August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week, but Charline Ogbeni celebrates breastfeeding and infant feeding all year round. Every Wednesday evening, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., you can find Ms. Ogbeni at her computer screen, facilitating conversations between groups of parents or future parents.

 

The coos, cries, and faces of babies and toddlers are often the backdrop and soundtrack to these meetings. Ms. Ogbeni is the facilitator of two infant feeding groups [Prenatal and Postpartum] from the nonprofit Just Birth Space.

 

Just Birth Space, which was founded during the whirlwind of the COVID-19 pandemic, offers free virtual support to individuals worldwide over the course of pregnancy, labor and birth, postpartum, and beyond. Ms. Ogbeni is a school counselor, an international, board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC), a certified breastfeeding specialist (CBS), and a full spectrum doula who supports all women, birthing people, and families on their journeys.

 

Doulas provide non-medical support to pregnant people and their families before, during and after childbirth. This support can help families handle the physical, emotional and practical issues that surround childbirth.

 

She is also the founder of Birth by Queens Birth and Wellness Center. She, herself, breastfed her baby exclusively during the pandemic.

 

There are many healthy ways to feed a baby, and Ms. Ogbeni teaches pregnant or postpartum participants about the array of methods, such as breastfeeding and infant feeding, and helps them choose approaches that suit their physical and emotional health, circumstances, and values.

 

In the Prenatal group, participants make a plan that includes their intended feeding methods, alternate methods, and the people who will support them. This often includes partners or family members, doulas, lactation consultants, and of course Ms. Ogbeni and the members of the infant feeding group itself. Participants can join the group whether they’re newly pregnant or whether they will give birth tomorrow!

 

The groups cover breastfeeding, understanding a baby’s hunger cues and stomach capacity, pumping and storing breastmilk, paced bottle feeding, introducing solids to older infants, and more. Many postpartum people seek out advice and support regarding the transition back to work/school/ travel, and the required changes in their feeding methods. Partners of the birthing parent often attend the group to learn about how to feed a baby or support a breastfeeding person.

 

With adequate support, most postpartum people can breastfeed! This could mean sharing evidence-based information and advice from credible sources, encouragement and validation in the face of challenges, or seeking guidance from lactation consultants.

 

The benefits of breastfeeding for the health of a birth parent and baby are clear. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), babies who breastfeed are less likely to get lung, stomach, and ear infections.

 

Breastfed babies are also less likely to get chronic conditions, including heart disease and diabetes as adults. The birth parent also has a lower chance of ovarian and breast cancer, and a lower chance of high blood pressure and of diabetes.

 

Not surprisingly, many people want to breastfeed, and while most can breastfeed, only 25% exclusively breastfeed their baby for the first six months of life, as recommended by the American Association of Pediatrics. Exclusive breastfeeding means a baby’s only food source during this time is breastmilk.

 

Barriers to beginning and sustaining breastfeeding can impact a parent’s ability to exclusively breastfeed. These include systemic racism, lack of adequate support in healthcare settings, disparities in health conditions like diabetes, and beyond.

 

Ms. Ogbeni shares with families how insufficient support and gaps in a medical provider’s knowledge can undermine breastfeeding. For example, a participant who wanted to breastfeed her baby who had Down syndrome was discouraged by her medical provider, though babies with Down syndrome can and do breastfeed with appropriate modifications and reap the amazing benefits of breastmilk. Participants are encouraged to talk about experiences like these and share resolutions with each other.

 

You’ve heard that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Groups like the Prenatal and Postpartum Infant Feeding Groups from Just Birth Space are the village. This August, get the parenting support you need and deserve.  Seek out free spaces like these that make you feel loved, heard, and understood.

 

If you are a perinatal person or their loved one, you may attend either group. Visit Just Birth Space for more free, weekly and monthly groups and classes.

 

Looking for more ways to get postpartum breastfeeding help? Call the NYC Breastfeeding Warmline on (646) 965-7212, Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attend the new Bronx Baby Café group via this link each Wednesday at 535 East Tremont Avenue anytime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.!

 

Contact one of Montefiore’s WIC offices or another WIC office listed here, or call the Growing Up Healthy hotline on (800) 522-5006 and ask for the nearest location to you.

To get breastfeeding help at Montefiore, consult your OBGYN or your child’s pediatrician.

 

National Breastfeeding Observances:

• World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7)
• Indigenous Milk Medicine Week (Aug. 8-14)
• Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 15-21)
• Black Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 25-31)
• Latino Breastfeeding Awareness Week (Sept. 8-14)
• Deaf & Hard of Hearing Breastfeeding Week (Sept. 16-22)

 

Register for prenatal meetings here.

Register for postpartum meetings here.

For more information on doulas, click here.

 

Claire Garon MPH, CLC is a senior health educator at the Office of Community & Population Health at Montefiore Health System.