Despite barriers to Black women breastfeeding, supporters extol benefits: ‘It’s a superpower, basically’

Delilah Bennem, 1, laughs while her mom, Endia Williams, who works as an eligibility specialist at The Lactation Network and as a doula on the side, lifts her into the air while Bennem’s dad, Joseph Bennem, watches during Latch & Stroll, a resource fair organized by the South Side Birth Center in honor of Black Breastfeeding Week on Saturday at Russell Square Park in the South Chicago neighborhood. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

Endia Williams was a lactation counselor to help women breastfeed before she had her now 1-year-old daughter, Delilah. So when she began breastfeeding her own baby, she knew something was wrong.

She could see her daughter had a tongue-tie and a separate mouth issue, which would prevent her from latching correctly. The hospital’s lactation consultant wasn’t there that day, or the next. The nurse and pediatrician looked at Delilah and said Williams was incorrect, and her baby was fine.