Rest Is Not a Luxury, It’s a Requirement!
By Whitney Dula
“Girl, you need to sit down. Always doing something”
I’m pretty sure this is the refrain in my house to my oldest at least 500 times a day. But it needs to be the refrain I give myself. And many other parents I work with. You see, for Black folks, especially Black birthing people, rest feels like a luxury. Breaks are for the privileged, and the elders. As a Millennial parent, a young Black woman, and an establishing lactation professional, the feeling that I have to prove myself is strong. I HAVE to be better, I HAVE to work harder. But in all this doing, we’re doing ourselves a disservice. The body needs rest to help stay healthy, keep the brain operating at optimal function, and help maintain memory. Rest is not a luxury, it’s a requirement. If you’ve even flown on an airplane you’ve heard during the safety speech to put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others.
That’s what this year’s Black Breastfeeding Week theme is to me. It’s the reminder that we all need to stop, put our masks on to help ourselves breathe. I can’t do my best work or help families if I’m burned out or ill. We need to rest to be able to continue to break down the systemic barriers in the perinatal space- whether you’re a doula, lactation, or the healthcare provider. It’s okay to not take on that last project, or wash those dishes today. Taking time to rest is powerful, acknowledging your physical, mental, and emotional needs as priority. So to my fellow birth workers, I hope you can encourage your clients to rest. And then you rest too.
Whitney was awarded the Black Breastfeeding Week 2021 micro grant from Doulas of Capitol Hill of $600 to cover costs associated with the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) exam.
Whitney is a proud Marylander, a fierce advocate for perinatal health and lactation support, and babywearing nerd. She currently owns The Mama’s Dula LLC, a lactation- focused postpartum care service based in Prince George’s County, MD; in addition to being a community/ public health-based lactation counselor for the Montgomery Co. Department of Health and Human Services under the Babies Born Healthy Program. When not working, she can be found volunteering with the Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition where she is currently President or doing advocacy work with USLCA and Black Breastfeeding 365. Her most important job however is being mom to her two exclusively breastfed girls and wife to her extremely supportive husband.