– How many support people would she be allowed? Would she be allowed a support person at all? What restrictions would she encounter? How could she advocate for herself? What were her options?–  propelled her into a world of birth support and autonomy advocacy.

“I was just dumbfounded by the disparities that exist in maternal health,” Singer begins.

In 2020, Alabama, where Singer and her family live, had the third-highest Maternal Mortality Rate in the nation, at 36.4 per 100,000 live births.

BIPOC families suffer from massive disparities in maternal and infant deaths. In a recent piece, Childbirth Is Deadlier for Black Families Even When They’re Rich, Expansive Study Finds, Tiffany L. Green, an economist focused on public health and obstetrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is quoted: “It’s not race, it’s racism…The data are quite clear that this isn’t about biology. This is about the environments where we live, where we work, where we play, where we sleep.”

Still, unlike so many of her peers, Singer reports having had an amazing birth experience.

Inundated by birth horror stories, she decided to change care at 27 weeks in hopes that she would be better supported in her choices at a different institution.

Here, she was allowed a doula and support person to accompany her during her birth.

“Not a lot of women had that luxury,” Singer comments.

Knowing well that birth support is a right and not a luxury, she started her own doula practice in December 2021. 

Singer shares that she experienced severe postpartum depression, but she was able to divert and ultimately reshape this energy into her doula work.

“My doula training was the lifeboat that saved me from drowning in my PPD,” she says.

And now her practice, Faith to Fruition, has become the lifeboat for many of the birthing people Singer supports.

She shares: “I don’t believe that a birther’s desire to have more children should be dictated by their birthing experience. I have heard so many stories from people who had one kid but say, ‘I would never do this again because my experience was so traumatic.’ One of my biggest missions and goals is to support birthers to feel empowered in their process; not as bystanders of their process.”

Singer also holds a full time position as an industrial psychologist where she channels her advocacy work, pushing for organizational change and understanding of proper maternal support.

In fact, as part of a public speaking course for a training curriculum, Singer presented on why it’s important to support breastfeeding. She reports that her audience of roughly 25 was engaged, especially as she pointed out the absurdities of infant feeding culture in our country: How would you feel if I asked you to eat your meal in the bathroom? How would you like to eat with a blanket tossed over your head? for instance.

Singer also points out the “insanely amazing public health outcomes” breastfeeding affords.

If 90 percent of U.S. babies were exclusively breastfed for six months, the United States would save $13 billion per year and prevent an excess 911 deaths, nearly all of which would be in infants ($10.5 billion and 741 deaths at 80% compliance). [Bartick, Reinhold, 2010]

“Not only is there a personal investment, there is a public investment and value to understanding the larger implications,” Singer comments. “As a taxpayer, [breastfeeding] impacts you; as someone who utilizes our healthcare system, [breastfeeding] impacts you.”

With the recent passing of the PUMP Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act coming soon, Singer says “We still have a long way to go.”

Organizational policy doesn’t support motherhood; instead it fuels detached parenting which goes against nature, Singer goes on.

“Mothers feel the brunt of that more than ever,” she says.  “[We aren’t] supported to be able to care for our children the way that we want to.”

Singer says she sees it as her mission as an organizational psychologist to encourage change that supports parenthood, so that women don’t feel threatened to care for their children the way that they want to. This means ensuring that women are provided with ample space to pump their milk while away from their babies and empowering them to approach HR when there aren’t appropriate accommodations.

“Outside forces shouldn’t be able to dictate how you care for and feed your child. The end of one’s breastfeeding journey should be a personal decision.”

She continues, “It’s amazing that legislation is catching up. The thing that I fear with any law, there are still people behind those laws that have to enforce them and carry them out. Education and garnishing an understanding of what this looks like is a key component to implementation. The people behind those policies have to make them successful, but this is  moving things into a very good direction, and I hope that more changes to legislation follow suit, especially with paid parental leave. It’s a catalyst for change; I am hopeful but cautiously optimistic.”

Singer says she owes her personal success continuing to breastfeed her two-and-a-half year old to Chocolate Milk Mommies, where she now serves as a board member.

Through Chocolate Milk Mommies, Singer started a subcommittee to focus on education for individuals within the breastfeeder’s support system.

“The people in the village need to be supportive. When you don’t know better, you can’t do better,” she explains.

Singer recently completed the Lactation Counselor Training Course (LCTC) as part of Chocolate Milk Mommies’ mission to best support their constituents and as a way to benefit her doula clients with more well-rounded support.

“I really loved the training because I already thought that our bodies are amazing, but learning more science was great. I would text my friends the ‘Boobie Fact of the Day’,” Singer shares. “[The science] allows me to really appreciate my journey that much more and how impactful I’m being with my daughter.”

You can follow Singer’s work here and here.

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Breastfeeding is part of a continuum. 

–This post is part of our 10-year anniversary series “Breastfeeding is…”—

Breastfeeding is part of a continuum.

It has been hypothesized that starting around nine weeks of fetal development, the pattern and sequence of intrauterine movements of the fetus seem to be a survival mechanism, which is implemented by the newborn’s patterns of movement during the first hour after birth  (described as the 9 stages)  when skin-to-skin with the mother to facilitate breastfeeding.

Photo credit United States Breastfeeding Committee

This very behavior refutes the idea that breastfeeding is “an adjunct to birth” as it is generally viewed in maternity care settings in America.

Not only are human babies hardwired to progress through 9 stages and self attach to the breast, mammalian bodies are hardwired to produce milk too.

Around 16 weeks of pregnancy, the body starts to prepare for breastfeeding. This phase, called Lactogenesis I is when colostrum begins to be created. During Lactogenesis II, the secretion of copious milk follows the hormonal shift triggered by birth and the placenta delivery. After this phase, milk production must be maintained through a supply-and-demand-like system. [Neville 2001]

Even before a pregnancy is achieved, individuals are being influenced by the infant feeding culture that surrounds them, consciously or subconsciously laying a foundation for how they feel about feeding their own babies.

Pat Hoddinott’s, et al study found that women who had seen successful breastfeeding regularly and perceived this as a positive experience were more likely to initiate breastfeeding.

Exposure to prenatal breastfeeding education also affects breastfeeding outcomes. Irene M. Rosen and colleagues found that women who attended prenatal breastfeeding classes had significantly increased breastfeeding at 6 months when compared to controls.

Photo by Luiza Brain

Mode of birth and birth experiences influence infant feeding too, for both members of the dyad.

A growing body of evidence shows that birth by cesarean section is associated with early breastfeeding cessation.

Intrapartum exposure to the drugs fentanyl and synOT is associated with altered newborn infant behavior, including suckling, while in skin-to-skin contact with mother during the first hour after birth. [Brimdyr, et al 2019]

What’s more, the authors of Intrapartum Administration of Synthetic Oxytocin and Downstream Effects on Breastfeeding: Elucidating Physiologic Pathways found “No positive relationships between the administration of synthetic oxytocin and breastfeeding.” They comment, “Practices that could diminish the nearly ubiquitous practice of inducing and accelerating labor with the use of synthetic oxytocin should be considered when evaluating interventions that affect breastfeeding outcomes.”

Photo by Olivia Anne Snyder on Unsplash

In Transdisciplinary breastfeeding support: Creating program and policy synergy across the reproductive continuum, author Miriam Labbok takes a detailed look at “the power and potential of synergy between and among organizations and individuals supporting breastfeeding, the mother-child dyad, and reproductive health to increase sustainable breastfeeding support.”

Labbok points out that a paradigm shift on the issues in the reproductive continuum – family planning, pregnancy and birthing and breastfeeding– is needed.

“These are issues that are intimately, biologically, gender linked in women’s lives, and yet ones that are generally divided up to be addressed by a variety of different professional disciplines,” Labbok begins.  “Despite the impact of child spacing on birthing success, of birthing practices on breastfeeding success, and of breastfeeding on child spacing, we are offered family planning services by a gynecologist, birth attendance by an obstetrician or midwife, and baby care by a pediatrician. Having these ‘silos’ of care, each with its own paradigm and priorities, may lead to conflicting messages, and hence, may undermine the search for mutuality in goals, and collaboration.”

One such initiative looking to deconstruct siloed care is the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative which includes standards and goals for birthing practices, for breastfeeding-friendly communities, and guidance for birth spacing, in addition to reconfirming the original Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, in recognition that breastfeeding occurs along a continuum.

Source: United States Breastfeeding Committee

1,000 Days emphasizes how breastfeeding fits within the global picture as a crucial part of a whole.

In the U.S. context, the 1,000 Days initiative recognizes comprehensive health coverage, comprehensive guidelines on nutrition during pregnancy, lactation, and early childhood for women in the first 1,000 days, paid family  and medical leave policy for all workers, and investments to ensure parents and caregivers can access good nutrition as solutions to a well nation and a well world.

 

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As part of our celebration, we are giving away an online learning module with contact hours each week. Here’s how to enter into the drawings:

Email info@ourmilkyway.org with your name and “OMW is 10” in the subject line.

This week, in the body of the email, please share with us some or all of your birth stor(ies).

Subsequent weeks will have a different prompt in the blog post.

We will conduct a new drawing each week over the 10-week period.  Please email separately each week to be entered in the drawing. You may only win once. If your name is drawn, we will email a link with access to the learning module. The winner of the final week will score a grand finale swag bag.

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Breastfeeding is collaborative.

–This post is part of our 10-year anniversary series “Breastfeeding is…”—

Breastfeeding is collaborative.

A breastfeeding dyad is a beautiful, fascinating, complex organism. Mother and bab(ies) attend and respond to one another facilitating nourishment, the flow of hormones, immunity, learning and bonding, comfort, fun, an all-encompassing sensory experience that has generational impacts on social, emotional and physical health.

Photo by Luiza Braun

In this intimate depiction of a breastfeeding dyad, a world of collaborative intricacies occur: the undulation of baby’s tongue to help with milk removal, the contraction of myoepithelial cells thanks to oxytocin elicited by baby, the removal of milk to signal mother’s body to produce more, to name a few.

It’s clear that breastfeeding is so much more than “the healthiest feeding choice” nutritionally speaking. Take the following anecdotes for example.

Nikki Lee offers her commentary to this case report on infant botulism in an exclusively breastfed baby explaining how interactive feeding can save a baby’s life.

https://unsplash.com/@luizabraun

“One doesn’t have to ingest honey to contract botulism. Exclusively breastfed babies can get botulism. Some parts of the continental US have c.botulinum in the soil; construction stirs up the soil, and the germ floats in the air. The breastfeeding mother is the one to notice that the baby’s suck isn’t as strong. This is a reason that breastfed babies survive botulism, because they get diagnosed and treated sooner than bottle-fed babies.”

In this case, breastfeeding offered early detection of breast cancer in the mother because of her baby’s refusal to nurse from one side. This phenomenon is known as Goldsmith’s Sign.

To demonstrate the importance of  the relationship that breastfeeding affords, we might consider the implications of separation. Lee again offers insight on the implications of mother baby separation in this piece.

Zooming out to view breastfeeding less individualistically and instead as a global food security system, we must recognize the collaboration necessary to support the breastfeeding dyad and abandon the idea that breastfeeding is a solitary act, a “one-woman job”.

https://unsplash.com/@luizabraun

In Breastfeeding as a ‘Resilient’ Food Security System: Celebrating…. And Problematizing Women’s Resilience in the face of chronic deprivation as well as emergencies, Dr. Vandana Prasad, MBBS, MRCP (Ped) UK, MPH describes breastfeeding as “wholly community-based”. Dr. Prasad continues that breastfeeding is potentially universally accessible and sustainable because it  “depends wholly upon the status of time, energy, health, nutrition and general availability of women”. This achievement, breastfeeding as definitely universally accessible and sustainable,  would require collaborative efforts by “governments, decision-makers, development partners, professional bodies, academia, media, advocates, and other stakeholders” working together, as Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes.

In the U.S., WIC has created an interactive resource “to help reinforce the important role that family and friends play in supporting breastfeeding moms.” The resource invites WIC staff to “click through the prompts with parents, grandparents, and others discussing when and how to offer helpful support so that mom and baby continue to thrive.”

At an organizational level, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) uses a collective impact approach to manage multi-sectoral collaborations, working to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and human milk feeding.

Source: United States Breastfeeding Committee.

Internationally, the Global Breastfeeding Collective calls on donors, policy makers and civil society to increase investment in breastfeeding worldwide.

——–

As part of our celebration, we are giving away an online learning module with contact hours each week. Here’s how to enter into the drawings:

Email info@ourmilkyway.org with your name and “OMW is 10” in the subject line.

This week, in the body of the email, tell us: Who is your s/hero in the field of maternal child health?

Subsequent weeks will have a different prompt in the blog post.

We will conduct a new drawing each week over the 10-week period.  Please email separately each week to be entered in the drawing. You may only win once. If your name is drawn, we will email a link with access to the learning module. The winner of the final week will score a grand finale swag bag.

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Wives co-breastfeed son for two-and-a-half years

The lactation care provider glanced at her breasts and claimed, “You’re not going to be able to produce much milk.” Glenis Decuir, CBS, a young mother at the time, had just given birth to her first baby (now 17 years old), and while she intended to breastfeed her daughter, without explanation, without proper consultation and counseling, without a shred of compassion, the lactation consultant disparaged her intentions so tragically that Decuir not only did not breastfeed her daughter, she remained discouraged through the birth of her second child (now 14 years old) and did not breastfeed him either.

Decuir eventually learned that she has Insufficient Glandular Tissue (IGT) disorder.

“I knew my breasts looked different, but my mom’s looked the same as mine; I didn’t think anything was abnormal,” Decuir explains. “ I was young and wasn’t resourceful; no one explained anything.”

Though Decuir’s introduction to infant feeding was shrouded in the unknown and total neglect from care providers, her story takes a turn, epitomizing self-determination, advocacy and education, perseverance, resilience and empowerment.

In 2018, Decuir’s wife became pregnant with their third child. Because she would not grow and birth this baby, Decuir wondered how she would form a bond with him.

“It was very difficult for me to wrap my head around that,” Decuir shares.

Plunging into self-guided research, Decuir landed on the potential to induce lactation.

When she decided to embark on this path, Decuir reached out for guidance, but found herself in a void.

“Unfortunately, I received the most pushback from doctors, many of whom didn’t even know that inducing lactation was possible,” Decuir documents her road to co-breastfeeding. “I had to see four different doctors before I could find one willing to work with me. Being under the doctor’s care was very important because I had never done this before, and I knew I would be taking medications. After exploring several options, we chose the Newman Goldfarb Protocol as our method of induced lactation.”

For well over 20 weeks, Decuir delved into the protocol.

“Because I had really poor experiences with my first two and poor experiences with seeking help with breastfeeding professionals… I became an advocate… I had overcome so much adversity,” Decuir begins.

Laws state that we can pump anywhere, Decuir continues. And that’s what she did.

“I was pumping in every location imaginable! At my desk, in the car, the movie theater, Six Flags, and much more!” she writes.

Decuir goes on, “I decided to be very public about my entire journey on Instagram. One, I have the right to and I exercise every right, but it also opened a gateway to educating others.”

Prior to inducing lactation, Decuir reports that her children had never been exposed to anyone breastfeeding, “not even at a playground or anything,” she elucidates.

“This is how behind closed doors moms are with breastfeeding,” she says.

But Decuir and her wife’s approach is different; they are open-books with their children, she explains.

“They were old enough to understand scientifically, biologically, physically what my body was going to go through,” Decuir starts. “I educated them through a scientific standpoint, but also talked about normalizing breastfeeding. We talked about my daughter breastfeeding in the future, and my son and his role as a man in a household and how he can support his future wife to breastfeed.”

Decuir recalls the emotional and practical support her older children offered: “I cried in front of them, I pumped in front of them, I laughed in front of them; they helped wash bottles and Spectra parts…”

In sharing her journey with others though, Decuir wasn’t always met with such maturity and acceptance.

“I got everything under the sun,” Decuir remembers. Some told her it was disgusting, some found it weird, and some even went as far as to claim it child abuse.

Orion was born on September 2, 2018. At the time of his birth, Decuir was producing 16 ounces a day– quite close to what is considered full production– and had stored over 1,000 of her milk in a deep freezer.

Decuir says that she didn’t set forth focusing on the quantity though. “I wasn’t thinking about achieving full supply; I was thinking about producing anything. Even if it was only five ounces a day, I thought, I can at least do one feeding a day and that to me was worth it on its own.”

She continues: “Every time that I would latch Orion on, I just thanked Mother Nature and how amazing our bodies are. Maybe if I had birthed Orion, if I  had just latched him on, it wouldn’t have been a second thought, but because of what I went through–I worked real, real hard– every time I was able to latch my son, I literally thanked the universe. I was so grateful.”

Decuir and her wife went on to co-breastfeed Orion until he was two-and-a-half.

Throughout her breastfeeding relationship, Decuir remained visible in her efforts. “Having the power to go through that experience breastfeeding anywhere and everywhere in public, it became almost liberating and very freeing to be able to exercise my right, and in doing so I came across a lot of people. I took them as opportunities to talk more about breastfeeding and breastfeeding in public.”

At the start of her journey, in order to create her village, Decuir started a private Facebook support group. Today it has over two and a half thousand members.

Locally, Decuir serves as a breastfeeding support person through ZipMilk and is a ROSE Community Transformer, all on a volunteer basis. She has presented at the ROSE Summit in years’ past and is currently working on a book.

You can read Decuir’s former publications about her co-breastfeeding journey at https://aeroflowbreastpumps.com/blog/the-road-to-co-breastfeeding

https://www.baby-chick.com/what-is-co-breastfeeding/ and

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/co-breastfeeding_n_5c13eaf8e4b049efa75213e6.

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