Who is popular today?

SIMECA Alexander always had desires of becoming a paediatric surgeon, but whilst in grade nine she was introduced to nutrition and never looked back. She is now turning her attention to the diets of mothers and newborns in the role of a lactation specialist.Alexander said she fell in love with the idea of dietetics and nutrition and left high school straight for University of Technology, Jamaica where she pursued studies in the area.Upon completion in 2011, Alexander did a six-week externship with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and crossed paths with Violet Griffiths, her preceptor, the only internationally board certified lactation consultant in the island."I had to follow her around with her doing her visits and consultations at health centres and we started assisting mothers with breastfeeding, positioning, among other things. At that time I was introduced to lactation. I never knew what it was before and thought it was a regular part of being a nutritionist in the public sector," she told Your Health Your Wealth.Fast-forward to 2018, Alexander during an internship for her masters in public health, once again met Griffiths. This time, during breastfeeding week."She was leading a session showing how fathers can help with breastfeeding, and at that point in time I recognised what a lactation consultant was and it piqued my interest," Alexander said.And so, the registered nutrition assistant decided to embark on the journey of being a lactation specialist."I started with the mindset of being a nutritionist or a dietician but because of the pathway, at the time, we weren't able to get internship, which would be one year of clinical experience for me to become a nutritionist or a dietician, which is why I am just a registered nutrition assistant," she said."I'm on my way to being an international board certified lactation consultant as well. In pursuit of that, I have had to be acquiring clinical hours. Through the relationship I have with people in the MOH and through writing requests and letters, I was able to gain access to the public health system. I ended up at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) and during my clinical hours there, working with the mothers - being their support and advocate has been rewarding."This earned Alexander the moniker "the breast lady". She said, "Because of my presence and support these mothers were empowered to hand express, breastfeed - once they were permitted to - and keep up their milk supply for their little ones.""Don't feel you failed as a mother if you can't breastfeed or have difficulty hand expressing or with supply," Alexander said, explaining that moms of premature babies, those with inverted nipples and even mothers who have been separated from their babies might have difficulty breastfeeding.She added: "The breast is not like it's a tap that is going to be consistently dripping. Think of it as a factory. If you don't remove the goods, you're not going to think that you need any more to come in. If breast milk is not being removed your body will think your supply is enough. The fuller the breasts are, it sends a signal to the brain that you don't need to make more milk. But, you have certain breastfeeding positions, certain things that a mother can do that is appropriate for her and her baby to allow the baby to actually latch on to the areola in order for them to get the transfer of milk from the breast to the mouth. Even though we think this is something everybody should know it is really not as straightforward as it is. It's a matter of guiding them."Further, Alexander prides herself in offering public education on breastfeeding on her Instagram social media page @cradle.of.life_ ."I have always been saying breastfeeding requires a lot of support, not just from me as a lactation specialist but from family, community, policies, programme and so forth. Where my role lies is educating and debunking the myths as well as encouraging and supporting the mother in her role to understand what can be done to overcome certain obstacles," she said.Outside of being the breast lady, Alexander enjoys spending time with her spouse and son, plus gardening. More so, she holds true to her philosophy, "There is no passion to be found in playing small - in settling for a life that is less that the one you are capable of living."