This is part of a series we are doing to highlight our inspirational Milk Magic Educators. To learn more about the program including about how to sign up, visit Nurturely.org/milkmagic. Next up: Latoya!
After seeing Nurturely’s Milk Magic Program on social media, lactation advocate, Latoya joined our community of human milk educators. She is a doula who is part of two different collectives and serves a diverse group of parents. Learn more about Latoya in this short video!
To describe the communities in which I serve, I would say we are resilient and strong birth warriors, because we must battle iatrogenetic medical apartheid and obstetric violence and continue to be dependent on the system that turns a blind eye to our mistreatment especially with regard to medical care. We suffer the highest statistical rates of three of the top five annual preventable killers here in the U.S. (Heart disease, diabetes & cancer) and we suffer the highest statistics for infant mortality and maternal mortality as well. There are so many disparities that interact in the lives of the families I serve such as, initiation of breast/chestfeeding and duration of continued breast/chestfeeding, poverty/financial burdens, food insecurity, job insecurity, stress, psychological trauma as well as other environmental, economic and social disparities that are highly racialized, but also affect other marginalized communities such as LGBTQIA folks, differently-abled families, non-nuclear families and immigrant & refugee families. The communities that I serve are those that are most affected by discrimination and those least likely to receive the equitable support and care they need and deserve.
As a doula, student midwife, and mother, I know how hard it is to get access to lactation support when you are not able to pay for classes or consultants. It is also hard for people like me to afford education to provide these services, so the fact that I could join the program and use the curriculum within the non-profit, extending the support these families could get, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity.
When I had my first child I was 21. I was the first one in my family to breastfeed. Through that I saw that there were many women in similar positions. I became the person all of my friends called asking about breastfeeding. I knew that there were things that needed to be addressed. I often tell my clients I aim to provide them with the support and education I wish I had received as a first time mom.
Because lactation should not be a privilege. There are many challenges in our society for a parent to be able to accomplish their breastfeeding goals specially for minorities, BIPOC, low income individuals, immigrants, and those with low support. We need to change that and be able to provide support and accessible health education.
I’m a mama on a mission. I want to support and encourage mamas along their journey. I want to share the information I’ve learned in hopes to encourage breastfeeding mamas to keep going. There’s a lack of support and quality resources and I want to step in a fill that gap. What started off as a kind gesture, a post here and there, has grown and matured into a passion. I think that human milk is amazing and I want mamas to be able to make the BEST and most informed decision when it comes to feeding their children.
