Jan 30, 2026 Practice Notes
Evolve Lactation Pros
A Reminder - I’ve Got Resources On Breast Health
Quick recap
In 2023, my mom was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. She opted for a double mastectomy and chemotherapy, and she is thriving today (though long-term anti-cancer medications are not for the faint of heart or weak in spirit.)
It was brutal.
But it inspired me. It changed my lactation career. It made me think about breasts in a new way.
You see, with a history of breast cancer in my family stretching back long before my mom’s diagnosis, I was raised with the gut feeling that my breasts were probably going to betray me someday; it was just a matter of time.
Then I realized something: I am literally a lactation consultant, an expert on the main function of breasts. I should know WAYYYYYYY more about this than I do.
I only knew what I saw in mainstream publications and online about breast cancer.
I started searching for more online, and I was appalled. Every time I typed “breast health” into a search bar, the results were about 80% breast cancer and 20% breastfeeding.
Where was the information about how to keep breasts healthy? Are cancer and breastfeeding the only things that happen to breasts?
And while we’re at it…remember how they told us way back in the early 2000s that breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer by 4.3% for every 12 months you do it?
Cool, but why? How?
I don’t want to tell my clients some vague statistic that doesn’t mean a whole lot to them. I want to EXPLAIN it. But I couldn’t even find anything to teach me.
I spent the next year reading, scouring scientific journals from all kinds of health disciplines for anything about breasts and breast tissue. I curated information that I thought a lactation consultant should know.
I built a fairly comprehensive course that was offered throughout most of 2025 on another platform.
But I never stopped looking for more research, more explanations, and more things about breast health that you and I SHOULD know.
My list of questions about breast health continues to grow alongside the Breast Health Training I am continuing to build.
We’ll talk more about the Breast Health Training in the future. For now, I wanted to remind you that I have a really big reading list for you right here.
At the top, there are several Starting Points for you, including the online breast cancer risk model tools that are validated and anyone can use, resources you could share with patients and clients, and things you can read to educate yourself.
Then we move into the scientific literature, categorized into some big buckets.
Almost every link I’ve included is an Open Access scientific article with No Paywall so you don’t have to work for a hospital or university to read them.
I’ve also been presenting a lot of this information at a variety of conferences over the past year, including just yesterday at the California Breastfeeding Summit. Attendees had so many light-bulb moments and asked so many great questions afterward!
I put together a brief summary of the talk right here