Cradling the mother
How Simeca Alexander Williamson is revolutionising Jamaica’s maternal care
SITTING inside her car outside Kingston’s Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in 2021, Simeca Alexander Williamson needed a moment to breathe. It was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic; she was a new mother in the middle of unpaid clinical training at VJH, and the pressures of life were colliding all at once. Yet, in a moment when many others would have accepted defeat, it was there and then that she resolved to not only change her life but the lives of countless other mothers with the creation of Cradle of Life, a brand born from the belief that mothers, too, deserve to be cared for.
Before that moment in her car, what Williamson would achieve was already in motion in the background of her life, though she hadn’t noticed it at first. Her journey into the medical field began with a first degree in dietetics and nutrition and a master’s degree in public health.She then began interning at the Ministry of Health and Wellness under Violet Griffith, Jamaica’s first international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC).
In 2019, while working as a medical representative in corporate Jamaica, she gave birth to her son, and, despite her years of professional health training, she was surprised that early motherhood still proved very difficult. It caused her to ponder: “If I have all this knowledge and this is still so challenging, can you imagine what it’s like for the person who doesn’t?”
That thought exposed a critical gap in Jamaican maternal care: Hospitals often routinely provided mothers with formula, and well-meaning relatives and friends continue to recommend the use of pacifiers, and nipple shields without sufficient guidance, support, or consent. Williamson began to mull over the ways new and expecting mothers should be receiving better care. After watching a friend’s YouTube interview with a certified breastfeeding specialist in 2020, something clicked. “This is what I should be doing,” she thought to herself, as she reconsidered what would truly bring her purpose in life.
She resigned from her corporate job and decided to pursue IBCLC certification, commencing her clinical experience training at VJH. But a career switch, albeit in the right direction, did not insulate her from life’s pressures. Eventually, she had the epiphany in her car that, for her, it was no longer just about finding purpose in a profession but about creating something that didn’t yet exist.
Determined to translate her vision into a reality, Williamson created Cradle of Life, a tangible lifeline for women, anchored by her signature Cradled line and the recently acquired NestxTribe post-partum collection.
Cradled focuses intimately on the nursing experience. The line features electric and wearable breast pumps, milk storage bags, supportive nursing bras and camisoles, and bottles with nipples meticulously designed to mimic the natural breast—making the transition back and forth between breast and bottle feeding as seamless as possible. To soothe the physical toll of breastfeeding, Cradled also offers a targeted skincare duo: A restorative soak and serum and its signature Titty Balm.
Complementing this is NestxTribe, a line dedicated to the gritty, often-unspoken realities of post-partum physical recovery, equipping women with essentials like reusable breast pads, targeted peri bottles, and sitz baths. Every item in the Cradle of Life portfolio is intentionally designed to ease the transition into motherhood.
“Literally, when you talk about Cradle of Life, it’s that hub where you are cradling life,” she explained. “My focus really isn’t on the baby; it’s on mommy.”
Five years after her moment in the car, Williamson’s vision came to life. Her name now sits alongside a growing list of firsts. She is one of a handful of IBCLCs in Jamaica, founder of the island’s first dedicated digital breastfeeding platform, Cradled Motherboard, and the woman behind a maternal-care brand that recently landed a distribution partnership with R A Williams Distributors Limited, a move set to position Cradled and NestxTribe products on pharmacy shelves islandwide. “Your calling will always find you,” she recalls. “I was once an employee at R A Williams. So, to return to where I once worked, this time as a business partner entrusting them to cradle my brand and reach mothers across Jamaica, makes everything come full circle.”
Williamson continues to advocate for Jamaican businesses to better support nursing mothers, encouraging corporate leadership to implement private pumping rooms equipped with air conditioning and refrigeration, along with flexible work options.
Looking to the future, she aims to expand Cradle of Life products and services across the Caribbean and the diaspora in North America and Europe. She also hopes to open a physical postpartum retreat village where new mothers can receive comprehensive clinical and emotional care. Her ultimate goal is to establish Cradle of Life as a household name, ensuring every mother in Jamaica feels nurtured, supported, and cradled. She says with resolve, “Cradle of Life is literally that space to hold mothers, because moms need to be cradled too. They are already giving so much of themselves, and we need to help care for them to ensure that the life they gave birth to is sustained.”
