Black Breastfeeding Week – Latching In Love

August is Breastfeeding month and it has been a while since I really showcased it. I was blessed to be able to breastfeed JustaBXgirl for four years and one day. She never tasted formula. The thing is, that didn’t happen just by chance.

Breastfeeding didn’t come easy or natural to me. I had no idea what I was doing and the lactation consultant that I saw in the hospital after giving birth for two minutes really didn’t prepare me other than to say that chances are my child would lose weight by the time we went home.

I wouldn’t have succeeded in my breastfeeding journey if it wasn’t for Tamiqua from Latching In Love. See, Tamiqua, who you might know as JustaOrlandoMom is one of my best friends. She has stood by my side since we were teenagers supporting me in everything that I do and plan. And I had planned to breastfeed. I just didn’t know what should go into that plan other than saying it was my intention!

Thankfully, she had a son a few months before I had my daughter. She decided to breastfeed and trust me, Tamiqua is a much better planner than I did. She did all types of research and knew what to expect. I, on the other hand, thought I could wing it. Nope, I couldn’t, but since I was blessed to have her on my side, she shared all of her research and experience when JustaBXgirl was born.

We had a few other friends having babies around that time and I directed all of them to Tamiqua, my savior. While she was supporting us, she didn’t find as much support at her day job when she returned from maternity leave. Somewhere between her job failing her and us needing her, Latching In Love was born.

Now, Tamiqua spends her days helping families through her lactation services. I couldn’t be more proud of my bestie, except that she keeps finding ways to make me prouder. Take this year’s Black Breastfeeding Week. Tamiqua is hosting her event to celebrate the week on her BIRTHDAY!!! How selfless is that?

She will be spending her birthday, August 29th, supporting others. She is bringing together a panel discussion on breastfeeding in the Black community. You can get your tickets to this Revive, Restore, Reclaim event on Eventbrite. She will also be joining me on Wednesday, August 26th live on Instagram for Women Winning Wednesdays where she will be sharing her wisdom and hosting a pop-up sale for her t-shirt line. You can register on Eventbrite to get reminders for the IG Live.