When Betsy Riley took a road trip in the height of COVID, she realized over half the items packed in her car were breastfeeding products. She knew the breastfeeding product user experience was confusing and disconnected and longed for something more simple. When she met Elizabeth Myer via a mom group, the two decided to tackle the breastfeeding industry, going back to the basics. Enter Swehl, your one-stop-shop for your breastfeeding journey.

The Swehl Motherboard consists of doctors, doulas, and lactation experts. Why is it important to include experts across different modalities?

Breastfeeding is one of those hard topics where each practitioner comes at it from a different lens. A doula and an OB will have different specialties when thinking about lactation, and we wanted a space to host all of those schools of thought. That said, at the end of the day, the parent is the best expert for their child and has that magic intuition. Swehl is a very personal company, and many of the Motherboard are experts we looked up to or have worked with directly with our own families.

What is the biggest misconception about breastfeeding that all new and expectant mothers should know?

It is most definitely not the most natural thing in the world! In fact, 92% of new parents report issues with it! Breastfeeding is a learned skill – where practice usually makes all the difference.

Swehl Talk Circles are expert-led community talks that are live opportunities for parents to “commune, grow, and commiserate” with other parents. What are your goals for Talk Circles?

When we first started Talk Circles, it was really to hear from friends about where they needed support in early postpartum. But what happened was lightning in a bottle – these women needed an outlet, and putting together a small room of new parents was magic. We knew we had to incorporate Swehl Circles into our launch offering so our community could actually chat (versus posting in a forum).

Since founding Swehl, what has been your most rewarding moment or greatest success story to date?

There have been a lot of beautiful stories about Swehl changing a feeding journey – and that is really the goal here. That said, we created a “Founding Families” study, which now meets once a week at the park. Hearing the ripple effect of Swehl and our community is very rewarding.

What's one piece of advice or encouragement all breastfeeding mothers should know when times get tough?

There is no one way to feed your baby, and the best way is your way.

AND

Breastfeeding is a marathon, and not always a picnic… but it's a lot more fun if you pack the right plates.