Origins Lactation & Wellness

08/05/2022

Everyday next week we’ll highlight a special morning offering from our supporters across Turtle Island. Sometimes this will be a song, others a prayer. Join us 💛🌻✨!!

07/15/2022

06/17/2022

In conjunction with Indigenous First Steps & Pine Hill Health Network, Indigenous lactation wear for nursing moms on the go and distracted babies:

06/17/2022

I'm excited to share the newest program from Pine Hill Health Network, Indigenous First Steps for new parents and families: https://www.phhn.org/indigenous-first-steps

05/03/2022

Wonderful insights from an inspiring Indigenous lactation consultant, Elizabeth, at Open Arms Lactation.

So, sunflower lecithin is a really popular topic and supplement in the lactation world... Including my own (Elizabeth) practices until recently. This weekend I had the honor of attending a lecture by the brilliant Bryna Hayden of Doula My Soul . 🤯🤯🤯 Mind blown, to say the least. But as I let the information settle, I realized how in line it was with what I've discovered in my journey of decolonizing my lactation care.

Lecithin is a dietary supplement deemed "GRAS" (Generally Recognized As Safe) and not subject to regulation. However, this doesn't mean it's beneficial, and it especially doesn't mean it's supportive to the lactation journey. It also isn't an evidence based practice in the physiology of lactation. As a chef familiar with emulsification in food, I'd always accepted this premise that it worked inside the body as well, by making the fat more slippery and less "cloggy"... But really examining the physiology of making milk inside the body tells us otherwise.

One thing we do know for sure, is that inflammation is usually responsible for most mammary congestion (what we usually call clogs). And as we examine studies around lecithin... It turns out that lecithin is responsible for creating an inflammatory response in the body. WHAT NOW?!? 😳 Yeah, all that emulsification action in the intestinal tract basically just rolls through picking up all the gooey mucous lining and taking it out with all the other waste passing through. 😦😦 That mucous layer happens to be your body's first line of defense against pathogens and the home for your microbiome. So, all that lecithin has now scraped that protective layer off, opening you up to more pathogens AND put your body into an inflammatory state - both risk factors for mammary congestion (clogs) and mastitis.

But but but.... It's helped!? Right!? We've all seen it! So. The makeup of lecithin includes choline, a nutrient vital to many body processes, including the flexible bounciness of healthy tissues. And most humans living in industrialized (colonial) societies are deficient in it. (More in comments! This is the really good stuff, I promise!)

05/02/2022

Welcome to the new face of in Atlanta, GA.