Founder's Book, 'Latch the Gap,' is an Amazon #1 Best Seller

After 8 years of working in her passion of breastfeeding portrait photography and writing on this blog, Vanessa A. Simmons (founder of the Normalize Breastfeeding movement) authored a personal memoir in a 3-part series.

The book description reads:

When mothers look back at their perinatal experiences, they will often reflect on what they loved, learned, or regretted. It was Vanessa Simmons’ bout with a perinatal mood disorder (postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychosis), a traumatic hospital stay, and a near-death sedative experience that opened her eyes to the fact that this journey must be one of intentional dedication to her perinatal personal growth and development.

Vanessa learned to make conscious choices during birth and breastfeeding about what she desired and what she didn’t. She knew deep down that if she went back to the OB/GYN who told her that vomiting 8-10 times a day with hyperemesis was normal, it could possibly lead to a dangerous, if not fatal, delivery. Vanessa Simmons dedicates this work to the Black community, specifically, because of the disparities that they have faced and tried to overcome for such a long time. As a first-generation Ghanaian-American, Simmons believes that each disparity can be resolved with an individual focus on maternal healthcare to give mothers, fathers, and babies an optimally supported start to new life.

Volume 1 was released on April 27th on Amazon and quickly rose to #1 in Breastfeeding and #1 in New Releases for Parenting Morality & Responsiblity and Parents Emotions & Feelings in less than a 24-hour period of time.

To contact Vanessa Simmons for a book interview, podcast invitations, or speaking engagements please get in touch at vanessa@normalizebreastfeeding.org or vanessa-simmons.com.

Watch the launch livestream of Vanessa's interview with the publishers, Onyx Expressions, and her motivational talk at the end.