Meet the founder

As a Black lactation professional in the Deep South, I have witnessed how feeding support is routinely treated as secondary — disconnected from birth justice, reproductive justice, policy, and funding priorities.

Meanwhile, Black families continue to face disproportionate barriers in maternal health outcomes, access to lactation care, workplace protections, and professional representation.

In Alabama, where Black lactation professionals represent only a small fraction of the field, practicing quietly was never an option.

So I decided to build what I could not find.

What I’m Building

The Obsidian Milk Collective is not simply a service provider.

It is infrastructure. It is:

• A justice-centered lactation model
• A funding pathway through the Lactation Access Fund
• A collaborative home for providers
• A re-centering of Black families in feeding narratives
• A declaration that lactation is structural care

Feeding support is not boutique.
Not trendy.
Not optional.

It is foundational.

Founder, The Obsidian Milk Collective
Lactation Professional | Justice Advocate | Ecosystem Builder

“If human milk came in a bottle, it would be the most prescribed medicine” - Jasmine Hammonds

  • Jasmine Hammonds is an Alabama-based lactation professional, maternal health educator, and reproductive health advocate working at the intersections of lactation, abortion care, maternal mental health, and maternal–infant health—particularly within the Southern context, where access, stigma, and systemic inequities deeply shape care.

    Her work centers the belief that lactation care does not begin or end with birth, but exists across the full reproductive spectrum.

  • Jasmine is a:

    • Certified Breastfeeding Specialist
    • Certified Childbirth Educator
    • Certified Fertility Doula
    • Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist
    • Certified Nutrition Educator
    • Certified Babywearing Educator

    She is currently preparing to sit for the IBCLC examination.

    She brings over a decade of experience in both healthcare and community-based spaces and currently serves as Co-Director of a nonprofit advancing reproductive care throughout Alabama.

  • As Founder of The Obsidian Milk Collective, Jasmine leads trauma-informed education and advocates to integrate lactation support across the full reproductive continuum—including abortion, pregnancy loss, postpartum, maternal mental health, and beyond.

    Her work is grounded in harm reduction, reproductive justice, and equity-centered systems change.

    She also serves in her individual capacity as a member of the Alabama Breastfeeding Committee.

  • Jasmine’s additional training includes:

    • Labor doula support (CAPPA)
    • Pregnancy and infant loss advocacy (P.A.I.L)
    • Perinatal mental health (PSI)
    • North Alabama Count the Kicks Ambassador

    She is a former Certified Medical Assistant with experience in Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine.

    Her leadership has been recognized with the Terry Jo Curtis Award from USLCA and a CHAMPion of the Week spotlight from CHEER.

  • Beyond her professional roles, Jasmine is a wife and mother of four.

    She brings lived experience, cultural grounding, and deep relational care into every space she serves—ensuring that her work remains not only evidence-informed, but community-rooted.