Taylor Anderson 

Could you please share when you first learned that you were expecting a child? Where were you and where did you find out this news? Who did you tell?

My name is Taylor. I was at home and I told my husband first. I was very shocked and concerned for what the next steps were, what it looked like. I never been pregnant before. And I was just like, oh my gosh, this real? No, this is not real. It's real. Okay. Yeah. And so then I think my concern next was just to confirm it, confirm it and go to the doctor, make sure it was real.

What are some family traditions around welcoming a baby into the world?

A lot of preparation, a lot of conversations about what you want to name the baby, of course, the baby shower and all the fun games and stuff like that. And so we did a lot of preparation for that and talking about names and what we planned on doing. And the potentials of my mom reminded me a lot of trying to remember moments while being pregnant. She's like, because it goes by really fast. And so she told me to try to write down things every day and then being able to go back and look at them and read them and remember those moments and how the process was, because it's different every time you're pregnant, from what I hear. 

What kind of support did you and your family, your community and sometimes their providers or other resources?

I think emotionally, I think I would have asked for some more support from family and then also because there was a lot of emotional things going on at the time in my family. And so we had had a sibling pass away over Christmas, and so there was a lot going on. And then I think from the provider portion, I think it was more so having a lot more information because I think I had to ask a lot of questions before information was given to me. And I think it would have been helpful to kind of just have a lot more information and be more aware of things that I was not aware of until I was pregnant. There was a lot of things I had never even heard about. I think just having more information ahead of time I think would have been helpful.

If you're breastfeeding, how does this experience impact your relationship with your baby and your family?

As far as the relationship with my baby, I think it helps me kind of hone back in on the special moments of being a mom and kind of get out of my head and not focus so much on what has to be done for my family and my baby and thinking about everyday tasks in life and kind of getting stuck in those moments. And so I think it helps me stop and make sure I'm paying attention to him and just thinking about all the positive things I want for him and making sure that I tell him I love him and just having really good and special moments that are just for me and him and not really about, oh, let's go here and take him to see this or meet these people or just making sure that I'm having special moments and enjoying the moment with him.

From your experience, why is breastfeeding important in the black community?

I feel like I was actually nervous about breastfeeding because I had heard so many horror stories about it, about how your body changes, and then everything is sensitive, and it hurts, and it takes so much energy and time, and then the hair portion of it, and then your body changes. It was a lot of kind of fear behind it. And I think the first couple of weeks were kind of tough, but I think that it's just natural because your body's changing so much. But after that, I feel like for me, it wasn't so difficult. I think it was more about actually keeping up my health and eating properly and drinking water. But I think it's important because it helps create relationships with your baby, I think. And those things are important because I feel like a lot of times we are also focused on providing for our children and making sure they're okay and so many other aspects that those special moments get kind of taken away from us. And so I think it's really important because, one, it's, like, the best way to feed your child, so they get a lot of nutrients, and it's also good for mom, and there's just a lot of health benefits behind it on top of the emotional side. I think a lot of times we don't get that, and that's not really what we're paying attention to. And I think that'll really change a lot of perspectives if we get to do that more often, because it's better for both mom and baby.

What wishes or intentions do you have for your child you'd like to share?

I think, like any mom, you want the best for your child, and you just want them to be happy and to live a prosperous and blessed life. I think that's all that you could really pray and ask for. I want the best for him. I want him to have a happy life. I want him to grow and learn and be humble and just experience life the best that he can.

Do you have any advice for other black families?

Try not to get sucked into life too much because it goes by fast. All the moments of having children, you look up one day, they're six months, and then they're a year, and then they're five years, and then they're in high school. So I think just try to take as many moments as you can because they're precious and to just love on your children.