I was born in Belarus in 1978. While in school, I wanted to be a doctor just like my granny. Later, I entered the linguistic university and became an interpreter. After graduation, I started to work in a French IT company as a translator, but that job didn’t make me happy. I was eager to be useful to people, so when I got pregnant I decided to change my job. As a breastfeeding mother, I had many questions about breastfeeding and care of my first baby. I didn’t receive helpful assistance from my pediatrician. Luckily, I met the first Belarusian lactation consultant at that time, who explained the simplicity of breastfeeding. Soon, I decided to become a breastfeeding counselor in order to help other mothers feel happy.
The am-am.info website was started in March 2008 as a personal blog, which my husband kindly gave to me as a present on Women’s Day. Gradually the blog was filled with articles about breastfeeding and natural parenting. At the same time, I began to meet with other breastfeeding mothers almost every week and the blog became a good place for communication. The blog became a unique community which, in addition to the forum, included a list of sites for women, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and a photo-gallery and online consultations on various women’s topics. I made educational video clips about breastfeeding, and how to carry your baby in-arms and in a sling. After a few years of work on the blog, I managed to write and publish a book about breastfeeding, called “Breastfeeding: A Guide for Nursing Mothers”.
On average, about 5,000 people visit the am-am.info website every day. The most popular articles are about normal infant weight gain, infant stooling, low milk supply, and how to transition the baby from artificial feedings to full breastfeeding. Each day, I reply to about 10 e-mails, and about the same number of comments to articles, forum posts and telephone calls. Also, the website supports live chat and Skype. Occasionally, I organize free educational webinars. I continue to meet with forum members in person at family centers around Minsk and organize local breastfeeding support events.
To encourage breastfeeding in public, we have created a special project: www.go.am-am.info. At this website, you can download stickers of the international breastfeeding symbol and distribute them to cafes and other public places which are friendly to breastfeeding mothers.
The project is funded from personal sources. I’ve received voluntary donations from other breastfeeding support group leaders and breastfeeding mothers from the forum who help answer questions of other visitors. I am really amazed to read feedback from many countries and know that my project can help breastfeeding mothers all over the world.
The purpose of the am-am.info project is to provide an informative resource about breastfeeding and natural parenting and to facilitate communication with other parents. I want to open a test center on this website, first for parents who are interested in breastfeeding, and then an educational platform for other breastfeeding specialists.
Natalya Razakhatskaya, IBCLC
Fantastic, Natalya! Your contributions to the profession, and to breastfeedinn mothers, are profound. Congratulations.
Congratulations, Nataliya!
I am so proud to read about your sucess!
Thank you very much for your greetings! I try to get new knowledge everywhere in order to help breastfeeding mothers to get success. That’s really a great experience for me!