Rebecca Traugott Lactation Consultant RN IBCLC

01/29/2026

When babies are formula fed from birth, they miss colostrum… the first milk made specifically for the first days of life.

Colostrum is highly concentrated and time sensitive, designed to protect newborns while their immune system and gut are still immature. Without colostrum, babies miss early immune protection from human antibodies like secretory IgA, which coat the gut and help block bacteria and viruses. They also miss living immune cells that actively fight infection and help guide immune development… something formula cannot provide.

Colostrum helps mature and protect the newborn gut through growth factors that reduce intestinal permeability and inflammation. It also delivers human milk oligosaccharides in high concentrations, shaping the gut microbiome and preventing pathogens from attaching to the intestinal wall.

This window is brief. Once the colostrum phase passes, it cannot be recreated.

Those first drops matter.

11/10/2025

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11/09/2025

Are you or someone you love expecting? Join Leia O'Fallon, APRN for a prenatal class NEXT Wednesday at Baptist Health Medical Center - Drew County to help you get ready to welcome your bundle of joy!

This class is designed to help you prepare for childbirth and parenthood, covering topics ranging from medications and stages of labor to postpartum and infant care.

We hope you join us and take advantage of this amazing resource!

05/28/2025

Unpopular fact time….

We humans have evolved to drink our mother’s milk until anywhere between the ages of around 2 and 7+ years old. Some babies stop earlier, some children carry on for longer. This is known as natural term breastfeeding, or natural term weaning. It’s thought that the eruption of the permanent set of teeth influences this timescale.

Many cultures around the world breastfeed until natural term, including many women in the Western world. This age range is only surprising in cultures that interrupt breastfeeding, often without realising it or knowing which norms are biololgical and which are cultural.

The concentration of fats and proteins increase as the baby grows into a toddler, along with increased levels of antibacterial and antiviral components such as lysozyme, which is an anti-inflammatory and destroys bacteria. Lysozyme increases in concentration from about 6 months old, and keeps increasing after the first year.

The concentration of Lactoferrin also increases over time. Lactoferrin inhibits the growth of some cancerous cells. It also helps our babies to absorb their own iron stores, whilst binding to the iron in our baby’s body which prevents it from being available to harmful microorganisms that need iron to survive. Lactoferrin also kills the bacteria strep mutans, which causes tooth decay and cavities.

Our body’s immune system takes around 6 years to become fully mature, so the support of the protective factors in human milk could play a part in the timescale of natural term weaning.
It is also associated with reduced risk of diseases for the mother, including breast cancer.

We acknowledge that many mothers find it difficult to establish breastfeeding in the first place, that breastfeeding is a multi-layered investment on the part of a mother and that natural term feeding might not feel like - or be - a possibility for many.

We also acknowledge that lack of information about our biology contributes to the lack of support for mothers when they want to establish - or continue - breastfeeding, but cannot find the help they need from people who understand why it matters so much.

Let's continue to turn that around ❤

More info at www.human-milk.com/science

05/26/2025

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A baby’s saliva communicates needs to the parent during breastfeeding in some fascinating and powerful ways.

This process is part of the dynamic biological relationship between the nursing dyad.

🔬 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬:
When a baby nurses, their saliva comes into contact with the mother’s ni**le, and some of that saliva is drawn into the milk ducts via a process called retrograde flow. This backward movement allows the mother’s body to “sample” the baby’s saliva.

🧬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭'𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞:
Once exposed to components in the baby’s saliva (such as pathogens, immune signals, or signs of dehydration), the parent's body can respond by altering the composition of breastmilk. This includes:
📌Increasing antibodies to fight off specific germs the baby may be exposed to
📌Adjusting immune factors to help the baby fight illness
📌Changing water content in response to dehydration signals
📌Possibly even modifying fat and nutrient levels depending on the baby’s age or needs

🧠 The Immune Connection:
This immune communication is sometimes referred to as the “mammary gland–infant gut axis”, and it helps ensure that breastmilk is tailored in real-time to support the baby’s development and health.

🍼 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞:
If a baby is coming down with a cold, their saliva can signal this to the mother’s body, which then increases secretory IgA and other antibodies in the milk to help the baby recover faster.

Isn't this information fascinating?!

-Love,
Flor Cruz
Badassmotherbirther

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, & 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭!
IG

04/18/2025

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🤱🏽丅ᕼᗴ ᖴᎥᖇᔕ丅 ᒪᗩ丅ᑕᕼ🤱🏽
❖
A study published in the journal Pediatrics suggested that 41% of newborns that die in the first month of life could be saved if breastfed in the first hour of life.
❖
UNICEF says by expanding the number of people who exclusively breastfeed during their child’s first six months, at least 1.3 MILLION infant lives could be saved a year.
❖
That’s 3,500 lives that could be saved every day from preventable causes, just by exclusively breastfeeding, due to it’s lifelong benefits.
❖
The WHO(World Health Organization) says feeding colostrum in the first hour increases the likelihood babies will continue to be breastfed which gives them a head start in the "race against malnutrition".
❖
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡:
❤️mother and baby should remain uninterrupted to maximize the chances of the infant latching on and stimulating lactation.
❤️routine exams of the newborn should wait
❤️visitors should wait
❤️baby should be placed skin-to-skin
❖
Infants are born with the senses to smell their mother, learn their mothers voice, memorize her face, heightened sense of taste for breastmilk, and sense of smell to guide the path to the breasts.
❖
The first latch and first hour should be honored and undisturbed for maximum health benefits, along with plenty of lactation support and information for the parents throughout the breastfeeding relationship.
❖
-Love,
Flor Cruz

Lightwork Portraits

08/08/2024

Breastfeeding doesn't always look like breastfeeding in the and . Often, it looks like this - bottles, tubes, pumping, and countless hours of dedication.

During and Month, we're celebrating our preemies, their parents, , and the incredible clinicians and teams who are helping to ensure all infants in the NICU receive the lifesaving power of to help

Learn more and join us at NECsociety.org

07/31/2024

✅ Save the date! U.S. National Breastfeeding Month Begins August 1 and runs until September 9!

In addition to social media geared towards each week, we have a sale and giveaways to be announced! Make sure to follow us on FB, IG, Linkedin, and X, and stay tuned for more info!

📚 To learn more about U.S. National Breastfeeding Month, visit: https://vist.ly/3fu23

07/14/2024

Eating a balanced, varied diet is not only good for yourself - but your baby too!

Unless your child has an allergy, there's no need to stop eating the foods you like when breastfeeding. In fact, the different food you eat exposes your baby to different flavours through your breast milk.

Some babies can be sensitive to certain foods or drinks - for example, because it's a stimulant caffeine can make your baby restless.

If you think something you're eating is affecting your baby, talk to your GP or health visitor.

You can also talk to our trained peer supporters at the National Breastfeeding Helpline UK

Call anytime - 0300 100 0212, or message on social media 9:30am-9:30pm.

If you're starting to think about weaning, look out for our guest blog post "Starting Solids" from Gill Rapley, next week!

[ID: Did you know? The taste of your breastmilk changes depending on what you have eaten. Eating a varied diet helps expose your baby to a range of flavours by the time they come to eat solid foods.]