Jenny Lynn Walding’s newborn daughter cried for nearly two months straight. Walding, who wanted to exclusively breastfeed her child, just couldn’t console her.
“There’s so many different types of cries,” explained Walding. “I’ve heard some babies that are just like, ‘Waah, waah’ and like, oh, they’re good! Her cry was heart-wrenching and just, like, gut twisting.”
Worse, Walding’s daughter didn’t gain weight. Doctors called it “failure to thrive” and told Walding to track feedings and weigh the baby before and after nursing, which she dutifully did. She also used a breast pump and silicone nipple shields to improve the baby’s latch— the way a child’s mouth is positioned to effectively transfer milk— neither of which helped.
“She’s falling off of her growth curve,” remembered Walding. “And she is not in-taking, and what does that mean, like, where is that coming from? Is that a mom problem, which is what a lot of people want to make you believe, because we’re not really in the business of blaming babies, but they’re their own human and they bring their own challenges as well.”
Walding developed mastitis, blisters, and bruises on her breasts. By the time a doctor identified and treated her daughter’s tongue-tie seven weeks later— that’s a congenital condition that reduces the tongue’s range of motion—a battered Walding had an epiphany.
“I kept looking at this nipple shield,” remembered Walding, “and I was just like, ‘This is dumb.’ I love to hate it, I hate to love it. Why am I not getting more insight?”
Walding, who’d worked in marketing, searched patent libraries for devices that measured breastmilk output, assessed a baby’s latch, and evaluated milk composition. Nothing did all those things.
“We say, ‘You know what? The gold standard for infant feeding is breast feeding,’” explained Walding. “’Breast is best, breast is best.’ We drill that into our moms, and, yet, we don’t offer support, we don’t offer research, or, I should say, limited research, we don’t offer solutions, and even we have people that are tech adverse.”
About 84% of new moms initiate breastfeeding, but only about one in four babies is exclusively breastfed for the first six months, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Three-fifths of American women stop breastfeeding before they intend to due to pain, fatigue, and milk supply concerns. Nearly one quarter of newborns get formula in their first two days of life.
“That’s our angle,” said Walding, “is capturing the duality of breastfeeding. So, the milk transfer, so from breast into baby’s mouth, how much milk is flowing, and, because we are a dual-sided sensor, and we also believe and know that babies bring their own challenges to breastfeeding, what’s going on in their mouth. Because we need to remove the subjectivity from the space of infant feeding.”
To date, Walding’s earned $75,000 in grants which helped her apply for two patents, create models, and develop and refine the tech. Now she’s pitching hard for what she hopes comes next: a working prototype and clinical trials. For that she needs $1.5 million.
But Walding’s not deterred. She thinks her company could birth $350 million.
“The fact that a creatures’ sole sustenance is coming from your body is a huge undertaking, but it’s also, there’s a lot of power in that,” Walding said. “So, if we sit and think about the value of human milk—I mean, it literally is like gold. And that’s why I need the moms, I need the researchers, I need the investors. Like, if there is a takeaway, it is human milk will set us free. I really believe that.”
Once mass-produced, the smart nipple shield, called MilkMade, would cost $350 and include a six-month subscription to the breastfeeding app.