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We still have San Diego Latch On T-Shirts!

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Who Wants an Awesome San Diego Latch On 2022 T-Shirt???

We are so excited to share with you our newly designed San Diego Latch On t-shirt!

Here are the details:

  • We have a few sizes left

  • All prices include shipping

All proceeds will be donated to the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation to help pay for lactation consultations for local BIPOC and low-income families.  

Ready to purchase your awesome new T-shirt????

NAVY CREW T-SHIRT - AVAILABLE IN S, M, L, XL, 2XL

Choose your size

MAROON RACER BACK TANK - AVAILABLE IN S, M, L, XL (RUNS A LITTLE BIG)

Choose your size

Once purchased, your shirt will be mailed to you within 5-7 business days. Must live in the US.

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San Diego Latch On 2022 T-shirts are ON SALE!

,

Who Wants an Awesome San Diego Latch On 2022 T-Shirt???

We are so excited to share with you our newly designed San Diego Latch On t-shirt!

Here are the details:

  • Our presale is official closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a t-shirt at the event!

  • A limited amount of t-shirts will be available for purchase at the event for $35 (plus sales tax).

All proceeds will be donated to the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation to help pay for lactation consultations for local BIPOC and low-income families.  

Ready to see the awesome T-shirts????

NAVY CREW T-SHIRT - AVAILABLE IN S, M, L, XL, 2XL

Choose your size

MAROON RACER BACK TANK - AVAILABLE IN S, M, L, XL (RUNS A LITTLE BIG)

Choose your size

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San Diego Latch On Event 2022 - WHO'S READY???

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Are you ready to find out the details for the San Diego Latch On 2022?

Celebrate World Chest/Breastfeeding Week with us at the San Diego Latch On event! Join the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, and our amazing sponsors - Kindred Bravely, Solly Baby, Baby Tula, Little Star Dentistry, and Impact Partners, in a fun-filled event for the whole family!  This year’s event will be in Allied Garden Recreation Park . While you wait for the actual Latch On to occur (at 10:30a), you can set up a picnic, hang out in the playground, peruse the vendor booths (you won’t want to miss these!), and bid on our awesome auction items!

The first 100 attendees to check in will get a free tote bag with goodies, samples and resource materials from our local partners!

The San Diego Latch On event serves as one of our major fundraisers for our non-profit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation. San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation believes it is our duty as birth and perinatal workers to provide equal access to all regardless of their economic status or the color of their skin. But we know there is still racial and economic disparity of access and representation in both lactation support and other crucial pre/postpartum healthcare.

That is why our Foundation provides free or low-cost lactation support to our community members who identify as low-income or BIPOC, and offer scholarships to BIPOC individuals seeking to become Lactation Professionals.

Here are the preliminary details.  We will begin to share more about the event over the next few weeks!

When is the San Diego Latch On?

The San Diego Latch On event will take place on Saturday, August 6, 2022 from 9a-11a.  The actual Latch On (children latching on to set a local record) will take place at exactly 10:30am, so don’t be late!  

Where will the San Diego Latch On take place?

Allied Gardens Recreation Center Park - 5155 Greenbrier Ave, San Diego, CA 92120

Is there a charge to participate?

Not at all!  This event is totally FREE!

Can I bring my family or is this just for chest/breastfeeding parents and child/ren?

This is a totally family-friendly event! There will be plenty of things to keep older children entertained, so bring them all!

Do I need to register?

Yes, please!

Wondering how you and your business can get involved?

Since the San Diego Latch On event is a major fundraiser for our nonprofit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, we rely heavily on event sponsors and auction donations.  If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or have a service/item to donate for our auction, please send an email to Brie Weigandt, Fundraising and Community Outreach Coordinator, at bweigandt@sdbfcfoundation.org

Get Ready for San Diego’s Biggest Lactation Event of the Year!



Chest/Breastfeeding After a Cesarean Birth

Let me start off by saying: Having a cesarean is not a deal breaker for chest/breastfeeding. You can absolutely have a full milk supply after a cesarean birth! Whether your child is born by emergency cesarean or scheduled, there are a few things you can do to minimize this surgery’s impact on your chest/breastfeeding experience. Here are some ways to set you up for success.

Be gentle to your abdomen

Having a cesarean is major abdominal surgery, so move slowly and try to rest as much as possible.  Try chest/breastfeeding in the football hold so that your baby is not resting on your abdomen while feeding.  Eventually you can move to a standard cradle hold once your abdomen is less tender.  


Lot of skin to skin

Who doesn’t love the thought of a yummy, squishy baby snuggling on their chest?  Skin to skin calms your baby, regulates their nervous system, regulates their oxygen levels and temperature, and gives them access to your chest/breast (i.e. food). It also increases your oxytocin (your love hormone!) and helps bring in your milk supply.  Win-win for everyone involved!


Help your body get rid of swelling

Some parents experience temporary swelling (edema) in their hands, feet, and chest/breasts after a cesarean.  This is due to the fluids given during your surgery.  Edema can cause a delay in your milk supply ‘coming in,’ as the excess fluid is competing with your milk in your chest/breasts. It can also cause your chest/breasts to feel engorged, making it more difficult for your newborn to latch on.  Here are some ways to help your body process/reduce swelling:

  • Drink lots of water with lemon or cucumber 

  • Keep your legs elevated, preferably above your hips

  • Drink a cup or two of dandelion tea/day (unless you are on anticoagulants)

  • Avoid salty foods

  • Wear compression socks


Hand expression / pumping while in the hospital

Research studies show that hand expression after nursing, a few times a day during the first few days postpartum, brings in your milk supply more quickly, as well as increases future milk production.  And if you are separated from your baby or having difficulties latching during those first few days, hand expression after pumping can help remove your colostrum more effectively.  Check out this video which shows how to hand express colostrum.


Protect your gut and your nipples

Most likely you will be given antibiotics before or after cord clamping.  Antibiotics kill off the bad bacteria AND good bacteria in your gut.  So, you will want to start taking a high-quality probiotic to recolonize your gut with good bacteria for a few weeks.  This will help your digestive system, as well as prevent a yeast infection or nipple thrush.


And, if you are struggling with latch or milk production, please reach out to a lactation consultant for help!


Meet SDBFC's Newest IBCLC - Meghan Seperack

We are so thrilled to introduce you to our newest lactation consultant at SDBFC! Meghan joined us on November 18th and started seeing her own clients on January 12th!  Here is our interview with Meghan  We can't wait for you all to meet her!

meghan, tell us about yourself!

I would describe myself as a fun-loving, hard-working, family-centered daughter, sister, wife, friend, and lactation consultant. My friends and family would describe me as a positive, outgoing, grounded, and dedicated person. I was born and raised in Northern California and vacationed in San Diego as a child. When it came to college, I chose San Diego to call my new home and I have been here ever since. I moved around the county from College Area to Pacific Beach, East Village to University City, Carmel Valley to Carlsbad, and I have enjoyed many outdoor activities that San Diego has to offer. When I am not working, you can find me with a book on the beach or at a park, walking local trails or hiking, celebrating birthdays and weddings, or visiting family. I am an expert party-planner, power-napper, travel companion, and manifester. I am proud to call San Diego home, where watching the tide roll in and out creates instant inner peace for me.

Check out Meghan’s bio page

What inspired you to become a lactation consultant?

In 2016, I was laid off from my first job out of college. I was working in advertising for a creative agency and formed great relationships with my coworkers, but I was lacking purpose in my day-to-day work. A month of unemployment turned into a month of reflection and personal development. I began a meditation practice and found it extremely helpful in gaining clarity around my priorities. I felt called to finding a career involving families and babies. Fast forward to 2020, after returning to the creative services world for another several years, staying open for life to unfold, I was introduced to the field of lactation consulting through an article about the benefits of breastmilk on the infant gut. The article lit a spark within me and further reading and conversations snowballed until I found myself on the path of transitioning my career. After completing pre-requisite college courses, I began full-time lactation education and training and embraced my new career with deep passion to support chest/breastfeeding parents and their partners to provide human milk to their babies and impact societal health from infancy. 

What are you most excited about working for the SDBFC?

I am delighted to be a member of the San Diego Breastfeeding Center and honored to work alongside Robin Kaplan, and the entire team of skilled consultants. I am grateful for the continued education that SDBFC provides for our team to stay up to date on the latest research in the field and to bring expanded knowledge to our clients, such as plant medicine for milk supply and postpartum support. Behind the scenes of SDBFC is a team of passionate consultants working together to bring the best support possible to the families in our care.

I am looking forward to serving families in my local community and surrounding areas in North County with home visits. I have heard from many mothers how having a consultant come to their home creates ease and comfort. They’ve shared that it increases their confidence after having their questions answered, their baby’s weight and milk transfer assessed, and having an action plan to move forward with. I’m excited to be an integral part of that journey and continue to support and work through chest/breastfeeding challenges. 

What are your top 3 tips for a brand new chest/breastfeeding parent?

There are three things to keep top-of-mind for a new chest/breastfeeding parent. 

  1. Your why. If you have chosen to chest/breastfeed, what were the reasons why? Maybe it was something your doctor said, or your sister-in-law told you, like how breastmilk protects babies from infection and disease. What have you discovered that cemented your desire to chest/breastfeed? What fun facts get you excited about breastmilk?

  2. Your resources. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a baby, so it is helpful to identify your inner circle of support. Who will be your cheerleader, your helper with laundry and meals, your listening ear? If feeding challenges arise, what providers can you lean on for chest/breastfeeding support? Along with identifying your people resources, having prenatal education resources can play a significant role in the first few days and weeks of lactation. Aiming for skin-to-skin time and frequent nipple stimulation in the early days will lay the foundation for long-term lactation.

  3. Yourself! In the first few months, you and your partner may feel like you are in survival mode. What supportive practices have you leaned on in past challenging times? What affirmations would you say to your best friend, and can you say those to yourself? That could sound like, you’ve got this. You are the best mom for this baby. Tomorrow is a new day. You are doing a great job. Check in and give yourself some big loving because a healthy mom is of utmost importance.

Welcome to the team, Meghan!

Meet SDBFC's Newest IBCLC - Heather Sherman

We are so thrilled to introduce you to our newest lactation consultant (pending) at SDBFC! Heather joined us on November 18th and started seeing her own clients on December 27th!  Here is our interview with Heather.  We can't wait for you all to meet her!

Heather, tell us about yourself!

I'm originally from upstate New York. After meeting my husband in 2004 I married into Navy life. We moved around the country quite a bit and have lived in Philadelphia, Central Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, Virginia Beach, Monterey, and Memphis. In 2019 we moved to San Diego and it immediately became home. I have three sons who keep me very busy. But, I also love to paddleboard, sew clothing, knit all the things, read fiction, watch movies with my family, go to baseball games, and walk my dog on the beach.

Check out Heather’s bio page

What inspired you to become a lactation consultant?

I felt disempowered and out of touch with my body after a traumatic birth experience with my first son. In many ways I felt my body had failed me because the birth hadn't turned out how I had expected. I immediately turned my focus to the breastfeeding relationship and put a lot of energy into working through my initial difficulties. Breastfeeding helped me restore my faith in my body and bond with my son after birth trauma. With my next son I had a home birth attended by an amazing midwife, which really completed my healing. For me these experiences underscored the importance of a great support system and how healthcare providers can make a huge difference in parents' experience during the perinatal period. After becoming a parent I spent a lot of my free time connecting with and supporting other parents, both casually and in support groups, and learning as much as I could about birth and lactation.

What are you most excited about working for the SDBFC?

I am so grateful to work alongside and learn from the incredibly talented IBCLCs at SDBFC. It is so exciting to join a team that provides the kind of compassionate, inclusive, and quality care that makes a positive impact on so many families in our community.

What are your top 3 tips for a brand new chest/breastfeeding parent?

  1. 1Take a chest/breastfeeding class while you or your partner is still pregnant or schedule a prenatal lactation consultation. It is so helpful to learn the basics of good positioning and latch before giving birth. Getting this information early on helps set realistic expectations about what your first few days and weeks with your baby will be like. Bring your partner or major support person! It is important that partners and major support people also learn chest/breastfeeding basics and understand how they can be helpful and supportive when you are chest/breastfeeding.

    2. Identify your personal support team and cheerleaders. Meeting your chest/breastfeeding goals can be impacted by the support you get, or don't get, from your partner, family, social circle, and healthcare providers. Keep your cheerleaders close and set loving boundaries with well-meaning folks who may not understand or support your goals. Choose OBGYNs, midwives, pediatricians, and lactation consultants who respect your choices and make you feel heard and supported.

    3. Be prepared to be flexible. Sometimes we get very attached to how we think things "should" be. It is wonderful when things work exactly how we hoped. But, if you hit a bump in the road you can still have a positive feeding relationship with your baby. Work with your lactation consultant to explore all of your options and choose the one that feels best for you and your family.

Welcome to the team, Heather!

It's the final week to help us reach our goal of $15k!

Thank you to everyone who donated these past few weeks!  So far, you have helped us raise $6065 towards our $15,000 goal!  We are getting so close and our fundraiser ends on FRIDAY!


Did you know that you can make a recurring donation through our website? 

You can donate monthly, quarterly or annually, for as little as $5/month  Just set it and forget it!  Then all year long, you can help us provide free/reduced fee lactation services to 300 families in 2022, for essentially the cost of your Starbucks coffee! 

You’ll be able to provide lactation access to families like Sabrina’s.

“I first began experiencing breastfeeding issues very early on.  The issues I experienced continued and escalated to the point that I would bleed with every feeding.  My 7 month long struggle with breastfeeding amplified these feelings of low self esteem. Soon due to the extreme pain, I began to experience nursing aversions. My daughter, unable to drink from a bottle, depended on me for survival. I reached my breaking point and found the SDBFC Foundation, hesitant to make an appointment due to the cost, until I saw the option for Medi-Cal families.

Nonprofits like SDBFC Foundation help break down systematic barriers that prevent Latinx and other BIPOC communities from successfully breastfeeding. They also allow lower-income parents to be able to provide an equitable childhood to their children beginning at infancy.  I am forever grateful!”

- Sabrina

Our ability to help families like Sabrina’s is only possible with your help. Thank you so much for supporting our foundation!  Please consider making a recurring donation today!

Warmly,

Robin, San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation president

First Food Deserts in San Diego County

Written by Chardá Bell, CLEC, CCE, FSD

Food justice and chest/breastfeeding are inextricably linked. Institutionalized racism, and its many faces, has matriculated to prey on Black babies. First Food Justice is about infant feeding disparities in the first food system. In this sense, it highlights persistent barriers to chest/breastfeeding success in areas that are predominantly black folks, such as my hometown, Southeast San Diego. “First food deserts” are peppered throughout the United States, a term coined by the great Kimberly Seals Allers based on her research and community projects in Birmingham, AL,  Jackson, MS,  and New Orleans, LA. According to Seals Allers' research, a first food desert is defined as a geographical area where social and economic dynamics unequally constrain breastfeeding when compared with other locations. The healthiest first food is human milk, which is proven to have the best health and survival outcomes for humans. We must acknowledge that Black infants are more often limited, at times stunted, and face systemic barriers by being in a first food unfriendly habitat, born into an inequitable food system. In Sears Allers’ book, The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding, it states “(a first food deserts exists when) A persistent and widespread lack of culturally relevant healthcare support, peer support, and public spaces that facilitate breastfeeding. Where you live and work, then, unequally impacts what you feed and how you eat.” 

Southeast San Diego is a mid-size area of the county, that is predominantly African American, low income to upper middle class, and some military, and various Asian populations that began to increase in the 90’s, particularly in Paradise Hills. It is a significantly under-resourced area in the county with limited access to perinatal, reproductive and chest/breastfeeding support and that needs to change. I also have pinpointed the limited resources and access to first foods and chest/breastfeeding support in the neighborhood and surrounding areas where I grew up. From Solola apartments in the community of Logan Heights and the “four corners of life” to Skyline and Paradise Hills. Skyline is a hilly urban neighborhood in Southeastern San Diego. It is bordered by Encanto to the west, Jamacha-Lomita to the North East, and Bay Terraces to the South. None of these communities have easy access to chest/breastfeeding support. In these very areas, we tell parents to chest/breastfeed and expect them to be successful when we don’t even have the basic infrastructure in place to make that support possible. Everything is hyper-local, meaning you have to travel a far distance to get decent quality food and support. A person shouldn’t have to go far and wide to have access to nutrition that is most optimal to support a successful chest/breastfeeding journey.

The community of Southeast San Diego is disadvantaged when it comes to chest/breastfeeding promotion factors, such as the lack of chest/breastfeeding support groups and Baby Friendly hospitals within reach. What we do have is a disturbing trend of chest/breastfeeding sabotaging factors, such formula advertisements on bus stops and health offices passing out formula to Black women at a disproportionate rate. We mostly have fast food and convenience stores selling a lot of fat, salt and sugar but not full service grocery stores with fresh wholesome food. These areas also correlate to poor infant and mother health outcomes, specifically for Black families. Every infant has the right to fair and equitable access to the first food of human milk.  Every family deserves the support of their community if they choose to chest/breastfeed. We must also have an understanding of how the racial and social inequities around chest/breastfeeding adversely affect vulnerable populations. Human milk is proven to be the most efficient and nutritious first food available. It also happens to be the food that has all the components needed to reduce the risks for many diseases that affect black children more often such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, SIDS and childhood obesity. By increasing access to first foods, including human milk, we can have a resounding impact on infant nutrition and maternal health. When we look at the big picture in real time and take all things into account, we can better provide the needs of the community.

A contributing factor of these inequities may be related to historical and generational trauma that still haunts modern day Black folks. The theory of PTSS is a result of twelve years of quantitative and qualitative research by Dr. Joy DeGruy. Historian Wilma A. Dunaway, writes in the book, The African American Family in Slavery and Emancipation, “And since breastfeeding reduces fertility, slave owners forced black women to stop breastfeeding early so that they could continue breeding, often to the health detriment of their own infants.” Another problematic discovery contributing to the reason Black women have low in-hospital initiation rates is the simple fact that OBs and pediatricians, who are seeing feeding problems, don't refer out to lactation support groups or consultants upon discharge or at the pediatric appointment. If they do, these are not readily accessible and sometimes not very welcoming for black and brown folks when not led by a person that represents them. Most parents rely on their pediatrician for support, information, and resources for feeding, therefore we need providers to be in our corner. All chest/breastfeeding “help” is not created equal. If we are going to promote chest/breastfeeding, we must support all families.

As lactation professionals and medical providers, we have to stop telling people in areas we know are first food deserts to go chest/breastfeed and expect it all to work out for them when they try. It’s hard to find that in the field of lactation due to its advocacy efforts being white female dominated. We tell Black moms that chest/breast is best, but those same people saying it don’t host support groups or provide lactation support that make Black moms feel comfortable, secure and most of all heard without bias or judgments. For this reason, I recently started a breastfeeding support group with some Black birth workers, using Kimberly Seals Allers’ blue-print for a community-driven model for achieving first food justice in order to combat some of the issues we face with food deserts throughout San Diego. This is one of the best ways we can begin to elicit a change in our in-hospital initiation rates. Through steady exposure, easy access to support, and most importantly free education available to those who need it most. These resources will empower Black families and make chest/breastfeeding a traditional norm again. By improving chest/breastfeeding rates within the Black community, we will be achieving better overall health and well-being while reducing racial inequities for our entire community. We can accomplish this through continued education, support and advocacy for Black women and their families to not just survive, but to THRIVE. #BlackBabiesMatter #FeedSouthEast

For specific details about the in-hospital rates for chest/breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity by race, start at page 64 for San Diego, where it shows rates by county and then by hospital: 

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CFH/DMCAH/surveillance/CDPH%20Document%20Library/Breastfeeding/Breastfeeding-In-Hospital-Data-2019-Hospital-by-Race.pdf

And, please consider donating to the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation to help bring chest/breastfeeding access and basic infrastructure to areas like Southeast San Diego.

Help increase access to lactation support for local families this GivingTuesday!

Today, on Giving Tuesday, we have a goal to fund 300 free/reduced-fee lactation consultations for local BIPOC and low-income families in 2022.  To meet this goal, we need to raise $15,000.  Here is how you can help!

  • Donate to our foundation today!

  • Share our fundraising campaign with your friends and family on social media!

Your donations go directly to pay for lactation consultations for families, like Mariana’s!

“I will always be deeply grateful for the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation. Through empathy, sisterhood and an extensive knowledge about breastfeeding, my consultant gave me the necessary tools and the confidence to continue breastfeeding even when my baby didn’t want to be breastfed at the breast. With all her support at an affordable cost for Medi-Cal users, I have been exclusively pumping to feed my baby and I am about to meet my goal of breastfeeding my baby for more than one year, giving my baby one of the best gifts I could give him.  

-Mariana

Our ability to help families like Mariana’s is only possible with your help. Thank you so much for supporting our foundation!

Warmly,

Robin, San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation president

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SHOP ON AMAZON THIS 2021 HOLIDAY SEASON!

DID YOU KNOW….

  • While 93% of parents start breastfeeding exclusively at birth in San Diego, only 56% continue doing so at 3 months, largely due to a lack of access and financial resources to ongoing lactation support.

  • You can help low-income families and women of color gain access to critical breastfeeding support by purchasing Amazon items online, just by shopping through smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com!

GUESS HOW EASY THIS IS???

We are asking you to take 60 seconds of your time today to designate the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your charitable recipient for Amazon Smile.  All you have to do is go to their website (smile.amazon.com) and choose the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your Amazon Smile recipient.  Then as you make your holiday purchases, as well as your staples of diapers, nipple cream, baby toys, book, etc, the SDBFC Foundation will receive 0.5% of every purchase, at no extra cost to you.  This money will go directly to paying for lactation consultations for families in need.  

You can also register in the APP!  Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.

Your Amazon Smile purchases can help families, like Nohamaly’s, get the breast/chestfeeding support they deserve!

“The San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation saved my breastfeeding journey. I am very grateful to the lactation team for helping me in my journey! I would’ve quit breastfeeding if I did not make an appointment at the center. As a first time mom, I felt lost and did not know where to start, but I left my lactation appointment feeling confident about breastfeeding for the first time since my son was born. Also, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation was able to offer me the rate of $25 for my appointment, which was extremely affordable. If I had to pay full price I probably wouldn’t have been able to see a lactation consultant.” - Nohamaly

Wishing you all the best during this giving season!