By Kelley H.

Editor’s note: New Beginnings is celebrating the inaugural Deaf and Hard of Hearing Breastfeeding Week! The aim of this initiative is to provide the underrepresented Deaf community with accessible breastfeeding education, support, and community, because language and breastfeeding access matters from birth! The 2025 Theme is: Close the Gap, Bridge the Divide: Establish Breastfeeding Support Access. You can learn more about Deaf and Hard of Hearing Breastfeeding Week here.

For me, it’s great to see a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Breastfeeding Week to raise awareness about our community. It is a powerful moment for Deaf breastfeeding parents to be proud about. In addition, it is a great opportunity for hearing people to learn more about how Deaf families raise their babies.

Believe it or not, I have been told by many people, “Deaf moms can’t have babies” or “I didn’t know Deaf people could keep kids. I just assumed they would go to their grandparents’ house and have them raise them because Deaf people cannot hear!” or “Deaf people shouldn’t have babies because they make Deaf babies.” I have heard a lot of baffling things – and it was hard to keep my mouth shut on those occasions.

However, when I heard the comment that Deaf people shouldn’t have babies because their babies would be Deaf, I immediately explained. My husband and I come from hearing families with no history of deafness. I was born hearing. My husband was born Deaf. However, approximately 90-95% of babies who are born Deaf were created by two hearing parents.

One of the challenges of being a Deaf mom, for me, was fatigue. When I was expecting, my concern was: how can I wake up to my baby crying at night? Even parents who wear a hearing aid or another hearing device are not supposed to wear them all the time. There is technology available for Deaf families, such as bed vibrations or flashing lights, but for us, it was hit and miss. The solution I found? Safe cosleeping with my baby, so that I could feel the movement and wake up to check on them and nurse throughout the night. For us, it was the best decision ever. If I didn’t choose to cosleep and my baby was in another room, my concern would be: is my baby crying all night and hungry? I could not sleep knowing my baby cried all night hungry. If my husband were hearing, I would probably still cosleep with my baby since it helped us all to get good sleep. It eased some of the night time anxiety and allowed me to meet my babies’ needs while getting some rest.

As my babies grew, I had to come up with many solutions to manage parenting while Deaf. It was important to learn to interpret their gestures and movements, so I could know what was going on with my child. Once we clicked, it was like I knew what they needed.

Our babies were born Deaf. We promised our children that they’d get better opportunities in the hearing world than we had, along with sign language accessibility. It is so very important for all hearing and Deaf children to learn signing. It helps them communicate and reduce frustrations about what they need or want. All babies can benefit from learning the signs for “milk”, “hungry”, “potty”, “more”, “no”, “yes”. Even just those basic signs can be helpful until they have the ability to speak. I think ASL is the best language ever.

My children have created their own adaptations to living in a Deaf household and having Deaf parents. Sometimes there is a situation in another room that I don’t hear and they come tell me what has happened. For example, one time my son fell off the bed and bumped his head on the floor. I didn’t know it had happened until they told me, since our house is big and we have many walls to barrier the sounds. I’m constantly checking on them – all the time. Having two children, they go to different places all over the house! We have a lot of things that are off limits without a parent in the room such as baths, our basement, and going outside, so that we can keep them safe.

I’m glad to see this awareness week happening. Deaf moms are capable of breastfeeding. Deaf familes definitely need support, empathy, and encouragement. We need more awareness of Deaf culture, too.

Send your story ideas to Kylie at [email protected]

More resources:

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLLbCF2dGtY
• pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4112581/
• www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577714081263

Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always

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