MotherBorn has been growing my whole life and was born in 2009.  MotherBorn and is owned and operated by Dana Ehman.  This is my story.

 

I am a wife and mother of two boys.  From a young age, I knew that I was going to breastfeed my children.  After crossing paths with a nursing mother when I was in my early twenties, I realized I knew nothing about breastfeeding.  When I became pregnant with my first son, I knew that I needed to empower myself with knowledge and information before I gave birth.  I went to the bookstore and out of all the breastfeeding books, I purchased "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding".   As I was reading this book, I noticed that the text kept refering to La Leche League.  I had heard of La Leche League, but didn't really know much about the organization.  Then I realized the book was actually published by La Leche League International and that I had stumbled upon what I now know to be the "Bible of Breastfeeding"!  Lucky me.

 

I went the La Leche League website, found my local group and contacted a Leader.  I started going to my local group meeting.  When I gave birth to my first son, everything was going well, I just didn't know it so when Adam was only 4 days old, I took him to a meeting!  After giving birth, I felt the need to give back to my community.  I became more involved with my local La Leche League group then eventually became a leader in the Spring of 2003.  Since then, I have been counseling mothers over the phone, running our local West Chester meeting, and participating in other community events.

 

One da,y while I was trying to figure out what (else) I wanted to be when I grow up, I discovered that my volunteer work with La Leche League also helped me to become eligible to sit for the International Board of Certified Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) exam.  At the time, I was halfway through my bachelors degree program at Immaculata Univesity.  I called the University and changed my major to Health Care Management.  My counselor said, "Great, the Health Care courses start in three weeks."  Perfect timing (or aligning).  A few months later, my co-Leader with La Leche League asked if I would consider becoming a rental station for hospital grade breast pumps.  Leaders are always looking for trusted resources to refer mothers.  I contacted (my now fabulous) local Ameda representative and became a local retailer for Ameda Breastfeeding Products.  I spent the next year completing my degree at Immaculata University, studying for the IBLCE exam, and building my Ameda retail business.  I handed in my last paper at Immaculata on October 1, 2009 and was credential as an IBCLC on October 16, 2009.  The stars have aligned.

 

I am Dana Ehman, Daughter, Sister, Niece, Wife, Mother, Aunt, Friend, IBCLC, BA, Retailer