Ties that Bind: Maternal and Infant Feeding Medicine

12/24/2025

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays, a Very Merry Christmas, and All the Best in 2026!
From all of us at Ties that Bind!

12/22/2025

12/19/2025

Become a doula with Birth in Color! 🤰🏽🩷👩🏽‍🍼

✨ ’s 2026 Doula Training registration is open for applications across Virginia, DC, and the DMV.

Whether you’re exploring birth work for the first time or a healthcare professional wanting to deepen your skills, our three-day intensive training equips you to support birthing people with dignity, respect, and evidence-based care rooted in our communities.

🔗 Apply now: birthincolor.org/doulas

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN
🌟 Comprehensive doula certification
🤎 Culturally rooted, trauma-informed training
👏🏽 Mentorship program with ongoing professional development 💰 Compensation for your work supporting families
✨ Connection to a community of birth workers who got you

Applications are open NOW for 8 training sessions across Virginia, DC, and the Eastern Shore. Scholarships available.

🔗 Apply now: birthincolor.org/doulas

12/11/2025

If you were born between 1963 & 1989, please get re-vaccinated against the measles! And if you are a parent or guardian of a child, protect them from measles and many other scary diseases by seeing that they are fully vaccinated.

I’m deeply concerned by the recent measles outbreak in South Carolina — especially in light of what it means for public health, families, and communities. According to recent reports, the outbreak has already forced unvaccinated close contacts into quarantine, disrupted daily life, and raised real risk for serious health consequences.

Here’s why this matters — and why vaccination is so important 🛡️

🔎 What is measles — and how serious can it be:

- Measles (Rubeola) is one of the most contagious diseases we know. If someone around you isn’t protected, up to 9 out of 10 susceptible people nearby can catch it. 
- Symptoms typically appear 7 to 14 days after exposure, and include high fever (sometimes over 104 °F), cough, runny nose, red/watery eyes, and the tell-tale rash. 
- Many people think it’s “just a rash and fever,” but measles can be much more dangerous. Complications include pneumonia, ear infections, diarrhea, brain inflammation (encephalitis), and even long-term brain damage. 

⚠️ The real — and scary — risks:

- About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles in the U.S. end up hospitalized.
- Up to 1 in 20 children will get pneumonia — the most common cause of death from measles in young kids. 
- About 1 in 1,000 cases develop encephalitis (brain swelling), which can result in permanent neurologic damage, deafness, seizures, or death. 
- Even years after recovery, a rare complication known as Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) can emerge — a fatal neurological disease linked to having had measles as a child. 

🏠 What quarantine and exposure means for families:

Local health authorities (in SC) have been identifying close-contacts and telling people who are not immune to stay home and away from others for 21 days — even if they don’t yet feel sick. That’s because people with measles can spread the virus before symptoms or rash appear. 

That kind of quarantine can disrupt work, school, social life — and it’s a serious burden on families and communities.

💉 Why vaccination remains our strongest defense:

- The recommended vaccine (MMR vaccine) gives long-lasting protection against measles, mumps and rubella. 
- After two doses, protection against measles is ~97%. - In communities with high vaccination rates, outbreaks get stopped before they can spread widely — protecting babies too young to be vaccinated, immunocompromised people, and others at high risk.

🙏 A call to action:

If you, your children, or people you know haven’t had the full MMR vaccination, now is the time to talk to a trusted healthcare provider. Not just for your own sake — but to protect vulnerable people, prevent quarantine disruption, and help stop this outbreak from growing.

Because measles isn’t just “a rash.” It’s a serious illness that can have life-long (or even fatal) consequences.

Vaccination works.

12/09/2025

✨ ’s 2026 Doula Training is now open for applications across Virginia, DC, and the DMV.

Whether you're exploring birth work for the first time or a healthcare professional wanting to deepen your skills, our three-day intensive training equips you to support birthing people with dignity, respect, and evidence-based care rooted in our communities’ needs.

🔗 Apply now: birthincolor.org/doulas

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN
🌟 Comprehensive doula certification
🤎 Culturally rooted, trauma-informed training
👏🏽 Mentorship program with ongoing development
💰 Compensation for your work supporting families
✨ Connection to a community of birth workers who got you

Applications are open NOW for 8 training sessions across Virginia, DC, and the Eastern Shore. Scholarships available.

FIND A TRAINING NEAR YOU:

🗓 Lynchburg — January 8-10
Applications Close: December 18th, 2025

🗓 Danville — January 29-31
Applications Close: January 8th

🗓 Hampton Roads — February 26-28
Applications Close: February 5th

🗓 DMV — March 12-14
Applications Close: February 19th

🗓 Northern — March 26-28
Applications Close: March 5th

🗓 Richmond (RVA) — May 7-9
Applications Close: April 16th

🗓 DC — May 28-30
Applications Close: May 7th

🗓 Eastern Shore — September 10-12
Applications Close: August 20th

🔗 Apply now: birthincolor.org/doulas

12/08/2025

Are you planning to travel with your little one? Find travel information and recommendations for breastfeeding families here: https://bit.ly/2J5PvtY

12/07/2025

Get • A statement from American Academy of Pediatrics President, Dr. Susan J. Kressly:

The decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to downgrade its recommendations to protect infants from hepatitis B is a dangerous move that will harm children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend routine hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns: All babies should receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth, a second dose at one to two months, and a third dose at six months. The pacing of these doses has been rigorously tested and proven to be safe and effective over several decades.

Vaccinating all newborns against hepatitis B effectively prevents transmission of the virus to newborns during childbirth, supports them to build immunity against potential childhood infections, and ensures long-term protection into adulthood from a virus that can cause serious liver disease and liver cancer. Infants and children can be exposed to this virus by close caregivers who may not know they are infected. Delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine has no clear benefits and leaves children vulnerable to infection.

Click the link in our bio to read the full statement.

11/26/2025

Watch to the end. This is why we recommend Vitamin K for newborns.

Also, some babies who do not receive Vitamin K at birth will have persistent or delayed Vitamin K deficiency that puts them at risk of bleeding during medical procedures such as Frenulectomy or circumcision up to 6 MONTHS of age. This is why doctors often refuse to perform invasive procedures on infants who have not received adequate Vitamin K.

11/12/2025

11/10/2025

Formula recall!

Outbreak Investigation of Infant Botulism - Do not use certain lots of ByHeart Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. FDA’s Investigation is ongoing. https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-infant-botulism-infant-formula-november-2025

10/29/2025

Get • Remember it’s best to “flu before boo” (which means get your flu vaccine before Halloween.)

09/23/2025

Some individuals wrongly assert there is a link between vaccines and autism. Before the claim was discredited, researchers took it seriously, investigated it thoroughly, and found no link. This research, in many countries, involving thousands of individuals, has spanned multiple decades. Any effort to misrepresent sound, strong science poses a threat to the health of children and does a disservice to the autistic community.

Immunizations are important to help children stay healthy, so they can learn, grow and thrive. If parents have questions about vaccines or autism, we encourage them to talk to their child’s pediatrician. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4nI0Rnb