Denise Stern

Founder and CEO · Let Mommy Sleep

Postpartum Care / FranchisingWashington, DC16+ years experience

Founder and CEO of Let Mommy Sleep, a newborn and postpartum overnight care franchise she launched in 2010 after her own difficult twin birth and pre-eclampsia diagnosis, which has since supported more than 100,000 families and licensed operators across 26 protected territories nationwide.

Last reviewed: 7/31/2026

Denise Stern

Founder and CEO Let Mommy Sleep

Last Reviewed: July 31, 2026

Executive Summary

Denise Stern (also known as Denise Iacona Stern) is Founder and CEO of Let Mommy Sleep, a newborn and postpartum overnight care franchise she launched in Washington, DC in 2010. The company has since supported more than 100,000 families through licensed operators across 26 protected territories nationwide.

Career Highlights

  • Founded Let Mommy Sleep in 2010, growing it into a national newborn and postpartum care franchise supporting more than 100,000 families.
  • Founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Mission: Sleep in 2012, providing free overnight newborn care to military and first-responder families.
  • Selected to attend the White House Summit on Working Families in June 2014.
  • Pitched Let Mommy Sleep on Shark Tank in 2016.
  • Authored “The State of Newborn Care in the United States,” a workforce policy paper published on SSRN examining gaps in oversight of the newborn care industry.

Professional Journey

Stern founded Let Mommy Sleep in 2010 after a difficult personal experience: while pregnant with twins and already caring for a 17-month-old son, she developed severe pre-eclampsia and delivered her twins via emergency C-section. Struggling to manage two newborns and a toddler during recovery, even with extended family support, she recognized a need for structured, evidence-based overnight newborn care – and built Let Mommy Sleep to provide it, opening the first location in Washington, DC in 2010.

Under Stern’s leadership, Let Mommy Sleep grew from a single location into a licensing model spanning 26 protected territories nationwide, connecting expecting and new parents with vetted Newborn Care Providers and Licensed Nurses for in-home overnight support and evidence-based education. In 2012, she founded the nonprofit Mission: Sleep to extend free overnight newborn care to military and first-responder families. Her advocacy work has taken her to national platforms, including the White House Summit on Working Families in 2014 and a pitch on Shark Tank in 2016, and she continues to push for national standardization of the newborn care industry through published policy work.

Education

No specific college or university was identified in publicly available sources for this individual.