The Birthstone Center for Appalachian Perinatal Resilience

08/04/2026

🦸✨ Grab your little superheroes and join us for Mamamorphosis THIS THURSDAY from 11–1!

Every superhero deserves a place to recharge! Take a break from the heroic adventures of parenthood and join us for a midday reset filled with connection, support, and community. We'll be gathering at our Sylva location (494 W Main St.) to power up, catch your breath, and team up with other incredible parents. 💥

While your little sidekicks play and imagine their own super adventures, you'll have the chance to connect with fellow parents, share stories, and receive encouragement from our amazing doulas and lactation specialists. Whether you need a listening ear, helpful advice, or just a moment to refill your superpowers, we've got your back! 💫

Who's it for?
🦸 Expecting parents
🍼 Breastfeeding & bottle-feeding parents
⭐ Parents in every season of parenthood

No cape required, just come as you are! Wrinkled shirts, mismatched socks, diaper bags, and all are welcome. Whether you're celebrating today's victories or navigating a few villain-sized challenges, you'll always find a league of supportive parents cheering you on. 💜

Always free, always welcoming, and never any pressure.

Proudly offered in partnership with Healthy Blue of North Carolina. 🩵

08/03/2026

07/30/2026

07/29/2026

Rest assured that our team is working hard to make sure that you never lose access to care despite coverage limitations. Much of the work we do at Birthstone revolves around advocacy for policies that cover the types of perinatal support services that we offer.

Insurance companies listen way more to members than they do to providers.

Please make your voice be known and let them know that you value the lactation professional that has two patients in front of her. The IBCLC who has spent thousands upon thousands of hours preparing to take care of this family—the lactation professional that charts twice and does two assessments on two different patients in front of her. She creates two separate care plans and charts two separate soap notes. Our IBCLC’s see you clinically as a singular unit, a dyad between a mother and a baby. Yes this means that you are a singular unit, but we should not be forced to bill in a way that cuts our income in half and that can limit the care in situations when baby desperately needs care that should be billed for, from a provider who understands that breastfeeding involves both parent and baby.

Our providers deserve to be paid what they are worth for the care that they provide. While we work tirelessly behind the scenes to advocate for policy change on an institutional level and a systemic level, please know that our team will never stop advocating for you and the care that you deserve and that we will never turn you away for inability to pay.

⚠️ ABM community — this one is urgent.

On September 1, UnitedHealthcare is changing how it reimburses lactation care. The new policy will only pay for one session per visit and will no longer cover claims billed for the infant, effectively cutting reimbursement for dyad care.

This impacts IBCLCs, physicians, and most importantly, the families who depend on covered lactation support during the most critical weeks postpartum.
The good news? There's still time to push back, and there are four letter templates ready to go for providers, parents, and employers.

Read the full breakdown and take action before September 1. https://paperlesslactation.com/blog/fight-uhc/

07/28/2026

Take a break from the busy rhythm of parenthood and spend some time with friends (and future friends!) in a welcoming space filled with connection, support, and community. We'll be gathering at our Sylva location (494 W Main St.) to laugh, recharge, and build the kind of village every parent deserves. ✨

While your little ones play, you'll have the chance to share stories, swap parenting tips, and connect with other parents who truly understand this season of life. Our caring doulas and lactation specialists will also be there to offer encouragement, guidance, and support whenever you need it. 💕

Who's it for?
🤍 Expecting parents
🍼 Breastfeeding & bottle-feeding parents
🌼 Parents in every season of parenthood

No need to impress anyone—just come as you are! Messy hair, comfy clothes, diaper bags, and all are welcome. Whether you're looking for advice, a listening ear, or simply a few friendly faces, there's always room for you in our circle. 🌸

Always free, always welcoming, and never any pressure.

Proudly offered in partnership with Healthy Blue of North Carolina. 🩵

07/23/2026

We'd love to hear from you! 💛

We're collecting client testimonials to help share the impact of our work as we pursue future partnerships, funding opportunities, and strategic planning. If you've had an experience with us that you'd like to share, we'd be so grateful if you could take a moment to fill out our Google Form!

Your feedback is completely optional, but every response is deeply appreciated. Thank you for supporting our mission!

Please give an optional review of your experience with The Birthstone Center services.

07/23/2026

An exciting milestone for one of our community partners!!

They donate their proceeds from the first Wednesday of each month to our center to support perinatal health in our community, join them in celebrating this milestone!

A small milestone worth celebrating!

When we opened The Highland Hound, our goal wasn’t to become the biggest salon… it was to build one that we could genuinely be proud of. Me and Kady both felt strongly about providing a different type of grooming experience.
We wanted a place where dogs are treated with patience, kindness, and respect. A place where appointments are never rushed, where skin and coat health matter just as much as the haircut, and where every family feels heard.

This week, we celebrated our very first $1,000 day.

While we’re incredibly excited about that milestone, the number itself isn’t what means the most to us.
What it represents is hundreds of wagging tails, trusting clients, referrals from friends, encouraging comments, and a community that chose to support two local moms chasing a dream.

Every appointment booked, every recommendation shared, every review left, and every dog you’ve trusted us with has helped make moments like this possible.
We know we’re still just getting started, and we’re excited for what’s ahead. We have so many wonderful things in the works that we cannot wait to bring to all of you!

From the bottom of our hearts….

Thank you for believing in The Highland Hound. ❤️

Here’s to many more healthy coats, happy dogs, and milestones worth celebrating together.

07/18/2026

We are so grateful to Impact and to our community for such an amazing fundraiser! This means so much to us!

Thank you, again, to everyone who came out in June to get a car wash, shop the sale, volunteer, donate, and support our Yard Sale and Car Wash for our fundraiser benefiting The Birthstone Center for Appalachian Perinatal Resilience!

Because of you, we were able to raise OVER ✨️ $1100 ✨️ towards their mission of supporting Appalachian Families through the mountains of parenthood through providing lactation, doula, physical therapy and mental health services across Western North Carolina.

Impact by Rotary Club of Sylva chair Holly and Treasurer Chris are pictured here with Brandi Harrison and a few other team members from The Birthstone Center for Appalachian Perinatal Resilience this past week

07/17/2026

Meet Summer, our Communications Manager here at The Birthstone Center! We're beyond grateful to have Summer on our team, spreading positivity with every call, announcement sent, and nutritious treat shared from her upcoming business nc - she's always finding a way to make everyone feel welcomed!