By Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD
Our stories matter! When we tell them to one another, we know we are not alone. When we tell them to support organizations, researchers, and legislators, we have power.
Stories Connect Us
Many parents begin their breastfeeding journey believing they are the only ones struggling. They may feel isolated when they encounter challenges such as inadequate parental leave, lack of workplace accommodations, difficulty finding skilled lactation support, separation from a baby in the NICU, or aggressive formula marketing that they may not even recognize as marketing.
When we hear other families’ stories, we learn that our experiences are not our individual failures. They are most often the result of systems that do not adequately support parents and babies.
Stories help us understand that we are not alone.
Stories Reveal Patterns
One story is important.
A hundred stories reveal a pattern.
A thousand stories reveal a public health issue.
When parents repeatedly describe returning to work while their baby is in the NICU, struggling to find a private place to pump, being unable to afford a breast pump, or receiving conflicting information from healthcare providers, we begin to see that these are not isolated events. They are systemic problems.
The stories become evidence. Researchers collect data. Advocates gather testimony. Organizations document trends. Legislators listen to constituents. Behind every statistic are many human stories.
Stories Drive Change
Many of the advances that breastfeeding families benefit from today began with parents sharing their experiences.
Parents spoke about the need for workplace protections, described the challenges of pumping at work, testified about barriers to accessing lactation care, explained the struggles of feeding medically fragile infants.
Our stories have helped and continue to help shape laws, workplace policies, healthcare practices, and public awareness.
Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition has seen this firsthand. Whether advocating for improved pump coverage, stronger workplace protections, better support for NICU families, or broader access to lactation care, personal stories have enormous impact.
Legislators may remember a statistic.
They almost always remember a story.
Stories Can Challenge Powerful Interests
Corporations collect stories, too. Marketing companies conduct focus groups. Advertisers study consumer experiences. Businesses learn what worries parents and what problems they encounter. For corporations, mothers’ stories are used to sell products.
Advocates use stories differently. Instead of asking, “How can we convince the people facing this challenge that our product will solve it for them easily?” we ask, “Why does this challenge exist, and how can we fix it?” We can transform personal experience into collective action.
Your Story Matters
You do not need a dramatic story to make a difference. Perhaps breastfeeding went smoothly. Perhaps it was the hardest thing you have ever done. Perhaps your story includes donor milk, pumping, NICU care, returning to work, supportive healthcare providers, or barriers that made breastfeeding more difficult. Every experience adds to our understanding of what families need, and how we can help.
When we share our stories with one another, we build community.
When we share them with researchers, advocates, healthcare leaders, employers, and legislators, we build change.
Every major improvement in breastfeeding support began with someone’s story. Currently, Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, Radical Moms Union, A Better Balance and the Black Maternal Health Caucus are all working on efforts that can change breastfeeding narrative in the US. Over the next months, each organization will be collecting stories to further their efforts. Please consider sharing yours.
Together, our stories have the power to create a world where every family receives the support they need to meet their feeding goals.
Stories matter.
Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam, PhD, has been working in maternal and child health for over 35 years as an educator, researcher, advocate, and writer. In addition to serving on the board of Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, she is past president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and is the founding director emerita of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, which provides safe donor milk to hospitals and families throughout the northeastern US. Learn more about her on her LactSpeak profile.
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