Friday 5

Happy Friday, ya'll. Although World Breastfeeding Week is long gone, the whole month of August is dedicated to nursing as it's Breastfeeding Awareness Month. This week's Firday 5 is dedicated to the women of color who are movers & shakers in the breastfeeding world.

1. Kathi Barber
Kathi is the author of The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding and the founder of the African-American Breastfeeding Alliance. She is a board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) who also blogs for Mothering in her spare time.

2. Micky Jones
Micky Jones is also an IBCLC, a Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor, a Certified Lactation Educator and a bunch of other acronyms that mean she works with and cares for moms and babies. Micky's blog, Mocha Milk, was the inspiration for Blacktating. Although she doesn't update much anymore, I can hardly be mad, as she's helping moms with pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding at 9 Months & Beyond, her business in middle Tennessee.

3. Mishawn Purnell-O'Neal
Mishawn has a Master's degree in Public Health and is the author of several books, including a breastfeeding book for kids, The Wonders of Mothers Milk. Mishawn is also the founder of Breastfeeding America, an organization created to address the gaps in information and education about breastfeeding in the black community.

4. Kiddada Ramey
Founder of the Black Mother's Breastfeeding Association, Kiddada has created a monthly breastfeeding support club for mothers in the Detroit area, presented at the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's annual meeting and was also a keynote speaker at a recent conference in Chicago that looked at ways to reduce disparities in breastfeeding rates. In addition to her work supporting breastfeeding, Kiddada is also a teacher and reading specialist.

5. Kimberley Traylor
Kimberley Traylor has a Master's degree in Human Development, is a lactation specialist, former WIC breastfeeding peer counselor, doula and founder of theVillage, which provides breastfeeding clinics, doula services, support groups and workshops for moms in Houston, TX.


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