Hi -,
We sent this a day late on purpose. Yesterday was yours — for resting, celebrating, ignoring your inbox, or all three. Today we're back with something worth opening.
Too many women who need Chiyo's kind of support can't access it. It's something that I've struggled with from the beginning and it's something I've never been at peace with. Nourishing mothers isn't a luxury. It's a baseline.
Today, I want to share something that's been our north star from the beginning: Chiyo is now available through New York Medicaid, through Epicured.
Medicaid finances roughly 41% of all births in this country — and these are often the mothers with the least nutritional support and the most at stake. Reimbursement at that scale becomes more than access. It becomes proof. That nourishment during pregnancy and postpartum changes outcomes for mother and baby. That this is standard of care, not a luxury. And precedents have a way of expanding. Our longer arc is full coverage — every mother, every plan.
We all have a mother. And on a day like today, it's hard not to think about what it would have meant for her to have had this. The nourishment. The support. The someone saying: your health matters in this too.
This is our first real step toward true accessibility. Not the finish line. But a start we're proud of.
New York is the start. Other states should follow.
None of this happens without you. The community you helped build showed that women don't just want this kind of nourishment — they actively seek it out, advocate for it, and share it with every mother in their orbit. That proof matters when you're trying to reach policymakers and payers. You helped make the case.
So consider this our thank you. For believing in us early. For advocating for mothers — including the ones you've never met. For being part of a community that understands that when mothers are nourished, everyone around them is too.
Today felt like the right day to tell you where we're going. There's so much more to come.
