LANSING, Mich. (WSVN) – Mothers across the U.S. are getting a new way to access breastfeeding support thanks to a quickly growing national non-profit organization. The most recent location opened its doors in Michigan last week.
Welcoming a new life into the world can come with a lot of new challenges.
“There’s different obstacles that moms go through, so we know that it takes a village. It takes community support,” said Laurel McCamman, a supervisor at Maternal Child Health.
And now that support is available after the grand opening of Baby Cafe near Lansing, Michigan. Their meetings come with food, a variety of educational topics and a monthly party.
“And our babies get to play and socialize together, and just support for breastfeeding,” said Morgan Smith, a mother who attended Baby Cafe. “I would want a new mom to know, that our group is here to support her and help with all phases of like a baby, you know, there are new moms that are here and there are older moms and we hang out and socialize.”
Smith met with her group at the Baby Cafe and said they help each other with anything from sleep to solid foods. Their lactation expert helps answer medical questions and their informal setting helps end social isolation.
“Sometimes there’s just like mom questions or you know just family questions in general or community questions, so it’s really a place for them to gather and really create friendships,” added McCamman.
Communities across the country are implementing the Baby Cafe model as an effort to reduce health disparities nationwide and to help mothers realize their breastfeeding goals.
There are nine Baby Cafe locations in Florida.
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