ALL MOMS EMPOWERED TO NURSE

This week’s CHAMPion is dedicated to peer-to-peer breastfeeding support. Because it matters.

All Moms Empowered to Nurse (AMEN) began in a church in Avondale, Cincinnati, an under-resourced, predominantly Black neighborhood with low breastfeeding rates. Since 2017, AMEN has provided support and education to pregnant and postpartum moms, significantly increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration in their community. The peer-to-peer support group has worked with over 2,500 participants, held 230 groups, and hosted 115 guests on topics of interest to moms with young families. AMEN has also offered Community Transformer and Breastfriend trainings through Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE) and CLC scholarships to 30 women.

“I have had the special honor to work alongside Community Breastfeeding Champion moms to facilitate their peer-to-peer support of other women primarily from African American neighborhoods,” shares Dr. Julie Ware, AMEN team member. “The support they share with each other is so powerful, and goes beyond breastfeeding advice. They are helping each other to become strong and resilient mothers for their precious families.”

According to Champion Julietta Ladipo, “AMEN is the best team I could have found as a breastfeeding mom! In my opinion, if a mom is determined to breastfeed, she will do the most to make it happen. Having peer support makes the process seamless, easier, and more enduring. Having other women who can encourage each other during some of the most challenging parts of womanhood has been a saving grace.”

AMEN is a fellow awardee of the Reducing Disparities in Breastfeeding Innovation Challenge Phase 2, created by the Office on Women’s Health to reward programs with a track record in increasing breastfeeding rates and decreasing disparities. This Black Breastfeeding Week, CHEER is honored to recognize AMEN as our CHAMPion.