Carina Hardy’s SUSUBU Silver Nursing Cups are a Love Letter to Motherhood

How SUSUBU silver nursing cups honor the sacred in motherhood.

October is often marked by pink ribbons and campaigns about disease. For Bali-based jeweler Carina Hardy, it’s yet another moment to honor the breast for what it is: a source of nourishment, connection, and quiet power. Her latest creation, SUSUBU, handcrafted sterling silver nursing cups made with her partner Tavish Gallagher are not only practical, they’re a love letter to motherhood.

SUSUBU takes its name from the Indonesian words susu (milk) and ibu (mother). Simple in design but profound in purpose, these unassuming silver cups cradle the nipples, protect raw skin, and use only two ingredients to soothe and heal: silver and breast milk.

“Everything you need to heal is already in you,” Hardy says. “SUSUBU simply supports that.”

Hardy’s first jewelry piece was a playful nipple brooch, cheekily named Elppin. Years later, her experience as a doula met Gallagher’s passion for direct action, sparking the idea to transform jewelry’s elegance into a functional tool for mothers. “The brooch was outward-facing,” Hardy explains. “SUSUBU is its continuation, but turned inward: a functional remedy.”

Their first prototype came to life in Bali when they crafted a pair for a friend who couldn’t access imported versions. The effect was immediate, and the couple realized they could scale this small act of care into something much bigger.

SUSUBU is made from 925 sterling silver; 92.5 percent pure silver alloyed for strength but free of nickel, a common skin allergen. “Silver is cool, smooth, and hypoallergenic,” Hardy says. Its therapeutic qualities go back millennia. Gallagher notes the benefits of silver: “Silver was one of the oldest things mentioned in medicine. It’s antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial.”

Combined with a mother’s milk, SUSUBU creates a natural colloidal balm. Hardy calls this “the magic sauce,” drops of milk that collect inside the cups, mixing with silver’s properties to heal cracked skin.

Unlike silicone shields or lanolin creams, which act only as barriers or temporary soothers, SUSUBU promises to both protect and heal. Thick, smooth edges prevent abrasion against fabric, while silver and milk quietly do their work.

The inspiration isn’t new. Gallagher relates that European grandmothers once recommended putting silver spoons over sore nipples. SUSUBU refines that wisdom for modern motherhood: discreet, durable, and beautiful.

Every design decision is deliberate. The cups are thick enough not to bend, smooth-edged for comfort, and stamped with the names “Bumi Sehat” and “Carina Hardy,” linking them to both craft and community. They’re also priced lower than market averages. “This is not a profit-driven enterprise,” Gallagher emphasizes. “It’s a labor of love.”

Durability means each pair is more than personal, it’s communal. “Wash them with warm water, and they’re ready to be passed on,” Hardy says. Gallagher adds: “One pair, over the years, could support hundreds of mothers… or at least hundreds of nipples!”

For many women, this heirloom quality reframes postpartum pain not as an individual struggle but as part of a culture of care.

That culture extends beyond the studio. SUSUBU cups are donated to Bumi Sehat, a renowned birthing center in Bali that provides free family and birth care. “Every pair donated leads to at least ten more women hearing about it,” Gallagher explains. “The seeds you plant today give fruit for generations.”

For new moms in Bali, SUSUBU is transformative. Many arrive at Bumi Sehat seeking relief from sore nipples only to discover a remedy that makes the experience not only bearable, but intimate and joyful. “It doesn’t just eliminate the pain,” Hardy says. “It allows you to keep breastfeeding longer, which means more nourishment for your child.”

SUSUBU isn’t an accidental side project; it’s a sustained act of what Hardy calls “motherwork.” While there’s potential to expand, they’re cautious. “We could evolve into a nonprofit or B Corp someday,” Gallagher says, “but only if it keeps its integrity intact. For now, SUSUBU’s strength is in staying focused and pure.”

Their dream is simple yet ambitious: thousands of women around the world breastfeeding with less pain, more confidence, and deeper joy. Gallagher says, “When people hear SUSUBU, we hope they feel love, intimacy, nourishment, empowerment. All the positive associations of that sacred bond between mother and child.”

Hardy sums it up best: “If SUSUBU helps mothers extend the time they’re able to breastfeed and strengthens that unconditional bond, then it’s done its job.”

SUSUBU shifts the conversation from pain to celebrating the breast itself: its resilience, tenderness, and ability to sustain life.

These small silver shields may slip unnoticed into a bra, but their impact is anything but quiet. They heal in silence, protect with grace, and pass from mother to mother as enduring tokens of care. That makes SUSUBU more than silver, more than shields. It’s solidarity.

See more exclusive photographs from this story in the October 2025 Issue of Vogue Philippines, available at the link below.