Mercedes Thomas is an advanced practice nurse, lactation consultant, writer, and health consultant. She is also the author of the best-selling book What in the Baby?!?: The Modern Mama's Guide to Confidently Caring for Your Baby and Surviving the Postpartum Period, written to help expectant mothers and new parents transition into the new normal of parenthood.
She has been in the nursing field for over a decade. Mercedes completed her undergraduate nursing studies at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and went on to earn her Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of South Alabama.
In 2020, Mercedes was named the Washington Parent Pick in the category of breastfeeding support. She has also been recognized by the founders of Black Breastfeeding Week as a "brave innovator" in her pursuits to support lactation care and education in her community. Her health articles have also been featured in outlets like Medical News Today, Verywell Health, and GoodRx.
As an extension of her immense passion for supporting parents, Mercedes also created the My Global Family app to connect parents to health and education service providers, reliable resources, and other families worldwide.
In Mercedes' downtime, you can find her globetrotting with her family, and advocating for families to have access to equitable, quality healthcare and breastfeeding services.
There is no secret that compared to other industrialized nations that the breastfeeding and infant mortality rates in the United States are shameful. This is true in other parts of the world as well and often, part of the problem is poor access to quality information about breastfeeding. Not to mention the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic left even more birthing parents to fend for themselves and to lean on social media for support and "Dr. Google" to find the answers to the parenting challenges that plagued them.
What if lactation professionals and healthcare providers could help turn the negatives into positives? What if part of the solution to the dismal maternal mortality statistics and breastfeeding rates for Black and other marginalized parents was the dissemination of quality digital health content?
This presentation will explore the use of content creation as a means to engage, educate and advocate for marginalized families. It will also take a deeper dive into the health disparities that exist and the high stakes involved for families who lack resources and lactation support.
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