09/03/2026
There are moments in life that stay with you forever, the kind you remember so vividly and shape you into who you are today.
There are 4 moments specifically that fueled the start of The Milk Grove:
🤍 Nearly 2 weeks spent trying to hide my pregnant belly before a first time mom finally asked when I was due.
I hesitated for a while, trying to figure out how to tell her I had the same due date as her 26wkr laying in the bed between us.
Instead of jealousy, discomfort or even sadness…her response of immediate genuine concern.
“Are you ok doing this?”
Ten weeks later she walked into my postpartum room with a gift bag.
🤍 A text from my cousin of the decision for an urgent C/S of her 23wk twins, dad wasn’t there yet.
I was on admit that day.
I remember running down the hallway as they were wheeling her to the OR, leaning over and hugging her as we pushed her through those doors telling her ‘Its going to be ok’… and then turned around to resuscitate and care for my niece.
🤍 A former NICU graduate turned friend.
The phone call to come in for a critical term delivering came in at 2:50am.
As I scrubbed in and read the baby’s name on the board, my heart sunk to the floor as I realized who I was there for.
The relief on mom’s face, during her first visit, through the tangle of equipment and cords is one I’ll never forget.
🤍 The fourth is a mom battling postpartum psychosis. The disassociation preventing her from enjoying the beauty of parenthood lasted almost 1 year.
These experiences changed me.
They shape the way I see pregnancy, birth, feeding, trauma and postpartum.
Our medical system was never designed to adequately prepare families for all of this- or even to provide the kind of ongoing, individualized support deserved.
There is so much work to do.
And The Milk Grove is my small step towards providing better care.
