The Wonderful Benefits of Booby Food: Turning Your Breast Milk into Freeze-Dried Powder
Show Notes:
[2:05] Our Reviewer of the Week, KaitlynL2021, says: "Absolutely love this podcast. My husband and I are hoping to get pregnant in the next year and this podcast makes me so excited. When we started talking about having kids I was nervous because I didn’t know anything. Now I feel confident and like I know what I’m getting myself into. I also feel like I have options and there isn’t one “right” way to give birth. I love that this podcast gives all of the options from crunchy to conventional, and I can’t wait to be in the birth class one day in the future!"
[2:49] Our guest this week is Booby Food founder and owner, Janna Hattingh, who knows all too well about the triumphs and struggles with breastfeeding, pumping, and supply issues. She's on a mission to save your breastmilk and the tears shed over spilled bottles. She is a wife and mama to 4-year-old Sage and 2-year-old Kassius, a.k.a. 'wrecker of nipples.' She has a degree in kinesiology, a diploma in holistic nutrition, and over 15 years of experience in the health and nutrition industry, from personal training to alternative medicine and her private nutrition practice.
04:38 - What is freeze-dried breast milk or Booby Food? They turn a mother's frozen breast milk into a shelf-stable, travel-friendly powder that they can take with them wherever they go. They can make bottles on the go and can fortify bottles as an alternative to formula. When you're done with the bottle stage, you don't have to waste any breast milk because you can add the powder to your baby's foods as they grow!
[5:07] Janna started her business in 2018 after her home birth. Her son needed to be seen by the doctors in the NICU but he was too small for the car seat. They told Janna to supplement with formula until he could get his weight up. She struggled with her own ability to breastfeed and pump.
[7:04] We talk about Janna's struggle with supplementing with formula and her decision to try and nurse to get her supply back up because it was not really there to begin with after supplementing. But she needed to make sure her son was gaining weight and that he didn't fall off his growth curve.
[10:32] She started freeze drying her breast milk when her son was eight months old and started adding it to his solid food.
[11:59] Janna walks us through the process of getting your milk freeze dried.
1. They send their all-in-one booby shippers.
2. Moms pack their milk stash in the box.
3. Call FedEx for pickup and ship it back to us.
4. Once they receive your stash, every bag and amount is documented.
5. They remove the bags, break it down, and put it in the freeze dryer.
[14:50] Janna explains the freeze drying process versus dehydrating. Dehydrating uses very high temperatures and fast systems to basically evaporate the water inside your breast milk, which will destroy heat sensitive nutrients. Freeze drying is very low temperatures and slow methods which go through pressure systems and a vacuum system.
[17:34] The shelf life for powdered infant formula, according to USDA Red Cross, is almost indefinitely. We recommend using within about three to five years with current research that the nutritional value starts to decrease after about three to five years of proper storage.
[19:18] What would other reasons be to freeze-dry breast milk? It can be an alternative to formula. Moms can also do nutritional testing to fortify their own breastmilk. Surrogate and adoptive parents can also benefit from freeze-dried milk. Other benefits include travel, sickness, or going back to work.
[23:02] For Moms with high lipase milk, freeze dried breast milk can be a great option. Sometimes moms just have high lipase and lipase is naturally occurring in breast milk. Freeze drying is wonderful because when the water is removed, that enzyme is in a "sleep mode."
[25:39] What does it cost to use Booby Food? Costs will vary depending on your location and also how much breast milk you send in.
[28:18] Other exciting features: Moms may not know that they could be covered with insurance for their Booby Food service! If you submit your estimate to your insurance company (depending on your planner provider), you may be able to get partial or full coverage for your Booby Food service.
[31:18] For a Booby Food promo code just use MEB10 at checkout.
[31:43] Where you can find Booby Food:
To Leave a Review ⭐️
- Open Apple Podcasts
- Find “Pregnancy & Birth Made Easy” podcast
- Select “Ratings and Reviews”
- Click the stars!
- Select “Write a Review” and tell us what was the most amazing, comforting, eye-opening thing that you loved!
ALL the best,
Links Mentioned
