Community Impact
Meet some of the families that BNF has had the honor of supporting.
Meet Nicole
“Our son was born in October 2022. Having been diagnosed with infertility, our journey had been long and challenging. Now at age 44 and with the help of many years of fertility treatments, we have been blessed with our son. During the pregnancy I knew I wanted to nurse or at least try. My journey with nursing had been difficult initially. I contacted BNF while in the hospital and they made arrangements to see me on our first day home. They quickly realized that I needed support and that it would be best to feed my son via tube for the first days and weeks while I healed. BNF always shows up with a smile, open arms and a scale in tow. They came every day and offered many tips and suggestions to help me nurse, they weighed my son and made sure he was nourished. There were many times when I felt I couldn't do it, they were amazing and encouraged me to continue to do what worked for us, and for us that was nursing and formula feeding, we have continued this for seven months now and I plan on going for as long as we can. BNF made themselves available to me at all times of the day for support, questions or any concerns. I appreciate and am deeply thankful for BNF and the services they provide. The BNF team made it possible for me to fulfil my desire to nurse and I am forever grateful.”
~ Nicole
(Nicole is pictured nursing her son, her son is also pictured with many of the tools that helped to support their feeding journey together)
Meet Anonymous
“BNF provided my family with life changing care. Breastfeeding was exceptionally challenging for me and my daughter. It was so painful and complicated for us. But, whenever an issue came up, BNF was there to support me. Eventually I made the decision to exclusively pump for my daughter, and BNF helped me figure out how to make that transition as well as how to not lose my supply when I returned to work. We had no way of knowing at the time, but my daughter is autistic and the difficulties she was experiencing with her latch that was causing my complications were due to sensory challenges. The lactation counselor who was working with us recognized that something developmentally could be wrong, and she referred us to a local early intervention agency when my daughter was only 6 months old. Because of BNF’s early detection and referral my daughter was able to get access to services years earlier than what is typical. BNF not only helped us make it to 1 year of breastfeeding by pumping, they also positively impacted the entire trajectory of my daughter’s development.”
~ A Grateful Anonymous Mom
Meet Lauren
“My nursing journey began pretty easy. I had soreness with our first nurser, our third kept me from eating basically any food that brought me joy… but it was typical and unremarkable.
Then Amy Jane came along, born at 37 weeks after complications in pregnancy… and her complications didn’t stop.
She was jaundice, losing weight, unable to latch, and all-around mama was a mess. BNF met me three days after she was born at our pediatrician’s office and sat with me for hours, turning into weeks, to help me achieve breastfeeding AJ. They weighed her, helped me advocate for her jaundice numbers, and introduced me to a nursing shield-literally holding my breast for some of it so I could get her to latch.
Our lactation consultant reminded me daily there was no shame in supplementing. That I’d done this before and I could do it again. That I was amazing; no matter what.
She checked up on me for my mental health regularly, into the pandemic that shut down the world 8 weeks after Amy Jane came earthside.
As a veteran mom, one who had been nursing 6 years when I had her, sometimes nursing two or nursing through pregnancy, I had a lot of shame in how hard our eighth child had become for me.
Celeste (BNF lactation consultant) wouldn’t let me feel that. She wouldn’t let me give up on my hopes and goals and she showed up in places others had no idea I was struggling in.
I’m grateful everyday for this journey that’s slowly coming to an end-but I’m even more grateful for BNF giving me the extra 3 years I’ve gotten of it.
Mental health matters and part of my mental wellness was nursing and the connection I would get through it. Getting here gave me strength and peace and through COVID19 and formula shortages hope she would be okay. And that was a gift beyond explanation to an already anxious and kinda crazy mama.
Please know BNF offers support to ALL moms, and even beyond those first few months. And support this amazing program. Come on! How cute are those babies!!!”
~ Lauren
(Lauren is pictured with some of her children, all of whom she breastfed)