Chloe Vital, is a first-generation Black American mother of two who resides in the Hudson Valley, NY. With her first son, she experienced a conventional hospital birth that left her exalted that her son arrived safely. However, once she returned home the reality, she and most new parents faced was overwhelming. She was so preoccupied with handling the pain of birth she did not prepare for postpartum. In the hospital, she was given a nipple shield, a plastic covering that “assists” baby latch on. The first week was incredibly draining, she felt her supply was low, and latching still hurt, so she reached out to her local WIC office.
The same office invited her to a breastfeeding class, but she declined, assuming she would just know how to successfully latch her child. At the appointment she cried, she expressed feelings of failure because she couldn’t get it right. The Peer Counselor assured her that she was doing great because they were being honest about the confusion and sought support. They spent a portion of the meeting discussing milk transitions, nursing holds and feeding cues. Time was also spent in laughter discussing music, literature, and cultural expectations. This experience empowered Chloe to continue nursing her child for 15 months, she was 5 months pregnant with her second son.
When Chloe was 8 months pregnant, she began an Instagram page titled MidHudson Chocolate Milk. The page began as a digital footprint honoring breastfeeding but with the support of individuals and after the home birth of her second child, she decided to create an organization that offers other parents’ pathways at exploring authentic options as a form of restorative healing. The home birth was a transformative experience that offered Chloe insight to a level of trust and faith that was unimaginable before. She gained her Certification as a Breastfeeding Specialist and began filling in gaps of support with empathetic and evidence informed care.
However, she found that a lot of the resources focused simply on keeping babies fed, not developing and nurturing the relationship with the baby, their new parenting role and their environments. She got to work creating the “SevenS’ programming that uses the concepts of Savings, Synergy, Sustenance, Support, Solidarity, Sustainability, and Sovereignty. She facilitates prenatal workshops on behalf of perinatal agencies throughout the Hudson Valley, NY to increase lactation engagement and retention rates. She is the author of Commit with Confidence the lactation resource guide and A Puerperium Pause a postpartum affirmation book.
