Wee Welcome Doula & Lactation

07/04/2023

Happy 7th doulaversary to me! I am so grateful to have found my true calling ❤️

04/19/2023

If you have worked with me, you already know this…and it’s always good to hear it again.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160725124450912&id=549820911&mibextid=qC1gEa

1,292 Likes, 38 Comments - Imani () on Instagram: "Get ready (to spiral) with me. I don’t make it a habit to save my rants as reels because they..."

02/13/2023

I so wish that more peole understood tongue function. Your baby’s ability to suck properly and transfer at the breast has zero to do with how far out the tongue goes. Zero.

12/13/2022

A year ago today, I learned that I was officially an IBCLC! What a year of babies and b***s! So thankful to The B**b Boss for the mentorship & yourb***sis_judy for the support on the journey. And now—welcome to the club, Nicole Ryerson!

11/14/2022

It’s always surprising where you might learn that men have been interfering with birth for longer, and in stranger ways, than we knew. (We’ve always known that white folks will interfere with the lives of Native/Indigenous people; that part is never a surprise and always infuriating.)— Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Cape Disappointment

11/06/2022

Not all the partners I work with are men or Dads. And, I feel so incredibly blessed to get to work with Dads and partners like these so often ❤️ What a blessing to know men who show up like this.

09/30/2022

Loving my new Marsden scale & knapsack, especially with added bling from ! ***r

07/31/2022

AHEM. A word: I am an IBCLC, and a holistic provider. One of my favorite things about myself as an IBCLC is coming from a background of Human Development and Full Spectrum Doula care. Humans develop in millions of ways, across a full spectrum. They conceive and carry and birth across the full spectrum of their humanity. Guess what else humans do across a full spectrum? I support you HOWEVER you feed your baby. And support means crying when it hurts or isn’t what you thought, or when you don’t want to breastfeed, or when you don’t want to formula feed, or anything else under the sun. YOU matter. YOUR journey matters. And…you’re doing a great job. ❤️

07/31/2022

AHEM. A word: I am an IBCLC, and a holistic provider. One of my favorite things about myself as an IBCLC is coming from a background of Human Development and Full Spectrum Doula care. Humans develop in millions of ways, across a full spectrum. They conceive and carry and birth across the full spectrum of their humanity. Guess what else humans do across a full spectrum? I support you HOWEVER you feed your baby. And support means crying when it hurts or isn’t what you thought, or when you don’t want to breastfeed, or when you don’t want to formula feed, or anything else under the sun. YOU matter. YOUR journey matters. And…you’re doing a great job. ❤️

Full transparency: I always feel a twinge of anxiety when world breastfeeding week rolls around.

The week is a yearly campaign put on by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) with a dedicated, breastfeeding-centered theme each year.

The celebration commemorates the 1990 Innocenti Declaration on the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding. The Declaration outlined an international agenda which urged national sectors of society to integrate breastfeeding- supportive measures into their overall health and development policies, including specific breastfeeding targets.

The theme for 2022’s World Breastfeeding Week is “Set Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support”.

Though its intention is to promote further support and expand access to breastfeeding on a global level, the week can sometimes seem like a “breast is best” festival and lack nuance regarding individual experiences, especially as the celebration circulates on social media.

My hope is that in opening up the conversation, we can explore what this celebration has the potential for: an inclusive dialogue outlining what adequate breastfeeding education and support means in our society.

This isn’t a week to pretend like we’ve arrived in some existence where everyone has the ability (or desire) to exclusively breastfeed and we’re all showered in confetti.

It’s a week to be honest about the challenges, barriers and lack of support we face as parents who desire to breastfeed.

It’s a week to celebrate our unique journeys, and the big spectrum of what “successful” breastfeeding can look like.

It’s a week to honor those who have struggled, fought and found a way to feed their children in unique scenarios.

It’s a week to feel empathy alongside those who feel judgement in some of the rhetoric we’ll inevitably see.

In honesty, this week and the declaration itself feel somewhat estranged to me in that they outline goals I biologically cannot accomplish- but I also recognize that this week can expand support and education if we choose to approach it with compassion and honesty.

What topics and conversations would you like to see brought up during World Breastfeeding Week?

06/16/2022

A new blog post! If you've ever wondered WHY lactation pros are so interested in putting our fingers in your baby's mouth, here's the answer!
https://www.weedoulaseattle.com/post/does-your-baby-suck