New Baby Café Provides Breastfeeding Support In Kalamazoo

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The first Baby Café in Kalamazoo celebrated its grand opening this week and will host its first public café hours on Thursday, May 9. The café, located at Rootead, gives people who are breastfeeding an opportunity to gather and receive support and education in a welcoming and accessible space, with a coffee-shop like atmosphere. 

The Baby Café is supported by a generous grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation through Bronson Health Foundation. Bronson partnered with Rootead to host the first Kalamazoo area café, which is based on a national model. Rootead is a nonprofit organization that centers the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) by providing connection and support through birth justice, youth empowerment, and community healing. Breastfeeding visitors during café hours will have the opportunity to interact with lactation consultants and connect with others who are breastfeeding. 

"We have been excitedly preparing for the opening of our Baby Café, and can't wait to offer free, drop in chest- and breastfeeding help to anyone who needs it,” says Vanessa Moon, birth justice director at Rootead.  “We know that rates of exclusive and continued breastfeeding increase when there are proper supports like this in place.” 

The establishment of the Kalamazoo Cafe stems from work being done as part of the Kalamazoo County Quality Improvement through Training, Accountability and Community Support (QI-TRACS) collaborative, which began in 2021. “We wanted to make a more permanent improvement to the quality of lactation services in Kalamazoo County,” says Aita Wellington, community organizer for QI-TRACS. “The Kalamazoo Baby Café is the culminating event in this project. Kalamazoo parents deserve a safe space to access resources and support in their lactation journey.” 

While Rootead is the primary partner in Kalamazoo, Baby Cafés will also be hosted at scheduled times at various satellite locations throughout Kalamazoo to offer convenient options to serve a range of communities. The sites will be supported by Rootead staff as well as lactation consultants from partner organizations. Baby Café hours at Rootead will be posted on their Facebook page. The first of these Bronson supported cafes opened at Calhoun County’s primary partner, Milk Like Mine, in Battle Creek last fall. “We are committed to helping to boost efforts to improve birth outcomes, especially in vulnerable communities” says Carol Fuller, Bronson’s system director of Women and Children’s Services. 

“We share our ongoing gratitude to W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their partnership and support for our communities in the area of maternal infant health,” says Terry Morrow, president of Bronson Health Foundation.