A Baby Café sounds like a place for infants to hang out, get a little something to eat or drink and swap stories with their peers, and in a strong sense that’s what it is, except it is more for the mothers.
And Jacqueline Lambert, Lead Baby Café Facilitator, is inviting all pregnant and nursing mothers to come take advantage of the free facility.
Lambert describes the Baby Café as, “A drop-in site for all pregnant, breast-feeding, postpartal moms.” She said the purpose of the facility is to help the mother no matter what stage of breast-feeding they are in. “Our goal is to help them reach their goal,” she said.
The Café is not designed to be a clinical setting, it’s comparable to a coffee shop or book store, Lambert said, “Moms come in, mingle with each other, sit down, read information if they like, watch videos if they like or have a little snack on the side if they choose to.”
She said the mothers who come to the site have the opportunity to meet with skilled practitioners to get the support and education they need with regard to breastfeeding, whether they are having trouble latching on, or anything else needed to get breastfeeding off to a good start. “Because even though it is normal, it doesn’t always work the same with every mom and every baby,” she said.
In addition to having access to professionals, the mothers can just simply visit and talk with other mothers. “Moms are able to help other moms,” said Lambert.
Lambert said that although breastfeeding has been around since the very beginning, it has not been widely accepted. Her message to mothers is, “It’s normal, it’s natural, there’s nothing strange about breastfeeding. It’s just another means, another way of feeding our babies. Human milk is for human babies,” she said.
Lambert maintains that breastfeeding also has added health-related benefits for both the child and the mother. “Research has shown that moms who breastfeed, it does, later on in life, it reduces those chances of certain childhood illnesses,” Lambert said.
And the good that results from breastfeeding is not limited to the child. Lambert said, “As (for) an adult, it has already been proven that it reduces some heart diseases, obesity, especially some asthmas, it reduces the chances of those illnesses,” she said.
In addition, Lambert said breastfeeding has been known to reduce certain chances of ovarian and breast cancers. “So, I’m talking to moms about the benefits and letting them know this is a natural way. This is nothing we thought of overnight, this has been here since the creation of mankind.”
Even though the natural method of nursing babies has documented benefits, Lambert said there is still a segment of the population that has not embraced the method. She said research has shown that African-American women are in the minority when it comes to the number of mothers who breastfeed.
With that in mind, the Baby Café spends a lot of time educating the public, with the hope of breaking down whatever barriers exist to deter mothers from breastfeeding.
One of the issues they are tackling is the perception, the way the breasts are viewed. “We tend to view the breast as a sexual object versus a means of nursing and feeding our babies, so changing the way our mindsets are and then beginning to see that not only is it helping our baby reduce some chances, it helps me reduce some chances of certain cancers,” said Lambert.
She said they address the issues wherever they encounter mothers and also partner with other agencies who work with mothers and families to get the word out. “Our goal is to reach them while they are pregnant, but that doesn’t always happen. Some moms make a decision later on,” she said.
In addition to changing how breasts are perceived, another impediment can be working mothers who may worry about their ability to feed their child while they are working.
But Mississippi, like many other states has supportive laws. “We do have laws in place for moms, we encourage moms to talk to their employers while they are pregnant, go over the law with them, so that they can find a space for them to nurse other than a bathroom. A place where they can actually store their breast milk and or if they are not far from their baby where they can go nurse their baby and return to work,” said Lambert.
She said the laws protect working mothers as well as mothers who may be in school or nurse in public.
The Delta Baby Café is funded through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and is housed in the Sunflower County Health Department on U.S. 49/Martin Luther King Boulevard and is open every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for any mother, care-giver or support person engaged in breastfeeding.
