This month, we recognize National Minority Health Month and Black Maternal Health Week!

We dance, so we don't cry.

We take time to celebrate the phenomenal healing work of our community and continue to acknowledge the growing health disparities that affect people from racial and ethnic minority groups. The Office of Minority Health announced the theme for National Minority Health Month to be: Better Health Through Better Understanding. Part of this is improving access to linguistically appropriate healthcare information and ensuring that families receive culturally competent care. When families receive culturally competent healthcare and understand the information they receive, they can make informed choices to meet their healthcare needs. We want to highlight our breastfeeding coalitions that support this initiative of providing culturally competent information:

• April 3  Tea & Milk Coalition
• April 6: LGBTQ+ Human Milk Feeding Committee
• May 3: Black Breastfeeding Coalition
• Coalición Pro-Lactancia Hispana

We celebrate Black Maternal Health week this month to build awareness, activism, and community-building to amplify the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of Black Mamas and birthing people. And we look forward to dancing with Equity Before Birth, ribbon cuttings with MAAME, and taking classes with Birthing Boldly. This month, we also continue our First Food Equity Series to discuss how one's birth experience can impact breastfeeding initiation and duration with Tonya Daniel. 

In this session of the Building Blocks to Breastfeeding Friendly Childcare Learning Bursts, presenters share examples of how programs across the state have created a variety of breastfeeding spaces in creative ways — from transforming a storage closet to using flexible space for breastfeeding, staff relaxation, and therapy. Email Breastfeed Durham if you view any of the child care videos. We have an opportunity to secure additional funding if we can document that 35 providers have viewed the videos.