Evidence-based breastfeeding guidance
for families and the communities that support them

Welcome, and thank you for visiting my website!  My name is Katrina Mitchell, and I am a breast surgeon, lactation consultant, and perinatal mental health provider in Santa Barbara, California.

I created the Physician Guide to Breastfeeding during the 2020 Covid pandemic, when I was inundated by parents and children suffering from a variety of breastfeeding challenges related to isolation and restricted contact with medical professionals.   “Lactastrophes”  — complications resulting from women being repeatedly given incorrect advice from unreliable sources and breastfeeding folklore — abounded.  

As a physician, I wanted to develop an evidence-based website free of commercial bias for parents, other healthcare providers, and lactation consultants.  My goal is to address common myths that have been perpetuated for decades in the lactation world, and illuminate the science. 

Many “traditional” recommendations offered to breastfeeding mothers are not only inaccurate, but harmful.   “N of 1” — a personal or professional experience limited by lack of generalizability to others — is often employed in lactation care.  This leads to confusion and contradictory advice.  Women can feel pressured to spend significant funds on breastfeeding products, and are exhausted by countless appointments with lactation or infant care “experts.”  Motherhood has become a big business, and the industry preys on women at a vulnerable time period in their lives.

Having operated on the breast for more than 15 years, I have a unique perspective on breast physiology and tissue anatomy.  This impacts the way I approach lactation challenges and resolve them, putting mother-infant dyads on a path to healthy physical and mental health development.