For years, Jada Shapiro, a doula and the founder of Birth Day Presence, watched her clients struggle with breastfeeding because they weren’t getting good support fast enough. New parents are constantly advised to breastfeed — and the first few days are crucial to success — yet hospitals provide minimal support and it’s too hard to hunt for a lactation consultant with a brand-new baby. It’s unfortunate how many new moms struggle with pain and anxiety in the first days of breastfeeding but don’t know where to turn

Boober was born because parents in our community were continually reaching out, desperate for breastfeeding help. Over and over, they texted and called us at Birth Day Presence, in pain, feeling concerned, defeated, and wanting to give up breastfeeding. They had already called multiple lactation consultants but had problems getting an appointment quickly.

My daughter-in-law was pretty much in tears (of happiness) after your visit. We are all very grateful. Thank you so much!

That’s when Jada started giving out her personal cell phone number, telling her students to text if they needed immediate help. She soon found herself coordinating visits with lactation professionals or running out of the house herself to help people with the simple basics of breastfeeding. At these visits, Jada could see the improvement in front of her eyes and realized the importance of this in-person support.  By the time she’d leave, pain was reduced, babies were feeding better, and parents were expressing their utmost gratitude and relief.

With the texts overflowing, she knew it was time to create a platform that would quickly and easily connect new parents to the qualified care and educational resources they needed to thrive. From that, Boober was born.

Boober's mission

Empowering parents to transform their pregnancy, birth and postpartum experiences and outcomes through access to education, resources and maternal care providers they need to thrive.

Boober's commitment to anti-racism

As a white-owned organization devoted to transforming healthcare outcomes and experiences for expectant and new parents, Boober has a responsibility to acknowledge and work to dismantle the racist systems which make birthing in the United States more dangerous for Black people. Racial inequities in maternal health are ubiquitous. Black birthing people are dying at three to four times the rate of white birthing people nationally and eight to twelve times the rate of white birthing people in our hometown, NYC, due to systemic and medical racism. Boober commits to continuous engagement in what we, as white people and founders, can do as individuals and as an organization to dismantle these systems and harms, as well as examining the actions we take that perpetuate these systems. We recognize that birth work is inherently political and we pledge to continually work to ensure that birth justice and equity become realities. To this end, we have lower platform fees for BIPOC birthworkers, provide scholarships and pay-what-you-can spaces for our doula and lactation trainings and mentorship program.

Boober commits to continuous engagement in what we, as white people and founders, can do as individuals and as an organization to dismantle these systems and harms, as well as examining the actions we take that perpetuate these systems. We recognize that birth work is inherently political and we pledge to continually work to ensure that birth justice and equity become realities.

The Boober for Birth Justice Fund (BBJF) pays for services and projects that directly benefit Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who are pregnant or newly postpartum, who are pursuing careers in or advancing their education in birth work, and/or who are already engaged in birth justice activism.