Why I Became an RD and IBCLC: The Story Behind Whole Women Nutrition

When I became a mom at 20, I thought breastfeeding would prove I was a good mother.

Looking back, I realize it was never really about breastfeeding.

It was about wanting so desperately to feel like I was enough.

Before I became a mother, I had already spent years struggling with food, body image, and self-worth. Learning to nourish myself, trust my body, and let go of perfection wasn’t something that happened overnight—it was a journey that changed the course of my life.

Then I became a mom.

Suddenly, all those old questions showed up again, just wearing different clothes.

Instead of asking whether I was eating “perfectly,” I wondered whether I was mothering perfectly.

Instead of measuring myself by my body, I measured myself by how well I could feed my baby.

I wanted to be the best possible mother for my daughter. More than anything, I wanted her to grow up with a different story than mine. I wanted her to see a woman who cared for herself with compassion instead of criticism. I wanted to model nourishment, resilience, and self-acceptance—not perfection.

Ironically, in my fierce desire to give her the very best, I found myself chasing perfection in motherhood.

Somewhere along the way, breastfeeding became wrapped up in all of that.

Like so many parents, I placed enormous meaning on feeding my baby. Breastfeeding became one of the first places I experienced confidence as a mother. It gave me moments of connection and trust in myself that I desperately needed during that season of life.

But it also quietly became something else.

I believed that if breastfeeding went well, maybe I really was doing enough.

Today, I understand that what I was really searching for wasn’t perfect breastfeeding.

I was searching for reassurance.

I wanted someone to tell me that I was already the mother my daughter needed.

Years later, as a Registered Dietitian and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), I recognize this same longing in so many of the families I support.

Sometimes it shows up after a difficult birth, when a parent hopes breastfeeding can become a different ending to their story.

Sometimes it looks like the parent who believes that if they can just breastfeed successfully, they’ll finally feel confident.

Sometimes it sounds like, “If I have to supplement, I’ve failed.”

Underneath those stories is often the same question:

Am I enough?

This is why Whole Women Nutrition exists.

Not simply to help parents breastfeed—although we absolutely love helping families reach their breastfeeding goals.

Not simply to improve milk supply or solve latch challenges.

But to remind parents that they deserve support through every part of their journey, and that their worth has never depended on how their baby is fed.

One of the greatest privileges of my work is witnessing what I call redemptive feeding stories. Parents who overcome incredible challenges. Families who heal after difficult beginnings. Mothers who accomplish goals they once thought were impossible.

Those moments are beautiful, and they deserve to be celebrated.

But I’ve learned something equally important.

Sometimes the most healing moment isn’t reaching a feeding milestone.

Sometimes it’s realizing you were already enough all along.

That belief shaped the practice we have today.

Whole Women Nutrition was built on the idea that feeding support should never exist in isolation. We care deeply about breastfeeding, pumping, bottle feeding, formula feeding, postpartum nutrition, and infant feeding because those things matter.

But we care just as deeply about the parent sitting in front of us.

That’s why we partner closely with perinatal mental health professionals. Why we celebrate every family’s goals without judgment. Why we believe evidence-based care and compassionate care belong together.

Because there isn’t one right way to be a good mom.

There are a million ways to be a great one.

As we celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, I’m honored to share the story that shaped mine.

Throughout this week, you’ll also meet the incredible IBCLCs on our team. Each of us arrived here through a different journey, but we all share the same belief:

Every family deserves compassionate support.

Every feeding journey deserves respect.

And every parent deserves to know they were never meant to earn their worth.

They already have it.

Jaren Soloff RD, IBCLC | Founder of Whole Women Nutrition