Welcome to the Leaky Boob
Your trusted companion on the journey of nurturing and nourishing your little one. We understand that breastfeeding is a unique experience for every family, filled with joys and challenges alike. Our mission is to provide you with evidence-based information, practical advice, and a supportive community to empower you in your breastfeeding journey.
Visit The Leaky Boob Blog
Discover tips and encouragement for nursing, pumping, alternative feeding, weaning and parenting
Baby feeding impacts the whole family ( . ) ( . ) ( • ) ( • )
Baby feeding impacts the whole family ( . ) ( . ) ( • ) ( • )
Shop The Leaky Boob and Support Our Work
Support for The Baby feeding, breastfeeding, weaning, and parenting Journey
Join Our Community
488,824
The Leaky Boob
The Leaky Boob is a resource centered around baby and toddler feeding and throughout the entire parenting journey run by a lactation educator and parenting and relationship coach.
Check out our sister podcast: For Tits and Giggles.
TLDR: Women don't trust all men (or at least most) because it sure seems like men don't even know what isn't acceptable to say or do to women.![]()
![]()
Not all men.![]()
![]()
*Sighs in the fatigue of a lifetime of hypervigilance.*![]()
![]()
Isn’t it weird how we were taught to never walk alone, don’t go for a run with earbuds in, be sure someone knows where you’re going and who you’re going with on a first date, watch how you dress, and be ready to descalate a man at any moment because it isn’t safe out there for a woman but we’re never saying why?![]()
![]()
Men.![]()
![]()
Men are why.![]()
![]()
AND THEN… when some story breaks that it is men that are why women aren’t safe “out there” and in their own beds… it’s “NOT ALL MEN!”![]()
![]()
Ok, not all men but my grandmother, my mom, my sister, two of my daughters, most of my friends, and lots of strangers who’ve felt safer disclosing to me than their partner or parents or pastors.![]()
![]()
“NOT ALL MEN!”![]()
![]()
As if the real offense is that men aren’t trusted by women who have been taught all their lives not to trust men and men just keep giving reasons not to trust them but NOT ALL MEN! ![]()
![]()
Just enough of them.![]()
![]()
*Sighs in the fatigue of generations of hypervigilance and having to manage the feelings of men so their fragile masculinity feels safe so my womenkind and I can actually BE safe.*![]()
![]()
“I would never…”, you do realize that news just broke that there is a whole network of men that not only would ever, have ever, and are teaching others how to by demonstrating on the women they committed to that sleep right next to them, right? ![]()
![]()
I promise, those women thought he would never too but then he did.![]()
![]()
How exactly are we supposed to know the ones that will and the ones that won’t? And why are you so offended that I want to keep myself safe and I’m cautious around men exactly as I was taught to me?![]()
![]()
It isn’t just that I don’t know which men will or won’t assault me or my daughters or my friends or others I don’t know.![]()
![]()
It is that it seems so many men don’t seem to even understand what IS actually assault and harassment or at the very least lecherous and grooming. Even when we tell them what is threatening to us, they argue and act offended that these actions and words are viewed as anything less than positively.![]()
![]()
What really makes it hard to trust me is that so often they see nothing wrong with the very acts that make women unsafe.![]()
![]()
That’s why so many of us women feel we have to act like it is ALL men just to be safe.![]()
![]()
It seems small. Tiny little signals that remind the nervous system to be on guard. ALWAYS. To be prepared. To read men’s body language and stay alert in our surroundings.![]()
![]()
They stay quiet and ignore when other men make demeaning jokes, or are lecherous toward a woman.![]()
![]()
Rather than be curious and concerned, they’re offended that a woman would choose meeting a bear alone in the woods over meeting a man they don’t know.![]()
![]()
Telling a girl or women they just met that she’s beautiful, as if bestowing a gift on her by letting her know they think she’s attractive and being offended if she’s less than flattered by his attention (while she’s mentally trying to gauge her safety threat… is he going to be ok if I don’t fawn or is he going to hunt me down later?)![]()
![]()
They see nothing wrong or menacing with telling a woman to smile more even though they’d never say that to a man.![]()
![]()
There’s nothing problematic for them in using their body size and vocal volume to intimidate and assert themselves when they are uncomfortable or upset.![]()
![]()
They laugh at “locker room” talk and write off anyone that takes issue with it as “too sensitive.”![]()
![]()
They rely on the phrase “boys will be boys” to justify not holding boys and men accountable.![]()
![]()
They put the responsibility of “purity” on the shoulders of young girls.![]()
![]()
They act like boys and men can’t control themselves.![]()
![]()
They claim it isn’t their fault they stare at a woman they find attractive.![]()
![]()
They blame girls and women for distracting boys and men by how they dress… or just existing.![]()
![]()
They argue they’re paying a woman a compliment when they tell her she’s hot or beautiful or looks great in that dress.![]()
![]()
They push back that unwanted touches are small and gentlemanly on her shoulder, arm, or small of her back.![]()
![]()
They dismiss concerns about them being too close or dominating her attention by invading her personal space.![]()
![]()
They say they’re the “nice guy” when complaining about not getting the attention and seggs they want.![]()
![]()
They excuse jealous expressions as protective, loving, and attentive.![]()
![]()
They question if it’s really a big deal that he touched her rear end, put his hand on her thigh, or touched her face.![]()
![]()
They rush to ask what she was wearing or doing or why she was where she was when they hear about a woman who has experienced being taken advantage of by a man.![]()
![]()
They are quick to say “we don’t know the whole story” when a woman shares her story of being harmed by a man.![]()
![]()
They question their own masculinity if she’s not interested and pressures her to make him feel better about himself and considers that something he’s owed.![]()
![]()
They think it's a failure of their masculinity to not convince (coerce) her to do him favors or sleep with him if she’s said no.![]()
![]()
They act the victim if she doesn’t put out after he’s bought her dinner, taken the trash out, or brought home a paycheck.![]()
![]()
They claim “marital debt” in some circles, that a married woman saying no to physical intimacy is stealing something from her husband (and then will use the scripture to make their point).![]()
![]()
They say there is no such thing as “marital grape.”![]()
![]()
They equate sexual urges as the same as basic human needs like food and sleep, as something women owe them and they argue this normal.![]()
![]()
And of course, saying “not all men”![]()
![]()
All this, even just one, demonstrates how a man doesn’t believe that something that hurts women is a problem. And a lot of men demonstrate these. ![]()
![]()
As girls and young women, we’re told ALL men do and that they can’t help themselves (boys will be boys, after all).![]()
We’re tired. As we observe the dialogue around us about something we’ve all known happens and know women it has happened to, as we once again brace ourselves for the conversations we have to have with our daughters and students and nieces and our friends, we are making note of how the men around us are responding. The ones saying the women had to know, the ones debating the numbers, the ones saying it is awful but… *fill in some kind of excuse that dismisses how horrible it is and the threat it is to women everywhere…* Our nervous systems are recording this info, encoding it into our alert system, activating a process meant to protect us from a threat. And as this happens, we’re aware we have to be careful not to trip the wire in some of these men that will set them off as though our reasonable and responsible reaction of caution and care is more of a threat to them than they are to us. If only we knew for certain which ones so we didn’t have to act like it was all of them.![]()
![]()
I am with a man who I don’t have to protect and shield from the reality of being a woman in our world. He believes women and he makes sure he doesn't do predatory behaviors.![]()
![]()
There was a time when he demonstrated some of the above warning signs that maybe he wasn’t completely safe for women, not a surprise given how he was socialized and his upbringing in a conservative Christian cult-adjacent environment that regularly objectified women. But he actively took responsibility for his own education in this. He put effort in to learning and making himself safe for me to point out when he wasn’t. He values me, our daughters, and other humans in general more than he values protecting a fragile ego, even if it is his own. I’m grateful that he has done the work to be sure his daughters and I and every other woman he encounters experience him as a truly safe man and it starts with not being offended when they are not sure they are safe around them. I love that our 8 daughters get to see that modeled as something they should expect from men even as we have to teach them and equip them to look out for men that are determined to take advantage of them.![]()
![]()
*Sighs in the fatigue of a lifetime of hypervigilance.*![]()
![]()
***Picture of my husband being the loving, attentive, caregiving dad he is nurturing his 8 daughter as a toddler when she was sick.
Where are the precious moments of peace you're finding these days?![]()
![]()
This is why I have sat in my car in the driveway while my toddler napped in the car seat because PEACE is worth it.
Caption this! What would this say as a meme for you?![]()
![]()
How I appear in my baby's dreams. ![]()
![]()
Or just what it seems like when I have forceful letdown and my baby is baptized in my milk.![]()
![]()
I'm still workshopping ideas.![]()
![]()
This statue is a depiction of Artemis of Ephesus (with quite a bit of artistic license). You may know about more about Artemis the huntress but there's another version of her that was revered in Asia Minor as a protector and her temple is one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. The goddess of childbirth, Artemis of Ephesus was controversial from birth and that was even with being born and then having to turn right around and help her mom give birth to her twin brother. ![]()
![]()
Talk about eldest daughter syndrome! Newborn and midwifing your mom as your twin is born.![]()
![]()
So what's with her chest? ![]()
![]()
It may not be what the artist thought when this fountain was created, but maybe it was. Or seed pods. Or bull nuts.![]()
![]()
Hard to say.![]()
![]()
I talk with my teen about Artemis of Ephesus and so much more including her perspective of body image and chests as a kid that grew up with a lactation educator and founder of The Leaky B00b for a mom.
testimonials
"If you've ever had a child or been a parent you know what it means to say that each day is a new experiment. There is so much to figure out, and so many self-proclaimed helpful resources. Fortunately, Jessica Martin-Weber, owner/creator/author of The Leaky Boob, has the answers based on science, best practice, and practical advice stemming from her own experiences raising nine children. TLB is a go-to for all people expecting, lactating, raising children, or counseling any of the aforementioned groups. Want advice on speed dial? Check out TheLeakyBoob.com."
Kim Updegrove, MSN, MPH, APRN, CNM, chairperson and Past President of Human Milk Bank of North America, Executive Director at Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin
"I found TLB and Jessica when I was desperately trying to figure out how to keep breastfeeding my eldest, who my lactation consultant still says had the worst latch she has ever seen. Jessica had created something so special-amazing information, a supportive community amidst the mommy wars, content in many different formats for those of us who need to see/read/hear in different ways, and it is no exaggeration to say that her work was instrumental in not just saving that breastfeeding journey (which would extend through 3 years, 18 months of that tandem nursing) but in setting me up for success and support in future journeys, and truly for motherhood as a whole. The down to earth way she writes makes the information relatable and easy to digest and apply. I am forever grateful."
Dr. Jennifer Stone, PT, DPT, OCS, PHC, TPS, HLC
"The Leaky Boob has met a need in the lactating community since its inception. Jessica’s breastfeeding support group is a true pioneer in the online breastfeeding community, offering families exceptional education and unwavering support long before similar pages emerged. Her transparency, authenticity, and heartfelt encouragement create a safe and empowering space where parents feel heard and guided. It’s a shining example of what real, compassionate leadership looks like!"
CHRISTY JO HENDRICKS IBCLC, RLC, CCCE, CLE©, Doula
Hi there!
Jessica and Jeremy Martin-Weber are the dynamic duo behind The Leaky Boob, a trusted resource dedicated to supporting families on their parenting and breastfeeding journeys. As parents to nine children, they bring a wealth of personal experience, humor, and compassion to their work. Together, they have created a safe, inclusive space where parents can access evidence-based information, practical advice, and a thriving community.
Jessica leads with her passion for normalizing breastfeeding and empowering families, while Jeremy provides a supportive voice for partners and caregivers, fostering collaboration and connection. Their shared mission is to celebrate the uniqueness of every family's story and provide resources to help navigate both the joys and challenges of nurturing little ones.
