Mariposa Midwifery LLC

09/07/2026

Rare diseases suck. We are living it in my family, and now Whitney is living it. It’s a steep learning curve without many answers sometimes. Support matters.

07/19/2026

Great tips for nursing in public🦋

This is an actual brealfie (breastfeeding selfie) that I took of me breastfeeding my daughter in a coffee shop in Los Angeles when she was a few months old. IMO you can’t even really tell she’s breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is legally protected in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Federal law also protects the right to breastfeed on federal property. In general, if you are legally allowed to be somewhere, you are legally allowed to breastfeed your baby there.

That means restaurants, parks, stores, airports, libraries, waiting rooms, museums, and shopping centers are all places where you can nurse your baby. Businesses cannot require you to move to a bathroom, your car, or another private location simply because you are breastfeeding, or to cover up.

That said, having the legal right does not mean you have to breastfeed in public if you are not comfortable. Every mother deserves to feed their baby in whatever way feels safest and most comfortable for them.

If you would like a little more privacy while gaining confidence, there are many options:

• Wear nursing tops, wrap-style shirts, or button-down tops that allow discreet access.
• Use the “two-shirt method,” where an undershirt covers your abdomen while your outer shirt lifts.
• Some moms enjoy using a lightweight muslin blanket or nursing cover. Others find that babies often pull covers away or become too warm underneath them. A cover is completely optional and should never be required. Especially in the summer when it could be uncomfortable or even dangerous to have baby’s head covered.
• If you are pumping instead of nursing, wearable pumps or a nursing cover may help if you prefer additional privacy.

If the thought of breastfeeding in public feels overwhelming, remember that you do not have to jump straight into feeding your baby in the middle of a busy restaurant.

Instead, build confidence gradually.

Start by nursing around supportive family or close friends. Visit a local breastfeeding support group where everyone is feeding babies. Practice at a quiet coffee shop during a less busy time of day. Choose places where you already know the layout, seating, and environment so you can focus on your baby instead of wondering where to sit.

With time, many parents find that feeding outside the home becomes just another normal part of life.

A few additional tips:

🤱 Feed before your baby becomes very hungry if possible. A calm baby is often easier to latch than one who is crying.

🤱 Wear clothing that makes you feel comfortable and confident. There is no “right” breastfeeding outfit. And you don’t necessarily need clothing that’s branded as “nursing”. Although the hidden zippers and lift up flaps can make more discrete access to the b**b.

🤱 If your baby is distracted, try facing away from busy walkways or finding a quieter corner.

🤱 Keep a small burp cloth handy if it helps you feel more comfortable with milk dribbles or spit-up.

🤱 Remember that most people are far less focused on you than you imagine. Many won’t even notice that you’re nursing.

Most importantly, you never need to apologize for feeding your baby.

Whether you breastfeed uncovered, use a nursing cover, pump, bottle feed expressed milk, or bottle feed formula (!!!! Yes!!! You should feel comfortable doing that as well!!), your baby deserves to eat when they’re hungry.

Feeding a baby is not something to hide. It is one of the most normal and biologically expected parts of motherhood.

❤️ If you were nervous the first time you breastfed outside your home, where was it? What advice would you give another new parent preparing for their first public feed?

07/13/2026

Summer in Arizona is not for the faint of heart. But there is some adventure to it. This Summer has seen four scorpions and one black widow, fortunately not too many giant cockroaches. And now our first hab**b!

06/28/2026

Finding ways to engage in meaningful work in this season. This term I am working at Creighton University College of nursing. It’s a privilege to mentor preceptorship students and engage in community health. 🦋

06/26/2026

Life has so many twists and turns. Tonight, I am grateful for Arizona sunsets, for breath, for life.🦋 🦋

06/23/2026

Listen deeply. Act decisively. 🦋

From across the world, Indigenous Midwives came to the ICM Congress to learn that not only had the ICM statement in support of Indigenous midwifery been rescinded, but that the term “Indigenous midwifery” had been made explicitly unwelcome at this Congress.

This systemic erasure of Indigenous midwives, babies, and birthing people is a continuation of the colonial project that has led to the genocide of Indigenous people around the globe.

From Turtle Island to Gaza, from Aoteroa to Sápmi, Indigenous midwifery is the foundation of midwifery practice anywhere and everywhere. It is the collective heritage of our craft.

In their relentless attempt to patent the term “midwife,” ICM standards have criminalized our traditional practitioners and disparaged our ancestral medicines, even as colonial midwives appropriated our ancestral practices and technologies.

No matter the language, ICM does not, has never, will never own the term “Midwife.” Midwifery belongs first and foremost to the communities we serve.

We call on our allies, here and around the world, to hold ICM accountable. To assert their responsibility to repair the colonial legacies imposed on Indigenous peoples. And to stand up in defense of a midwifery that is inclusive to all.

Because if you want a million more midwives, you must start with Indigenous communities. You start with us.

06/21/2026

In Midwifery communities this news is ricocheting through. It’s not just a matter of a paper or position or policy. It represents the echoing of so many generations of indigenous Midwives that have been eradicated or silenced or made invisible.  how we has Midwives respond to this grave Choice will determine how we move forward as a profession. We have an opportunity to be breaking cycles instead of repeating the historical cycle. 🦋