Nurturing Traditions Lactation Services

Nurturing Traditions Lactation Services Leah Segura, IBCLC, RLC offers International Board Certified Lactation Consulting Services to famili I have over 700 hours of continuing education.

I've been working with lactating families in the Midland, MI area for over 15 years. My children are now in their teenage and adult years, but all were breastfed for various lengths of time and through many struggles. Even before I had my own children, I had a passion for working with parents and their babies. My education and experience in social work focused on infant mental health and early child development. I often tell my clients I am NOT the "breastfeeding police." Breastfeeding looks like many different things for many different families, whether it involves exclusive breastfeeding, pumping, bottles, formula, donor milk, etc. My goal is to provide you with the information and support you need to make the best decisions for your family, meet your own feeding goals, and establish a rewarding, confident relationship with your baby. As I have with many clients before you, I will provide a non-judgmental, nurturing, and professional approach to serving your family. Professional growth and continuing education are vital to improve patient outcomes. Areas of specialty include low milk supply, infant colic/reflux, tongue and lip tie/oral rehabilitation, bottle feeding, weaning, and working while lactating.

01/01/2026

This year has been a journey, and I am so thankful for the families who have walked it with me. Your trust is what keeps this practice going. Wishing you all a peaceful New Year!

Gift cards don’t make noise. 28mm fl**ges make a lot of noise. Problem solved. 🎁🤣
12/26/2025

Gift cards don’t make noise. 28mm fl**ges make a lot of noise. Problem solved. 🎁🤣

Pictures from the ice storm. 🥶 All my afternoon clients cancelled today, so I opened up hours for tomorrow. We still hav...
12/26/2025

Pictures from the ice storm. 🥶 All my afternoon clients cancelled today, so I opened up hours for tomorrow. We still have an opening at 1pm!

My husband took this photo for me at a local store. I’ve seen a lot of unique cases in my practice, but I think Santa is...
12/24/2025

My husband took this photo for me at a local store. I’ve seen a lot of unique cases in my practice, but I think Santa is going to need a specialized fl**ge fit for this one.

12/15/2025

She thought she was studying milk.
What she found was a conversation.

In 2008, Katie Hinde was standing in a primate research lab in California, staring at data that refused to behave.

She was analyzing breast milk from rhesus macaque mothers—hundreds of samples, thousands of measurements. And a pattern kept appearing that made no sense under the old rules of science.

Mothers with sons produced milk richer in fat and protein.
Mothers with daughters produced more volume, with different nutrient ratios.

This wasn’t random.

It was customized.

Her male colleagues waved it off.
Measurement error.
Noise.
Coincidence.

But Katie trusted the numbers.

And the numbers were saying something radical:

Milk isn’t just food.
It’s information.

For decades, science treated breast milk like gasoline—calories in, growth out. Simple fuel. But if that were true, why would it change based on a baby’s s*x?

Katie kept digging.

She analyzed milk from 250+ mothers across 700+ sampling events. And the story deepened.

First-time, younger mothers produced milk with fewer calories—but much higher cortisol, the stress hormone. Babies who drank it grew faster… and became more vigilant, more anxious, less confident.

The milk wasn’t just building bodies.

It was shaping temperament.

Then came the discovery that stunned even skeptics.

When a baby nurses, tiny amounts of saliva travel backward through the ni**le into the mother’s breast tissue. That saliva carries signals about the baby’s immune status.

If the baby is getting sick, the mother’s body detects it.

Within hours, her milk changes.

White blood cells surge.
Macrophages multiply.
Targeted antibodies appear.

And when the baby recovers?

The milk returns to baseline.

It wasn’t coincidence.

It was call and response.

The baby’s spit tells the mother what’s wrong.
The mother’s body makes exactly the medicine needed.

A biological dialogue—ancient, precise, invisible to science for centuries.

In 2011, Katie joined Harvard and looked at the wider research landscape.

What she found was unsettling.

There were twice as many studies on erectile dysfunction as on breast milk composition.

The first food every human ever consumed—the substance that shaped our species—had been largely ignored.

So Katie did something bold.

She started a blog with a deliberately provocative name:
“Mammals Suck… Milk!”

Within a year, it had over a million readers. Parents. Doctors. Scientists. People asking questions research had skipped.

And the discoveries kept coming:

• Milk changes by time of day (fat peaks mid-morning)
• Foremilk differs from hindmilk (nursing longer delivers richer milk)
• Human milk contains 200+ oligosaccharides babies can’t digest—because they exist to feed beneficial gut bacteria
• Every mother’s milk is as unique as a fingerprint

In 2017, Katie brought the story to a TED stage, watched by millions.
In 2020, she explained it to the world in Netflix’s Babies.

Today, at Arizona State University’s Comparative Lactation Lab, Dr. Katie Hinde continues uncovering how milk shapes human development from the very first hours of life—informing NICU care, improving formula design, and reshaping public health policy worldwide.

The implications are staggering.

Milk has been evolving for 200 million years—longer than dinosaurs walked the Earth.

What science dismissed as “simple nutrition” is actually one of the most sophisticated communication systems biology has ever produced.

Katie Hinde didn’t just study milk.

She revealed that the most ancient form of nourishment is also the most intelligent—
a living, responsive conversation between two bodies, shaping who we become before we ever speak.

All because one scientist refused to accept that half the story was “measurement error.”

Sometimes the biggest revolutions begin by listening to what everyone else ignores.

Sign our petition here! tinyurl.com/BCBSMcare #
12/10/2025

Sign our petition here! tinyurl.com/BCBSMcare

#

12/09/2025

Did you know that Labor of Love now has a Maternity Boutique/Store open to the public? We are only open on Thursday's from 10-2 right now. We will be closed the week of Christmas through the first of the year. Come shopping for that cute Christmas outfit or those oh so needed comfy jeans. All items are on a donation based pay, we will work with all families.

12/07/2025

Year-end routines can get messy, which isn’t ideal for a young nursling but can actually help when you’re weaning a toddler or older child. If you have an infant, keep them close and nursing through the holiday chaos. Remember, you can never offer too often! If you’re weaning, let the extra distractions and schedule changes work in your favor.

[Image Description] Text overlay on a photo of a busy airport. Text reads, "Holiday Weaning." Continued in comments.

12/02/2025

💙💜💚 Studies conducted using infrared cameras have found that mothers raise their breast temperature as needed to warm their baby.
🍂 If a mother has twins and one is hypothermal and the other has a normal temperature, the mother's breast which is on the colder side of the baby will raise her temperature up to two degrees higher than the other with the baby at the right temperature.
🍂 Undoubtedly the best sanitary and the best incubator for the premature baby is the mother's body, and she is fantastically equipped to meet the needs of her immature baby.
Vicki Penwell.
Prematurity and care for mother kangaroo in natural disasters.
Words and photo📸 Credit .corazonnuestro

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=8724397570982645

BCBSM is Exploiting Loopholes to Deny Families Essential Care!The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that new health pla...
11/30/2025

BCBSM is Exploiting Loopholes to Deny Families Essential Care!

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates that new health plans must cover comprehensive lactation support and counseling at NO cost-sharing. This is the law designed to protect new parents.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) is not living up to this mandate.

Instead of building a network of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs), who are the highly trained specialists required for complex cases, BCBSM is exploiting legal loopholes by:

1. Refusing to contract with IBCLCs and rejecting their billing codes.

2. Telling parents to seek care from their OB or pediatrician, who are often unqualified for specialized lactation issues.

3. Directing families to limited online-only services that fail to address in-person needs.

The Result? Michigan families are forced to pay out-of-pocket for necessary IBCLC care, causing delayed intervention and unnecessary hardship. BCBSM is creating an insurmountable barrier that violates the intent of the law.

Call to Action:

1. ✍️ SIGN our petition to demand BCBSM close these loopholes and credential IBCLCs HERE: HERE: tinyurl.com/BCBSMcare

2. 🏷️ TAG your Michigan colleagues and anyone who supports accessible, essential care for new families in the state!

3. 🤝 SHARE this post widely!

Today, we celebrate Small Business Saturday. I want to share a truth that unites every small business owner, from a priv...
11/29/2025

Today, we celebrate Small Business Saturday. I want to share a truth that unites every small business owner, from a private healthcare practice like mine to your favorite local store or coffee shop.

We are all carrying an immense, often invisible, load:

✅There are many unpaid hours. The work doesn’t stop when the doors close. It often continues late into the night with complex administration and charting, inventory, marketing, and bookkeeping.

✅The mental load is heavy. Often we are the CEO, the administrator, the marketer, the bookkeeper, and the primary service provider, all in one. The weight of every decision, success, and setback rests entirely on our shoulders.

✅We are extremely dedicated. Every product, service, and consultation is fueled by passion, but executed through relentless hard work and very long days.

This Small Business Saturday, please remember the immense mental load and personal sacrifices that go into every service and product you receive. When you support a small business, you are not supporting a corporation, but an individual’s expertise, dedication, and dream. When you decide where to spend your money, choose to support that hard work and passion. Your support, whether it’s through a purchase, a booking, or a referral, truly makes a difference.

Thank you for seeing the human behind the small business dream.

Address

2621 W Wackerly Suite B
Midland, MI
48640

Telephone

+19897983375

Website

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The mission of Nurturing Traditions, LLC is to provide expert lactation support to foster the confidence needed for parents to meet their feeding goals, form a healthy attachment with their baby, and enjoy early parenting.

Many insurance plans accepted.