“Why are you wasting your time?” my aunt asked me, watching as I prepared my breast pump before another grueling day of residency training. “You know we don’t do that in our family.”

Her words cut deep, not just because of the judgment, but because they came from someone I deeply loved. Here was a woman who had always been my champion, now making me feel like an outsider in my own family for making a choice — the choice to breastfeed my child — that felt so right to me. As a Black physician and new mother, I thought my medical knowledge would shield me from this kind of criticism. Instead, I found myself isolated and questioning everything.

The Weight of History

The roots of breastfeeding hesitation in Black communities run deep. During slavery, Black women were forced to serve as wet n

See Full Page