How it began…
In May 2022, a beautiful baby girl was born five weeks early with an undiagnosed soft-cleft palate. Before her birth, Kaci Warren had exclusively breastfed her firstborn and was excited to continue this journey with her newborn.
A soft cleft palate is a congenital condition with an abnormal opening or gap in the smooth part of the roof of the mouth (the palate) that extends into the throat. This can present specific challenges during breastfeeding, primarily due to the gap in the soft palate affecting the ability to create a proper seal and coordinate sucking. This unfortunate diagnosis meant that breastfeeding at the breast would not be successful.
After a desperate attempt with several different lactation consultants, Kaci was determined to give her newborn daughter breastmilk and turned to pumping. As an exclusively pumper, she struggled to navigate the complexity of breast pumping. Evidence-based education and resources were scarce.
Her newborn daughter was assigned to a craniofacial team at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Miami, FL. This is where she met Kristen DeLuca, the lead craniofacial speech-language pathologist for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Cleft and Craniofacial Program. Kristen and Kaci worked side by side for several months, exploring different pumps, pumping methods, and pump research. They determined that adequate, evidence-based breast pump education, resources, and research were crucial to a successful pumping journey. Thus, a partnership was founded.
Today, Kaci and Kristen continue their breast-pumping education, resource library, and research by educating mom-to-be/new moms with cleft-affected babies, allowing access to their resources, and collecting pump data for breast pump research.
In addition to partnering with Kristen DeLuca, Kaci has also partnered with Ruth Kraft, founder of Community Calling. Community Calling is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, empowering and inspiring birthing families, and those who support them through education, mentoring, and connection. This partnership provides scholarships for families in need of breast pump support who are experiencing financial difficulties. To apply for a breast pump consultation scholarship, please contact Project Pump!
