Coffee is life.
It’s a statement that all pregnant women and moms–especially first-timers—will agree with, given that these women are most likely sleep-deprived because of hormones and childcare duties.
Unfortunately, medical science has also established limited caffeine intake is best for both expecting and nursing mothers—something which did not sit well with mompreneur Lan Perez, founder of the country’s first brand of lactation coffee and choco drink mixes, Mother Nurture.
Perez’s breastfeeding journey is actually a story of relactation. Six years ago, the mother of two decided to relactate in order to nurse her then three-month-old son Jaden. She had missed the chance to breastfeed her eldest, Andre, and she didn’t want the opportunity to do so with her second child.
The whole relactation process turned Perez into a breastfeeding advocate, thanks also to the Facebook group, Breastfeeding Pinays, which provided her the support she needed. Perez was happy that she was finally nursing her son—but it also called for a big sacrifice, as her baby was sensitive to any caffeine in her system.
“After 14 months of no coffee, I needed my sanity back,” Perez says, chuckling.
She tried looking for “friendly” alternatives, but saw that even the coffee with malunggay options were labeled “not suited for breastfeeding mothers.”
That was Perez’s “aha” moment—finding no solution to her problem, she decided to resolve it herself. It took three months of consultations with lactaction experts, plus experimentation with the help of chemists, to come up with the products she and fellow nursing moms needed: Mother Nurture 7-in-1 Coffeemix and Chocomix.
Specially formulated for breastfeeding moms, each sachet of these mixes contains natural galactagogues, or ingredients that help in milk production, such as calcium lactate, stevia leaves, gotu kola, ashitaba, and malunggay.
Perez’s products helped her not just with her breastfeeding journey, but with her financial freedom as well, as running Mother Nurture allowed her to leave her former job as a merchandising specialist and go into business full time.
And five years since she first started her brand, Perez continues to share her good fortune with other women by opening her products for reselling. Most of her associates are nursing moms themselves, who get to enjoy the benefits of Mother Nurture’s mixes, too.
“I want to give them the opportunity to earn while taking care of their families,” says Perez. PR
