KBIC Breastfeeding Support

11/15/2025

🌿 Watch Anytime, Anywhere: “Skin to Skin is Not Universal: Teaching Equity” presented by Raeanne Madison, MPH🌿

As frontline workers and educators serving birthing families, we often emphasize the importance of “skin to skin” contact, especially in the first hour after birth. But standard teaching approaches may not meet the needs of all families or reflect the diverse contexts in which care happens.

This webinar explores how skin to skin is not universally applicable, and offers strategies to teach and support early parenting and lactation in ways that are equitable, culturally aware, and context-sensitive.

✨ In this session, you’ll:
-Recognize three benefits of skin to skin contact 🤱🏾
-Understand how diverse community and cultural contexts shape perceptions of skin to skin 🌎
-Learn three equity-based teaching strategies to support all families 💛

💻 Approved for: 1 L-CERP | 1 Nurse Contact Hour | 1 Social Work CE | 1 CHW CEU | 1 CHEC | 1 CME (valid until 12/24/25)

🔗 Register and access here: mibreastfeeding.org/webinars

11/05/2025

Thank you for showing up, for the late nights, the cracked ni***es, the tears, and the quiet victories no one else saw.

Thank you for choosing to do something ancient, powerful, and sacred in a world that often tells you it’s unnecessary, inconvenient, or outdated.

Thank you for trusting your body when society made you doubt it. For saying no to pressure and yes to biology, even when the world around you questioned it. You’ve heard the comments: “It doesnt matter either way” “You’re still breastfeeding?” “All kids eat nuggies off the floor anyway.” And still, you kept going.

You fed your baby with your body, in parking lots, bathrooms, supply closets, hospital chairs, and sleepless nights. You pumped between shifts, packed milk in coolers, and whispered “just one more ounce” through exhaustion and grace.

You weren’t doing “what’s best”, you were doing what’s right. What nature intended. What every mammal before you has done to sustain life.
And you did it in a culture that praises everything artificial and questions everything biological.

You breastfed through mastitis, clogged ducts, tongue ties, postpartum anxiety, and the endless noise of people who don’t understand.

You breastfed when you were told your milk wasn’t enough, but it was. You breastfed when your letdown burned, your baby cried, and your patience thinned, but love remained steady.

You didn’t just make milk, you made antibodies, comfort, and connection. You regulated your baby’s heartbeat, temperature, hormones, and emotions, with nothing more than your presence.

And even if no one ever said it, thank you.

Thank you for showing other women that breastfeeding isn’t weakness, it’s resistance. Thank you for proving that nurture and nature still belong in the same sentence. Thank you for being the quiet revolution, for every mother who was told she couldn’t, shouldn’t, or didn’t need to.

You are the proof that the system is what’s broken, not your body. Your milk is medicine. Your effort is advocacy. And your baby is thriving because you did what you were designed to do.

Breastfeeding isn’t easy, but you made it possible.
And for that, you deserve to be thanked, celebrated, and protected. 🩷🤱🏼

11/05/2025

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☀️🤱🏼💕

11/05/2025

🧠 New Research: Breastfeeding and Long-Term Brain Growth

Ottino-González et al. (2025) found that longer breastfeeding duration was associated with greater cortical thickness and improved cognitive function.

Researchers looked at over 5,000 children between the ages of 9–12 years. They analyzed brain scans, thinking skills, and breastfeeding history.

What they found was powerful: the longer a child had been breastfed, the stronger and healthier their brain structure appeared…. even years later.

💡 Here’s what they found:

Children who were breastfed longer had:
✨ Thicker brain cortex — this is the outer layer of the brain responsible for memory, attention, perception, and awareness.
✨ Larger brain surface area — which is connected to intelligence, emotional regulation, and learning.
✨ More myelin in key areas — myelin is like “insulation” that helps brain cells send messages quickly and efficiently.

Even more fascinating? Those brain differences were directly linked to better cognitive function, meaning stronger memory, focus, and problem-solving skills.
And this was still true almost a decade after they’d been weaned.

We often talk about breastfeeding benefits in terms of early life… immune support, fewer infections, lower risks of allergies, and reduced hospitalizations. But this study reminds us that human milk is brain food in every sense of the word. It’s not just about calories. It’s living tissue, filled with fatty acids like DHA, hormones, stem cells, antibodies, and over a thousand bioactive molecules that support brain development.

Think of it as communication milk: every feed delivers microscopic messages that tell your baby’s brain how to grow, connect, and adapt.

Of course, this doesn’t mean breastfeeding is the only factor, genes, environment, and education all play roles. But it shows that the effects of breast milk don’t just fade after the newborn stage… they keep echoing into childhood and beyond.

Every drop, every feed, every ounce matters.
Whether you breastfed for a week, a month, or several years, you gave your baby something their brain will remember. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about protection. Breastfeeding is one of the most profound ways the body nourishes both body and mind, a biological design that’s stood the test of time.

You don’t have to compare your journey to anyone else’s. Just know this: when you nurse your child, comfort them at your breast, or pump milk for them you are helping build their brain in ways that science is still discovering.

11/05/2025

🎨 Behind every law, there’s community and creativity.

We partnered with Grand Rapids artist Pretty In Ink Press to create original artwork celebrating Michigan SB 351 and families’ rights to feed their children publicly. Every brush stroke celebrates the right to feed and pump anywhere, while returning power to families.

These images aren’t just beautiful - they tell a story of rights, human milk feeding normalization, and support for every Michigan family.

10/30/2025

10/29/2025

Too often, lactating parents are told to “go to the bathroom” or “cover up.” 😞

🚫 Michigan law says no parent should ever feel shamed for feeding their child in public. Michigan SB 351 protects the right to breastfeed and express milk anywhere you are allowed to be.

💙 Let’s normalize human milk feeding in every space - families deserve dignity and support everywhere.

10/22/2025

🤱🏼☀️

10/22/2025

Postponed‼️ due to rainy/cold weather. Updated flyer below with the new date! Hope to see you there! 🩷🩵

10/22/2025

10/20/2025

Friendly Reminder the October Sacred Milk Circle is today! 💓🤱🏽

After a busy September, I’m excited to continue our Sacred Milk Circles again! Here is the flyer for October! All breastfeeding mama’s & babies welcome! 🤱🏽

Hope to see you there! ☺️