When Erin Erenberg and her colleagues at the Chamber of Mothers talk about change, they don’t start with policy papers or legislative talking points. They start with the mothers — the women who, behind closed doors, are enduring isolation, exhaustion, and the crushing expectation that they alone can hold everything together. How am I supposed to care for this baby and keep my job and afford groceries? I had the honor of spending time with Erin just before the Orlando stop of their Mothers United LIVE tour.
“We talk a lot about policy change and legislative change,” Erin says. “But at the end of the day, our moms talk in terms of emotional experience — what they endure when they’re isolated.”
A mother of three herself, Erin is working to ensure every mother knows they are far from alone. That all-too-familiar reality is what fuels the Chamber’s mission: to unite mothers across the country and push for federal policies that actually support families — including paid family and medical leave, affordable childcare, and maternal health. They are working hard to harness the power of mothers coming together to support each other, for the greater good of families everywhere. “Until we decide, culturally, that families are worth investing in,” Erin explains, “we won’t suddenly have a country that’s supportive of moms.”
“If we decide that babies are important, and families are important, and that the economy is important, then we have to provide paid leave.”
Erin Erenberg – Founder, Chamber of Mothers
The Truth: Most Moms in America Have to Work
Much has been made of the so-called “stay-at-home vs. working mom” debate, a tired cultural trope that Erin finds both false and unfortunate. “It’s ridiculous,” she says. “The fact is, most moms in America have to work to live. Working for a living while also caring for their families — that’s the reality for most American mothers.”
Most moms are not choosing between being home or building a career — they’re choosing between feeding their families or not. Between health insurance or risking medical debt. And, as Erin points out, we expect these women to heal from childbirth, care for a newborn, and return to work — often within days — all while pretending everything is fine.
“If we decide that babies are important, and families are important, and that the economy is important, then we have to provide paid leave,” Erin says firmly. “You can’t ask private businesses to shoulder that burden alone. There has to be a federally funded system.” Without it, mothers are forced to return to work before their bodies or babies are ready, often within days or weeks of giving birth. They wonder why it feels impossible to balance it all.
The Great Lie Moms Are Told
Every mom I know has heard the cliches:
“You just have to figure it out.”
“Women have done this forever.”
“You’ll bounce back.”
“It’s the great lie,” Erin says. “That if we’re struggling, it’s a personal failure. But it’s not moms failing — it’s systems failing moms.” When moms struggle — to breastfeed, heal, return to work — there is no shortcut available. You cannot “bootstrap” postpartum recovery. You cannot “hustle” through sleep deprivation, hemorrhaging, or childcare you can’t afford. Motherhood is tough. Some might say it’s tougher if you’re doing it right. Toughing it out shouldn’t be a requirement of motherhood.
Why the Chamber of Mothers Exists
The Chamber of Mothers was created to unite the 85 million moms across the U.S. — a group that collectively holds $11–15 trillion in annual spending power and makes 84% of household purchasing decisions.
That’s not a niche. That’s a movement waiting to be mobilized.
Their advocacy rests on three bipartisan pillars:
- Paid Family and Medical Leave
- Accessible, Affordable Childcare
- Improved Maternal Health Outcomes
Over 80% of American voters support these priorities, but that consensus has yet to translate into real policy. At the time of publication, New Mexico had just become the first state in the nation to offer no-cost universal child-care.
“We are living under a system that believes it humane to send a woman back bleeding from childbirth to work…pretend that there doesn’t need to be someone to hold the baby, let alone hold the mother.”
Erin Erenberg – Founder, Chamber of Mothers
Real Conversations, Real Change
The Chamber of Mothers regularly meets with members of Congress — on both sides of the aisle — to bring them stories from real families. Those stories open hearts. “We have chosen to be strategically bipartisan because that’s how you make progress. When you sit across the table from lawmakers and you talk about these things, the values alignment is there,” Erin explains. That begs the question, why are lawmakers voting no? Erin believes the answer lies in the pay for. “How do we pay for this? We’ve learned to make these arguments within several frameworks”.
These meetings aren’t about politics or business continuity. They’re about human continuity.
“One life event is having a child. Another is caring for an aging parent. If you want business continuity, you have to plan for life events.” When companies plan for natural disasters but not for births, they’re signaling that human care is optional. It isn’t.
This work has led to this year’s multi-city Mothers United Tour, where moms and carers have been invited to an immersive bus experience. Here they could meet local members, gather valuable resources, and interact with trusted brands committed to making motherhood easier. The tour brought the efforts of 47 Chamber of Mothers chapters to life on wheels, helping moms see their power as advocates at each stop.
When mothers are left unsupported — economically, emotionally, medically — the consequences ripple outward. Domestic violence, postpartum depression, and maternal mortality rates rise in direct correlation with the absence of social support.
“Neglect is a form of abuse. We are living under a system that believes it humane to send a woman back bleeding from childbirth to work just two weeks postpartum, pretend that there doesn’t need to be someone to hold the baby, let alone hold the mother.”
The Mothers Leading Change in Miami
In early 2025, Alicia Nuche decided she was done waiting for someone else to fix things.
“At the beginning of this year, I just felt like I really wanted to do something,” she recalled. “I didn’t want to just complain. I wanted to take action.”
We spent some time discussing this call-to-action as Alicia was in the hospital for the impeding birth of her third child. She was trying to get as much done as she could beforehand, as most mothers can understand. Alicia had been following the Chamber of Mothers, inspired by its message and frustrated by the lack of local organizing. A regular donor, she reached out to start the Miami chapter, and assembled a team of four: a finance professional, a family law attorney, a psychologist, and a lactation consultant. Each woman brought her own expertise and experience to the table. They were united by one shared conviction: motherhood in America shouldn’t be this hard.
“We all had our own reasons for joining, but they all came back to the same thing: moms deserve better.”
The chapter held its first meeting in April 2025, with an ambitious goal — to make advocacy accessible for busy moms. “We know moms want to get involved, they just need flexible ways to do it. Maybe a five-minute action item from home, maybe showing up for a meeting.”
Since then, the group has connected through in-person events, online meetings, and a text group to keep everyone updated, while partnering with organizations like the YWCA and the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade.
Their top priorities:
- Educating mothers about workplace rights
- Supporting teen mothers in local schools
- Addressing racial disparities in maternal health, especially among Black mothers in Miami-Dade
Beyond advocacy, they’re building community — hosting mental health workshops, supporting moms during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and developing a local motherhood resource guide featuring trusted OB-GYNs, pediatricians, and playgroups. For these women, every text thread, coffee meetup, and late-night strategy call is part of something bigger — a movement grounded in empathy and action.
“Mothers can do things we never thought that we could to survive, but…we are worth more.”
Erin Erenberg – Founder, Chamber of Mothers
The Future Is Mother-Led
Erin summed it up. “Mothers can be super human for our babies. We can do things we never thought that we could to survive, but we should not have to be just surviving. We are worth more.” Motherhood has always required strength, but it shouldn’t require sacrifice without support. That’s what the Chamber of Mothers is building: a future where every woman who gives life is supported in living hers.
Because when mamas rise, everyone rises.
