AANHPI LACTATION COLLABORATIVE OF CALIFORNIA

This week, we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Lactation Collaborative of California as our CHAMPion of the Week!

This Collaborative, established in December 2021, is a joint workgroup made up of AANHPI lactation professionals, public health workers, students, and retired lactation professionals from California. The vision of this collaborative is to ensure that all the diverse AANHPI communities can thrive in a just and equitable world where all communities are seen, heard, represented, understood, and included.

“We mobilize AANHPI communities, mainstream reproductive health organizations, and public health systems through advocacy, capacity building, and policy work for systemic change to uplift AANHPI communities and protect our right to thrive.”

The group also works to increase accuracy and access to disaggregated AANHPI lactation data to understand the lactation landscape; develop and promote culturally relevant educational materials that are translated into AANHPI languages and diversify the lactation workforce to be more AANHPI inclusive for culturally congruent care.

“We are here to dispel the myths that surround our communities and normalize chest/breastfeeding. We encourage our AANHPI communities to challenge, testify, restore, and stand together to ultimately break the long-standing “model minority” mantle. Silence has defined us as complacent and quiet, perpetuating our continued invisibility. But we have a voice, and we need to be heard,” said the founding members of the AANHPI Lactation Collaborative of California.