Moms Who Inspire: Anjelica Malone

My breastfeeding experience was much more challenging than I could have imagined. I often wondered why it wasn’t coming naturally to me. That is until I met Anjelica Malone.

Anjelica is a Lactation Coach who is redefining the way we support breastfeeding women. Her views are like nothing I’ve ever heard or seen. She calls herself a coach because she doesn’t see the real value in consulting. She believes that women need help through their entire journey from latching and scheduling to going back to work, to traveling and eventually weaning. She believes that women need someone to turn to for all of their ups and downs, not just in the beginning.

When I first spoke to Anjelica, she immediately made me feel at ease. She explained to me that everything I was experiencing was completely normal and that many women struggle with similar things, we just don’t hear about it that often.

Anjelica and her family

I believe Anjelica is a visionary in her field. She’s not afraid to challenge how lactation has been approached in the past and wants to create a lactation structure that will benefit women in this day and age.

Another thing that I love about Anjelica is that she’s not only passionate about helping mothers to breastfeed, but also helping partners to be a part of the process as well. She believes that the more knowledge she can pass onto the partners, the better off everyone in the family will be.

It’s Anjelica’s vision, tenacity, and kindness that makes me so honored to share her words with you below.

What’s the most rewarding part about being a Lactation Coach?

1. “Seeing a mom realize that breastfeeding doesn’t have to hurt. I remember a specific moment when I saw a first-time mom having trouble breastfeeding her two-day-old baby. Wanting to support her, I asked if she’d like some help. I got her all set up on the bed, placed pillows to position her well and helped her latch. When I asked her how she was doing, she looked up at me in shock and said, “It’s great, it doesn’t hurt!” That’s the moment I live for. For some reason, a lot of women assume that breastfeeding shouldn’t be that complicated, but it takes support from others, which is why I also love to see partners get involved. So often partners want to help but just don’t know how. I like to teach partners how to latch their babies so they can be there for the mother and so that they can bond more as a couple.”

What’s the biggest challenge you think new moms face today?

2. “Isolation. Not in ‘we never see” each other way’ but, isolation in that we never get to see how other moms really do it. In the social media age, we see a mom post a photo of her doing something and we wonder how did she do that by herself? Or how does she have time to get that done? We never get to see the inner workings of motherhood and it’s because of that, that we end up feeling inferior and isolated.”

We’ve seen pregnant women and new mom’s lives transformed by using Expectful’s meditations. As someone who works with women pre and postnatally, why do you believe meditation is so important for women during that time?

3. “I’ve seen that the moms who are more active and conscious of meditation before they give birth are the ones that are more likely to understand the importance of self-care during motherhood. The tools are already in place so to speak, and they tend to be more proactive about the importance of alone time. I think a lot of women believe that they need to be with their babies constantly, but that’s just not true. You can have time alone. In fact, when we take time for ourselves, it allows us to be more mindful of our thoughts and can actually help us to pick up on things like symptoms of postpartum depression earlier.”

What’s the one piece of relationship advice you would give to new parents?

4. “Go through it together and come out of it together. Try and split the job and share the job as much as possible. If the mom is the only one who has the knowledge about birth, feeding and sleeping times than that puts all the stress on her. Partners need to take part in everything so that they can relate to what the mother is going through, and so that they can be able to truly connect as a couple. The moment a partner can’t comprehend what it feels like to be a mother is the moment you have trouble in a relationship. When you share the work and hard times, it’s much easier to be on the same level together.”

What’s one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you as a mom?

5. “That I didn’t always want to be a mom. I thought that I wanted to put my career first or wanted for it to be just my husband and I. Then things happened in my life and I had my first daughter. I don’t think motherhood is for everyone and I don’t think women should feel they have to have children. A woman doesn’t have to do anything to prove her womanhood.”

What lesson do you most want to pass on to your two little girls?

6. “That they are powerful and influential. Too many of us are taught that we can’t make a difference but the truth is, we can. My daughter’s taught me that I can be and do anything which is why I want to make sure that they know their potential is limitless as well.”

Follow Anjelica Malone on Instagram: @anjelicamalone and on her website: anjelicamalone.com

Are you pregnant or new to motherhood? Expectful is a digital platform that makes meditation easy for expectant and new moms. Each one of our guided meditations has been created to support you throughout your pregnancy and motherhood journey. Our mission is to help you give your baby the best start in life. Go to wp.expectful.com and sign up for our free 14-day meditation trial.