Boston Breastfeeding Coalition Newsletter
April 2022
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“Dancing, laughing and finding pleasure in the small things may be of value to most families, but for black families, engaging in joyful practices is necessary to our survival, to our ability to fully claim our humanity.” — from "I Won't Let Racism Rob My Black Child of Joy" by Dani McClain, award-winning journalist, author, and activist
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The Boston Breastfeeding Coalition supports individual community leaders in developing their skills as lactation support professionals in order to increase breastfeeding support access across Boston and offer professional development pathways for community leaders. Please check out two upcoming Breastfeeding Peer Support training opportunities. |
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Training Dates: May 17-19, 2022 (3rd day led by Boston Breastfeeding Coalition Members)
Training Location: Virtually
The ROSE Community Transformer Training workshop occurs over the first two-days utilizing an evidence-based curriculum on providing peer breastfeeding support.
During the training, individuals learn the essential skills for providing peer counseling in the area of lactation management and methods for making referrals to resources for interventions outside of their scope of practice. The third day of the workshop is designed and led by Boston Breastfeeding Coalition members and will review how to organize and host a lactation support group.
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Training Dates: This virtual training includes 52-hours of course curriculum that can be completed over the course of 4 months (June 2022-September 2022).
Training Location: Virtually. Read more about the Center for Breastfeeding's requirements for the CLC training here.
Participants will have earned 52 L-CERPS upon completion of the training and be prepared to sit for the CLC exam. The online training curriculum, review and competencies will be completed over a 4 month period. Your scholar cohort will meet bi weekly with the Scholars Facilitator and monthly at Scholar Support Nights to check in on progress and receive support or clarification about course material. Scholars will also have a mentor to support with training material.
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April 11th-17th: Black Maternal Health Week: This year marks the fifth year anniversary of the Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) campaign (April 11th-17th). Founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, BMHW is a week of awareness, activism, and community building. “Building for Liberation: Centering Black Mamas, Black Families and Black Systems of Care” reflects BMMA’s work in centering Black women’s scholarship, maternity care work, and advocacy across the full-spectrum of sexual, maternal, and reproductive health care, services, programs, and initiatives.
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Black Maternal Health Week 2022 |
This year, the White House released a statement emphasizing the recent Services Grant Program for Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women, the "Momnibus" Act put forward by Vice President Harris, and outlining the actions for the year ahead. The outlook states that the White House will work on bolstering community-based programs, enhancing research and healthcare coordination, and lowering healthcare costs. |
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"How Serena Williams Saved Her Own Life" |
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Ahead of Black Maternal Health Week, legendary sportswoman Serena Williams published an article about her own harrowing experience as a Black woman maneuvering the healthcare system as an expecting mother. She writes, "being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life and death for me." The article, published in the April 2022 edition of Elle Magazine, is available to read in its entirety below.
Since then, Williams has started her own maternal care start-up, Mahmee, which focuses on bridging the gap between technology and adequate care, allowing practitioners to catch red flags earlier and treat preventatively rather than wait for a crisis.
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Black Maternal Health Week Toolkit |
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#BMHW22 Social Medial Toolkit is live! |
The #BMHW22 social media toolkit is now available. This toolkit offers key messaging, resources, and shareable graphics for promotion across your digital and social media channels.
You can download the toolkit by clicking the link.
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Boston Public Library Events for Children and Adults |
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Tuesday, April 19
2:00 - 3:30pm EST
If you are called upon to care for a loved one, practically the first thing you will hear is “make sure to take care of yourself.” Practical “how-to’s” are rarely part of this kindhearted advice. Join Katie McInnis-Dittrich, social worker, educator, and author, for a discussion of what caring for yourself really means, including how to find concrete ways to balance the demands of caregiving with your needs for self-care, so self-care doesn’t become just another burden. She will also outline how friends and community organizations can offer meaningful help and support.
Times and dates vary, check calendar for more details.
If you are interested in yoga, you are in luck! The Boston Public Library is hosting a variety of yoga events on different dates and different times, so you are likely to find a time that fits any schedule. These events will be held in person at Adams St, Fields Corner, & West End. Check out their official calendar for more details.
Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20
10:30 - 11:30am, 12:30 - 1:30pm
Come to any of THREE different branch libraries during April vacation week to sing and dance in English and Spanish with Shon and Marcos from the amazing Rockabye Beats! These immersive outdoor events are a chance for parents and their babies, toddlers, and preschoolers to have fun, make new friends, and jump into the world of music! Learn more about times and locations here!
Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20
10:30 - 11:30am, 12:30 - 1:30pm, 2:30 - 3:30pm, 3:00 - 4:00pm
Come to any of SIX different branch libraries during April vacation week to sing along in English and Spanish with the Latin Grammy-winning music duo 123 Andrés! The catchy songs in this lively, immersive outdoor concert will get the whole family dancing and learning together. Check out this calendar for more details on registration, location, and time.
Earth Day Puppet Making Workshop
Friday, April 22
10:30 - 11:30am
In honor of Earth Day and School Vacation Week BPL are excited to welcome Charlotte Dore of Rosalita's Puppets at Uphams Corner. She will be leading an amazing puppet making workshop. BPL will supply the materials and you will bring your imagination to create some wonderful puppets. Learn more here!
Times and dates vary, please see calendar for details
On four Thursdays from March to June 2022, join BPL's Artist-in-Residence LJ Baptiste in an all-new intensive comics course! This multi-session course will give teens in grades 6 through 12 the opportunity to take their knowledge and skills within this incredible medium to the next level. Explore the depths of comic creation as LJ deconstructs the processes and influence behind famed greats in the world of comics and manga, and apply your learning to new work in storytelling and creative artistry! Please see this calendar for registration details, times and locations.
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Some More April Break Events for Children |
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April 18th-22nd, 2022
Highland Street Foundation is pleased to partner with the following organizations to provide free opportunities during April school vacation week. Please note that some of these activities require advance registration on a first-come, first-served basis and have limited capacity. Please visit individual websites to view COVID protocols. If you need additional information or have questions, please email Brian McNulty. See flyer for more details.
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This month we would like to highlight an important topic, which is the benefit of play for Black children, especially in light of Black Maternal Health Week and the state of our systems and institutions. This article highlights the many reasons why play isn't just important, but vital for Black children to experience joy, love, healing, to be celebrated, and to reclaim their spaces.
Apart from individual actions, the authors recommend the construction of inclusive and anti-oppressive community and public spaces.
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Paid Research Opportunities |
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Healthy Families Resource Specialist at Health Families MA, Children's Trust
The Healthy Families Resource Specialist will provide technical assistance and support to Healthy Families supervisors and coordinators, as part of the Healthy Families MA (HFM) Resource Specialist team, coordinating with others on the Healthy Families or Children’s Trust team, as needed.
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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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Parent Leaders/Innovators will bring the voice of those with lived child welfare experience into program planning and implementation to improve outcomes for the children and families engaged in the Safe Babies Court TeamTM (SBCT) approach. Two Parent Leader/Innovators will be chosen as consultants. Parent Leaders will engage in up to 10 hours per week of consulting and will be compensated at $35/hour. If you are a parent with lived-experience in child welfare and are interested in being a parent leader, please complete the online form linked below.
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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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Through our Mississippi CHAMPS program, CHEER worked with the Bower Foundation, Inspire Health, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), to script and create the Breastfeeding | Human Medicine IPE in 2020. Now, CHEER has received a grant to distribute the IPE across disciplines, nationally and globally! The project will leverage existing partnerships and collaborations to scale up medical and professional breastfeeding education and promote a culture of support for people who choose to breastfeed.
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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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