Last week we celebrated a MAJOR MILESTONE as part of our Foundation’s Three Year Strategic Growth Plan! In an effort to INCREASE ACCESS to equitable and affordable lactation support in San Diego’s “first food deserts,” it has been our mission to expand our services to Southeast San Diego. On Tuesday December 13th, we did just that!! We welcomed friends, colleagues and community members into our newest Foundation clinic space in Southeast San Diego during a lovely open house! Located inside Access Youth Academy and led by the incredible Chardá Bell, IBCLC, CBE, CD, this clinic will offer a FREE weekly chest/breastfeeding support group that starts on Jan. 3rd, 2023 and, starting in February 2023, FREE or low-cost private lactation consultations!

Here are some thoughts from Chardá:

“Last year I wrote about how Black families, particularly in Southeast San Diego, often do not have access to breastfeeding support when they are struggling with challenges. Well thanks to some major work in the community, things have changed. In a collaborative effort, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation and Global Communities have now created a weekly breastfeeding support group to fill this gap and reduce disparities through increased ease of access. But that’s not the best part, keep reading!

“Healthy Start contracts with the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation to provide amazing FREE lactation consults to its participants and that individualized help is critical. Yet another thing that is just as important is being able to see someone else who looks like you doing the same thing, going through similar situations, so you don’t feel so alone and have the strength to continue. These parents didn’t have a place to go after/between consults where they felt comfortable to share with other peers the struggles and joys of breastfeeding while Black. These struggles are unique barriers experienced most frequently among Black women and are reported to include but not limited to: lack of social, work, and cultural acceptance, language and literacy barriers for our Black diverse populations, and overall lack of access to information that promotes and supports breastfeeding, acculturation, and lifestyle choices. 

Not to mention the disincentive to breastfeed due to the disproportionate rate of infant formula distribution to Black mothers in the hospitals. 

“My goal has always been to get a support group in my hometown of Southeast San Diego, a mid-size area of the county, that is predominantly African American, low income to upper middle class, with some military families. I’m proud to be assisting in the opening of the first breastfeeding support clinic in Southeast San Diego; through steady exposure, easy access to support, and most importantly free support available to those who need it most. These resources will empower Black families and make chest/breastfeeding a traditional norm again. By improving chest/breastfeeding rates within the Black community, we will be achieving better overall health and well-being while reducing racial inequities for our entire community.”

THIS IS THE WORK we are so excited to be a part of, and it truly wouldn’t be possible without the consistent grassroots support we receive every year from YOU, our community members! If you’re as excited about this clinic as we are - NOW IS THE TIME to help us! Let’s ride this momentum all the way to our $15,000 end of year goal!