Boston Breastfeeding Coalition Newsletter
February 2022
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“Black love is collective love. It's not only for the individual, it's love for the community.” — Angela Davis
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February is Black History Month |
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This Black History Month, we would like to highlight some organizations that are actively focused on Black Breastfeeding as well as providing care, education, resources and tools to Black families, ensuring equity in healthcare and building a strong foundation for generational communal health.
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Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE), Inc. was founded in July 2011 by three Atlanta-based women who have worked for decades in the field of maternal and child health (MCH). Since its founding, ROSE has grown to a network that includes physicians, nurses, nutritionists, social workers, peer counselors, and parents, led Dr. Kimarie Bugg, MSN, FNP-BC, MPH, CLC, PhD. ROSE currently provides outreach, education, and technical assistance to prenatal care providers and delivery centers to encourage them to adopt practices that support breastfeeding in their policies.
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The Black Mamas Matter Alliance is a Black woman-led cross-sectorial alliance. They focus on providing support, assistance, and training, being leaders in conversation, and cultivating a network of Black women leaders to advance policy change and cultural growth.
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The Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association seeks to have a national impact on the reduction of racial disparities in breastfeeding success for black families. BMBFA aims to build foundational networks of support, and strengthen systems to overcome historical, societal and social barriers to breastfeeding success.
The attached fact sheet demonstrates the importance breastfeeding for individual children, families, and entire communities.
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For the month of February in honor of Black History Month, MasterClass is offering the entire Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love courses for free.
This class will inform, contextualize and challenge viewers to rethink the notions of race and racism, while reconciling gaps in traditional education about U.S. history and offer tools and techniques to empower change in our own lives.
There are over 50 classes from instructors Nikole Hannah-Jones, Angela Davis, Jelani Cobb, Cornel West, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, John McWhorter, and Sherrilyn Ifill.
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You're invited to a virtual conversation on the child care crisis, centering the experiences and voices of Black mothers. U.S. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley joins Dr. Renee Boynton-Jarrett, Founder of Vital Village Networks, and Dr. Michelle Sanchez, Principal of the Epiphany School, moderated by Latoya Gayle, Sr. Director of Advocacy at Neighborhood Villages.
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The State of Black Maternal Health in Massachusetts |
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Join Count the Kicks and Mother Is Supreme for a panel discussion on The State of Black Maternal Health in Massachusetts. This event is the culmination of a month-long series to bring awareness to the state of Black Maternal Health in honor of Black History Month and change the trajectory through education and awareness for Black Birthers.
Panelists will look at the history of Black Women and obstetrics, discuss where we are now with pre-conception, prenatal care, postpartum care, and maternal mortality/morbidity before looking to the future and possible solutions to address areas where Black women are more susceptible.
Mark your calendars and join us on Feb. 28 at 12 p.m. EST to learn more.
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The Health Affairs magazine published a study exploring Black women’s reproductive health concerns in two southern states which highlighted racism as a feature of the Black reproductive health experience, affecting access to, use of, and experience with reproductive care. Policies that reduce structural barriers to reproductive health coverage and service availability and that provide resources for more culturally competent care will help improve the experience of Black women seeking reproductive health services and may ultimately improve health outcomes.
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Paid Research Opportunities |
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Program Manager for Health Equity Accelerator's Equity in Pregnancy Initiative
The person in this role will help to roll-out and expand innovative interventions aimed at reducing racial inequities in pregnancy outcomes. Please reach out to Gwyneth Jones (Gwyneth.Jones@bmc.org) if interested or with any questions.
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Employment Opportunities at Rosie's Place
Rosie's Place is a multi-service community center that offers a variety of services, including shelter and meals, legal assistance, community outreach, ESOL classes, and more. Open positions include Volunteer Services Associate and Essential Services Worker.
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Boston While Black, a network of young professionals, community activists, creatives, and politicians, all with a focus of advancing Boston's Black communities and creating a space to network and connect, is looking for team members! Current open positions include Director of Marketing, Director of Operations, and Community and Events Manager.
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There is a variety of volunteering opportunities at Rosie's Place! You can help out in the food kitchen, teach a class, high school students can learn about social justice issues while earning community service hours, and you can coordinate a drive for much-needed items!
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Our support groups are still meeting, just virtually! We are looking for more volunteers to help us support mothers. Any direct lactation mentoring done during virtual support groups can count towards IBCLC hours.
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We love staying up-to-date with your news! If you want us to share out updates, events, flyers, webinars, or job opportunities, let us know. You can email us at bostonbreastfeeding@bmc.org or tag @bostonbreastfeeding on relevant Facebook posts and we can re-share on social media or add to our Coalition Newsletters.
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Educational Materials, Resources, and Webinars |
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On February 17, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM PST BreastfeedLA presents Black Women Breastfeed Too: Past, Present, and Future, a live webinar which will present a look at chest/breastfeeding in Black communities in a historical context, as well as introduce HERstory, a non-profit dedicated to the support of Black families in their chest/breastfeeding journey.
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Monday, February 28, 2022, from 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST, join the third part of the 8-part "Every Step of the Way through the First 1,000 Days" webinar series.
Presenters will discuss breastfeeding policies, systems, and lactation-friendly environments within Early Care and Education (ECE) settings, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), workplace and food pantries. Continuing education credits are pending approval.
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Join us for Part 2 of the "Continuity of Care in Breastfeeding Support" webinar series. This session will discuss continuity of care and breastfeeding policies, systems, and lactation-friendly environments within the following stakeholders in the local health system for chest/breastfeeding: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), workplaces, food pantries, and early care and education settings.
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Join the 10-week Tuesday evening course which begins on March 8th, 2022, from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. At this time, the course is going to be held online with as much as possible of it being in-person at Newton Wellesley Hospital.
The course will provide childbirth education, mentorship and partnership, as well as teaching you how to provide as much support as possible to expectant families. In the end, you will receive a BACE certificate as a Childbirth Educator.
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Breastfeeding and Mental Health Pocket Guide
Mental health providers should know the positive correlation between breastfeeding and mental health and the negative correlation between weaning and mental health and speak to patients about the importance of breastfeeding for positive mental health outcomes. Download the Breastfeeding and Mental Health Guidance Pocket Guide at mibreastfeeding.org/tools under the “Mental Health” tab.
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This guide lists programs and organizations that provide free diapers to community members with updated contact information and eligibility requirements. The guide includes locations for Greater Boston, Northeastern Massachusetts, and Southeastern Massachusetts.
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Regularly updated with descriptions, contact info, locations, hours, and website links for important basic family needs.
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Resources and tools to help institutions, community organizations, schools, and worksites to improve consistency and collaborations with other organizations to ensure a seamless support system for lactation.
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The Blueprint, developed with a public health lens, aims to increase local capacity to implement community-driven approaches to support chest/breastfeeding, centered on the needs of populations disproportionately impacted by structural barriers that leads to low rates of breastfeeding.
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Are you interested in receiving this newsletter in Spanish?
Le interesaría recibir este boletín en español?
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Por favor déjenos saber si le interesaría recibir una versión de este boletín en español!
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Are you a Breastfeeding Scholar who is looking to connect with other Scholars?
Join the private Facebook Group just for Breastfeeding Scholars - a centralized location to stay updated on CERP offerings, scholarship opportunities, network with peers, and share and find resources.
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Vital Village Network's Boston Breastfeeding Coalition is committed to improving access to breastfeeding support for every parent in Boston, promoting connections between individuals and organizations that engage in breastfeeding advocacy, and supporting pathways for professional lactation counselors. |
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