As her newborn son slept in a baby carrier while curled up in a blanket, Jasmine Williams-Lambert said she decided Friday that she was ready for some sunlight and conversation after giving birth a week ago to her third child, Simeon.
With her first two kids, the 31-year-old South Shore resident said their home births went smoothly, joking that she “literally popped them out in my kitchen and got to go to bed.” Simeon, however, was born non-vigorous — having trouble breathing — and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Thankfully, Simeon is now stable and breathing well, she said.
“Now I can see the light, and I’m going outside,” Williams-Lambert said. “This is gorgeous.”
When she saw an ad for “Barb the Breast Express” on social media, she said it seemed like a good place to commiserate with fellow moms and ask questions about breastfeeding, specifically nipple shields.
The renovated school bus that’s painted blue and decorated with various paintings of its namesake was parked outside the WIC Greater Lawn Health Center on the Southwest Side Friday morning. It catered to about 50 parents, many living in underserved communities, looking for resources on maternal health — everything from lactation consultants to applesauce. Chicago was a stop on the “Feel Better, Feed Better Tour,” a cross-country trek run by Pumpspotting, a group that supports breastfeeding moms. It’ll also stop at the Chicago Prego Expo on Sunday.
When stepping inside the bus, at the front, there’s a “love letter well” where moms can write and take love letters from one another. There’s also various maternity products to browse and potentially access through insurance, including breast pumps and diapers, and a space in the back to sit and talk.
“Moms come on and you can see the weight of what they’re carrying. They have bags under their eyes. They’re literally carrying heavy diaper bags and a baby,” said Amy VanHaren, CEO and founder of Pumpspotting. “And they spend 30 minutes with us, and we hold their babies, and they sit here, and they leave lighter. … The magic happens in just sitting with a mom.”
VanHaren founded the organization about 10 years ago after struggling to find a community of women after giving birth to her son, Max. She said she traveled every month from Maine to California to meet clients for the marketing agency she owned, and had to ship breast milk and pump in every bathroom she could find. On her mind for nearly a year was “nursing or pumping, or thinking about nursing and pumping.”
“I just really felt so isolated, so disconnected and because my background was in bringing people together through digital formats … and I thought, what if we build a space that’s nourishing and inviting and really just shares that mom to mom information and support,” she said.
After talking to volunteers and taking pictures outside the bus, Williams-Lambert left with a bag of lactation-friendly clothing — three shirts and a hoodie. Living in South Shore, she said there’s generally less opportunities for events like the bus. In Chicago, recent hospital closings have rendered entire parts of the city “birth deserts,” leaving dismal conditions for Black maternal health care.
Pumpspotting employee Brittany Shoughi, center, talks to fellow employees outside Pumpspotting’s bus,
‘Barb the Breast Express’ shares maternal health resources with new moms on Southwest Side
