Nicole Johnson, a lawyer and mother to an 8-month-old daughter named Marley, had her fair share of problems when she started breastfeeding [1], from engorgement to a shallow latch. But despite her initial struggles and Marley's new set of pearly whites coming in (yes, ouch!), Nicole knew it was important to keep breastfeeding [2] so she could be a good example to other women of color.
The blogger at Life Songs Solutions [3] told POPSUGAR how challenging it was as a working mother [4] to make breastfeeding work, especially public nursing.
"When I started my research about pregnancy and motherhood, I didn't see many images of women who looked like me, mothering the way I knew I wanted to do it."
Nicole admitted she doesn't waste time trying to cover up every inch of her skin when trying to get her baby fed in a public place.
"I'm not a modest woman. So people seeing my breast wasn't an issue [6]. But I needed to sit, have my water bottle close, use one arm to hold the baby and my free hand to help her latch correctly" she said, adding that, "Try doing all of that standing up, or sitting on a floor or a dressing room. I did have fun educating the people who would look disgusted or suggest that I cover up."
Nicole believes that every mom should feel empowered enough to breastfeed and especially wants her message to be heard by other women of color who are having doubts about trying it for themselves.
"I think it's important to share my breastfeeding journey because I'm a black woman. When I started my research about pregnancy and motherhood, I didn't see many images of women who looked like me, mothering the way I knew I wanted to do it."
But thanks to the power of social media, Nicole quickly found a support system of black mothers — and it totally changed her perspective.
"I knew there was no way that black women weren't having natural births with doulas and midwives, cloth-diapering, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, and making their own baby food. We were doing these things out of necessity before it was mainstream. Through social media, I found a supportive and nurturing community of other black moms sharing their journeys, so I decided to share mine. I want the next mom to look at me and know that she can do it."
For Nicole, her reasoning goes even deeper than today's societal norms. She's doing it for the black women who came before her, who had no support.
"I feel very privileged to be able to nurse my child. During slavery, some black women were forced to serve as nursemaids to their owners' babies," she explained. "Those women would have to nurse those babies before their own. They were forced to be separated from their babies for ridiculous amounts of time. For me, nursing my daughter, and knowing that no one can separate us feels magical. Part of why I'm doing this is because my ancestors couldn't."