Shelby County Breastfeeding Coalition

04/12/2026

Welcome to Black Maternal Health Week 2026. Please attend as share as many of the events with moms.

04/10/2026

Spotlighting another series of events for Black Maternal Health Week

04/10/2026

There's still time to register to attend this event!

04/10/2026

Let's support our own Nishelle Smith as she embraces moms at the Plug into the village event. Tomorrow April 11th. She volunteers so much for us. Its our time to give back. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4BAEAF2CA1F9CF8-62522397-village #/

Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Thank you!

04/04/2026

Nobody talks about this part.

When your baby sleeps close to you
they’re not “getting used to it”
they’re being built by it.

All those little moments of touch
every cuddle
every night feed
every time they reach for you in their sleep

That’s not just comfort.

That’s their nervous system learning
what safe feels like.

Your touch helps regulate their heartbeat
their breathing
their stress levels

It literally tells their body
“You’re okay. You’re safe. You’re not alone.”

And because of that…

Their cortisol stays lower
their oxytocin rises
their immune system gets stronger

Their brain starts wiring itself
for connection instead of survival mode.

This is how emotional regulation begins.
This is how secure attachment is formed.
This is how resilience is built.

Not by distance.
Not by “teaching independence.”

But by presence.

Sleeping close doesn’t create bad habits.
It creates a foundation.

Because babies aren’t born knowing how to self soothe…
they learn it
through being soothed
over and over again
by you.

And one day…

they won’t need to reach for you in the night anymore.

But the security you gave them?
That stays for life.

Tag a mama who needed this 🤍

03/17/2026

A scientist analyzed 700 samples of mother's milk—and discovered it wasn't food at all. It was a conversation.
California, 2008. Dr. Katie Hinde sits in her lab, surrounded by data that refuses to make sense.
She's studying breast milk from rhesus macaque mothers. Hundreds of samples. Thousands of measurements. The kind of straightforward nutritional analysis that should produce straightforward results.
Instead, she keeps finding patterns that contradict everything in the textbooks.
The milk isn't consistent. It's changing. Adapting. Responding to variables she hasn't even measured yet.
She runs the analysis again. Checks her instruments. Reviews her methodology.
The patterns hold.
Some mothers are producing milk concentrated with fat and energy. Others are producing higher volumes with completely different nutrient profiles. It's not random variation—it's systematic. Purposeful.
Katie presents her findings to colleagues.
The responses come immediately: "Measurement error." "Statistical artifact." "Probably nothing."
Because if milk composition actually changes based on individual babies and their specific needs, that would mean something medical science had never seriously considered:
Milk isn't nutrition being delivered. Milk is information being exchanged.
For generations, we treated breast milk like biological fuel. Calories in, baby grows. A natural formula. Simple. Case closed.
But Katie trusted what the data was showing her.
She kept digging.
Across hundreds of mothers and thousands of samples, a revolutionary picture emerged.
Milk composition changes throughout a single day. Morning milk contains compounds that promote alertness—natural wake-up chemistry. Evening milk includes precursors that help babies sleep.
The first milk in a feeding (foremilk) differs from the last (hindmilk). Early milk hydrates. Final milk delivers concentrated calories, naturally teaching infants to feed completely.
Then Katie discovered something that rewrote biology textbooks.
Human milk contains over 200 complex sugars called oligosaccharides that babies cannot even digest. They pass through the infant's system completely unchanged.
Why would evolution include indigestible compounds in the primary food source for human infants?
Because they're not food for the baby.
They're food for beneficial bacteria in the infant's gut. Milk simultaneously nourishes the child and cultivates their microbiome—building the bacterial ecosystem that will protect them for life.
But the most astonishing discovery was still ahead.
When babies nurse, microscopic amounts of saliva make contact with breast tissue. That saliva carries chemical signals about the infant's immune system—information about pathogens encountered, threats developing, infections beginning.
The mother's body reads those signals.
And the milk transforms.
Within hours, white blood cell counts can surge. Antibodies appear—targeted to whatever the baby's chemistry revealed. When the infant recovers, the milk composition returns to baseline.
The breast isn't just producing nutrition. It's responding in real-time to biological intelligence from the baby.
A dialogue. A conversation refined across 200 million years of mammalian evolution.
Mother and infant exchanging chemical information with every feeding. The mother's immune system educating the baby's defenses before symptoms even emerge.
And medical science had barely studied it.
Katie began investigating the research landscape. What she found was stunning:
Breast milk—the first food every human being consumes, the biological system that sustained every one of our ancestors—had been dramatically under-researched compared to other aspects of human biology.
Women's health, particularly the science of motherhood, had been systematically deprioritized.
Katie decided that needed to change.
In 2011, she launched "Mammals Suck...Milk!"—a blog that made lactation science accessible. Within a year, over a million readers were discovering answers to questions science had never properly asked.
The research accelerated.
Every mother's milk is biologically unique—customized not just to our species, not just to her individual baby, but to the specific moment in that baby's development, the environment they're in, the immune challenges they're facing right now.
In 2017, Katie brought this research to the TED stage. Over 1.5 million people watched.
In 2020, her work reached millions more through the Netflix documentary "Babies."
Today, at Arizona State University's Comparative Lactation Lab, Dr. Katie Hinde continues transforming how we understand infant development and maternal biology.
The implications reach everywhere.
Preterm infants in NICUs receive fundamentally different care now. Formula manufacturers are redesigning products with new understanding. Lactation support has improved because we finally comprehend what milk actually accomplishes.
But here's what matters most:
Katie Hinde didn't just discover new facts about milk.
She exposed how half the human experience—the biology of mothers and infants—had been under-studied because it was considered less important than other research priorities.
She proved that nourishment is intelligence. That the first relationship every human has isn't passive delivery but active conversation.
An information transfer. An education in immunity, behavior, and survival encoded in chemistry.
Today, comparative lactation is a growing field. New researchers. New questions. New discoveries emerging constantly.
All because one scientist looked at data that contradicted accepted models and asked:
"What if the data is correct and the model is wrong?"
Sometimes the most significant revolutions don't require new technology or massive funding.
They come from someone paying attention to what everyone else overlooked.
Katie Hinde thought she was analyzing milk composition.
What she uncovered was a conversation 200 million years in the making—sophisticated, adaptive, intelligent—hidden in plain sight because no one had thought to truly listen.
Now we're listening.
And what we're hearing changes everything we thought we knew about how mothers and babies communicate, how immunity develops, and how the most fundamental act of nurture is also the most sophisticated transfer of biological wisdom ever evolved.

03/07/2026

03/07/2026

Rep. Kelly introduces bicameral WELLS Act, new maternal health bill named after constituent
March 5, 2026
Press Release
Mercedes Wells, a Black woman, gave birth in a truck after discharged from a hospital in active labor
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) introduced a new maternal health bill today named after Mercedes Wells, her constituent and a Black woman who was forced to give birth on the side of the road minutes after being discharged from a hospital while in active labor.

The Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety (WELLS) Act seeks to prevent similar traumatic situations by urging hospitals and birthing centers to develop and implement a safe discharge plan. The WELLS Act also includes racial bias training for healthcare professionals, building on Rep. Kelly’s Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act of 2022.

“I’m bringing Mercedes’ story to Congress because her voice, and every Black woman’s voice, deserves to be heard loud and clear. Black women’s pain in labor cannot and should not be ignored, dismissed, and discharged,” said Rep. Kelly. “When I met Mercedes, she said she wanted to be used as a vessel for change. I will never forget her courage, and I’ll make sure our hospitals change for her, her newborn daughter, and every Black woman. I’m rooting out racism in our healthcare system until all women receive the care they deserve, no matter the color of her skin.”

Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) will introduce the Senate companion bill.

“The United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, yet Black women here face some of the highest maternal mortality rates among other nations,” said Senator Blunt Rochester, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. “There are harrowing reports of pregnant women being turned away from hospitals, not being taken seriously, and ultimately forced to give birth in unsafe conditions. I’m proud to partner with Congresswoman Robin Kelly to introduce the WELLS Act. Our bill would require hospitals to develop and follow a Safe Discharge Labor Plan before discharging a patient with signs of labor, and ensure medical professionals are equipped to reduce health disparities. Together, we’re going to take on the Black maternal health crisis and ensure more moms and babies are healthy during pregnancy, birth, and beyond.”

The WELLS Act is cosponsored by U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson-Coleman (NJ-12) and Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), who are both co-chairs with Rep. Kelly on the Caucus of Black Women and Girls.

"Whatever the color of our skin, where we live, or how much money we make, most Americans want a country that respects the well-being of everyone, especially expectant mothers. Sadly, women of color have had seen their health concerns dismissed, whether due to bias of healthcare providers or the pernicious pursuit of profit by hospital systems,” said Rep. Watson-Coleman. “This has led to astonishing and shameful maternal and infant mortality rates among women of color in many parts of our country that rivals rates seen in impoverished nations. This is unacceptable. I thank Rep. Kelly for putting this issue front and center. Working together, we can tackle this crisis and make the United States the best place in the world to have a child."

“For too long, women of color have faced neglect in their maternal health. There are too many cases where women go into labor, and what should have been a healthy and safe delivery for both mother and child ends in neglect and death. As a proud original co-sponsor of the Wells Act, I strongly support this legislation to protect mothers and newborns nationwide,” said Rep. Clarke. "This measure requires hospitals to ensure safe postpartum care, including clear discharge plans, backup facilities, reliable transportation, and patient understanding. It also mandates racial bias training for healthcare workers to address disparities in maternal care. This bill strengthens accountability, promotes equity, and takes a crucial step toward safer, equitable labor and delivery experience for all women.”

The WELLS Act is also endorsed by 4Kira4Moms, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, Chamber of Mothers, and In Our Own Voice.

“The introduction of the WELLS Act is a welcome move,” said Gabrielle Albert, Executive Director of 4Kira4Moms. “Maternal health is a fundamental human right and not a partisan issue; ensuring that all mothers—especially Black women, who die from pregnancy‑related causes at three times the rate of White women—have access to safe, respectful care and comprehensive coverage is a national imperative. America cannot boast of being the greatest nation in the world while mothers die senselessly from preventable medical issues. The WELLS Act is a step toward ensuring that our healthcare system lives up to our values and truly protects every parent and child.”

“The Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance supports the WELLS Act because too many Black mothers continue to face disproportionately high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States,” said Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, Founder and Director of Policy and Partnerships at MMHLA. “When patients are dismissed or unheard during pregnancy and childbirth, the consequences affect not only their physical safety but also their mental health and wellbeing. This legislation is an important step toward ensuring mothers receive respectful care that protects both their physical and mental health.”

“Mercedes Wells should never have been put in the position she was put in—and unfortunately, her story reflects a larger reality,” said Erin Erenberg, CEO of Chamber of Mothers. “Too many mothers in this country, especially Black mothers, aren’t being heard, believed, or safely cared for during one of the most vulnerable and powerful moments of their lives: birth. The basic issue is that mothers are dismissed. Protocols put into place because of the WELLS Act will force a slowing down and listening to what a mother in labor has to say about what she needs. Policies like this can save lives.”

“In Our Own Voice proudly supports the WELLS Act, legislation rooted in a reality Black women know far too well: our pain is often dismissed or ignored, even in life-threatening moments,” said Regina Davis Moss, President and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda. “Despite Mercedes Wells telling the nurses responsible for her care that she was in excruciating agony while in active labor, she was still discharged, ultimately forcing her to give birth in her car on the side of the road. The WELLS Act is an important step toward ensuring that Black women are treated with dignity, believed when we say we are in pain, and receive the standard of care every family deserves. By strengthening accountability in maternal care and confronting racial bias in how patients are treated, this legislation moves us closer to true Reproductive Justice. Thank you, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, for continuing to champion maternal health policy solutions that protect Black mothers and families.”

The WELLS Act lays out requirements for a safe discharge labor plan:

Clinical justification for discharge;
Patient understanding for discharge and following plan;
Assessment of travel distance between hospital and patient’s destination;
Identification of a back-up hospital or birthing center on the way to patient’s destination;
Verification of reliable transportation.
Read the full bill text here.https://robinkelly.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/robinkelly.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-robin-kelly-s-wells-act.pdf

In addition to Reps. Watson-Coleman and Clarke, the WELLS Act is cosponsored by 13 more Members of Congress: LaMonica McIver, Eleanor Holms Norton, Terri Sewell, Shontel Brown, Gwen Moore, Valerie Foushee, Frederica S. Wilson, Rashida Tlaib, Yassmin Ansari, Paul Tonko, Cleo Fields, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Danny Davis.
https://robinkelly.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-kelly-introduces-bicameral-wells-act-new-maternal-health-bill-named?

03/07/2026

Improving direct breastfeeding at discharge in a Level II Neonatal ICU
Abstract
Objective
Direct breastfeeding (DBF) during Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission has many benefits. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to increase DBF at discharge in a community hospital level II NICU.

Methods
This is a single center time series QI study that used serial plan do study act cycles occurring over 12 months and data collection over 3.5 years. Outcome measure was successful breastmilk transfer in the 48 h prior to discharge. Balancing measures were provision of own human milk and gestational age at discharge.

Results
DBF prior to discharge increased from 34% (14/41) to 79% (53/67) after initiating the QI project, p < 0.01. There was no change in the provision of own human milk at discharge. Gestational age at discharge increased from 37.2 to 37.7 weeks, p = 0.05.

Conclusion
QI interventions increased DBF in the NICU, supporting feasibility of breastfeeding among premature infants.

Reference:
Wakeman, K., Grant, J., Demshki, M. et al. Improving direct breastfeeding at discharge in a Level II Neonatal ICU. J Perinatol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-026-02612-1

02/20/2026

THE LINK! WOULD BE HELPFUL...