Tommee Tippee Announces "Spill The Milk" Live Streaming Series To Discuss Raw Realities Of Motherhood, Societal Stigmas, & Parenting In A Pandemic

STAMFORD, Conn., March 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual doctor appointments. Virtual lactation consultants, grandparents meeting the new baby on a screen. Baby showers not held. "Mommy and me" classes cancelled. Where's the so-called village? These are the realities expectant and new moms are facing today as they navigate first time motherhood through a global pandemic. Women in the U.S. have historically faced inadequate support in areas like postpartum care, maternal mental health, feeding, and parental leave, but the pandemic has exacerbated this. Tommee Tippee has heard the cries from moms across the country and is stepping up to help. Next month, the infant feeding brand will provide a resource for new parents across the country by hosting a multi-episode live streaming series called Spill the Milk, a safe space for new moms to discuss the raw realities of new motherhood during a pandemic and receive some much-needed guidance. Spill the Milk will be a series of free, fun, informative, and downright dishy conversations where new moms can ask their burning questions of parenting experts and, most importantly, real moms who have been through it.

First-time moms have been forced to figure out motherhood themselves while living in their quarantine bubble. What's more, the pandemic is taking an emotional toll on moms, with 75% saying the pandemic has had an extreme impact on their daily life due to social isolation, loneliness, changes in hospital procedures, concerns about postnatal care and a lack of social support because they need to quarantine¹. Because many don't have access to the resources that were once available, many new moms are forced to figure it all out once the baby arrives in a truncated timeline before returning to work.

Parental Leave
Another major stressor of early parenthood is parental leave, yet adequate paid parental leave and the anxieties that go along with returning to work are often ignored. The vast majority of moms don't have access to paid family leave according to Motherly's State of Motherhood Survey which states that only 11% of workers had access to paid family leave in 2020². And with lower-income families it is even worse, with some having no access to paid parental leave, forcing many new parents to take unpaid leave which presents other financial obstacles. In fact, just 8% of workers in the bottom wage quartile—who on average earn less than $14 an hour—had access to paid family leave in 2020³. That is why Tommee Tippee is launching a sweepstakes where parents can enter to win a grand prize of $10,000 to be put towards parental leave, plus Tommee Tippee products. No parent should worry about anything other than bonding with and nurturing their newborn during those first precious months.

Spill the Milk with Tommee Tippee
The Spill the Milk live series will focus on topics such as feeding, maternal mental health, sleep, partner intimacy post-baby, and all the intimidating stuff no one tells you about the 4th trimester. "What new parents are going through right now is unprecedented," said Sharon Swan, Head of Brand Marketing for Tommee Tippee North America. "New parents often feel isolated and uncertain, but this has ramped up precipitously this year. With Spill the Milk, our hope is replicate those new moms' groups, give tangible support with live access to experts, and really make a difference in the lives of one family by providing the financial support to enable them to enjoy those first months of parenthood without the economic anxiety."

The Spill the Milk series was designed to crack these tough conversations wide open, discussing topics parents are secretly wondering about and incessantly googling. Viewers can tune-in and participate on Zoom and Facebook Live:  

• Episode #1 – The 4^th Trimester: Sh*t Gets Real: Live on April 8^th at 3:30pm ET
• The session is hosted by the host of the parenting podcast, Mommies Tell All, Jade Roper and Licensed Professional Counselor Deema Soufan. Jade and Deema will kick off the series and discuss the most raw and vulnerable stages of the first 12 weeks postpartum, particularly maternal mental health and what mom should expect and watch out for. No topics are off-limits including toxic positivity, post-partum self-care, and when (and how) to ask for help.
• Episode #2 - Boobs & Bottles & Babies: Live on April 15^th at 3:30pm ET
• It's no secret that feeding is one of the toughest things a new mom will face – from societal pressure to breastfeed to round-the-clock feeding sessions. Parenting Coach and Feeding Expert Kate Arquilla will be joined by Maya Vorderstrasse, three-time mom and three-time breastfeeder. Kate and Maya will discuss all things feeding from making feeding work for your family to what bottle and nipple to choose and how to supplement and extend breastfeeding.
• Episode #3 - Survival Guide: Parenting in a Pandemic: Live on April 22^nd at 3:30pm ET
• Lauren Mulloy is a mom to three kids and has served as a single parent throughout COVID-19 while her husband has been deployed overseas. She'll be joined by Psychologist and Parenting Coach Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart to discuss parental burnout and the "double shift," how to socialize your infants during a pandemic and how to transition back into the workforce after parental leave.
• Episode #4 - Combatting the Sleep Scaries: Live on April 29^th at 3:30pm ET
• Baby Sleep Expert Dr. Aubrie DeBear and Uyen Carlson will discuss the hot topic of infant sleep, providing first time expectants with a sensible discussion to conquer the sleep scaries during those first few months. Uyen Carlson is a mom of four who can speak from experience in conquering the sleep scaries and has overcome losing her home to a fire, welcoming her youngest premature while on vacation, and having to relocate during the pandemic, all while navigating the infant sleep journey.

More details including the links to participate and how to enter the parental leave sweepstakes can be found at www.spillthemilk.us.

For more information, please visit tommeetippee.com. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/TommeeTippeeNorthAmerica and follow us on Instagram: @tommeetippeenorthamerica.

About Tommee Tippee
Tommee Tippee^® is the number one feeding brand in the UK and one of the fastest growing baby bottle brands in the United States⁴. For over 50 years, we've made award-winning, innovative products that are designed to make life a little bit easier for parents. And perhaps a little more fun. Today we're honored to be in families' homes in over 50 countries around the world. #ParentOn.

¹Source: COVID-19 and Perinatal Experience study, 2020
²Source: Motherly, State of Motherhood Survey, Survey, 2020
³Source: National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2020
⁴Source: Nielsen L52weeks Total xAOC, Feb 2021   

Contact: Catie Valzania, [email protected], (860) 874-4031

SOURCE Tommee Tippee

Related Links

http://tommeetippee.com