Hi there! I’m Kathy and I’m so glad you are here! My desire to have my own kids, foster, adopt, and even pursue a career working with babies started when I was in elementary school. I grew up with neighbors (I consider family) who fostered over 120 babies. These babies were mainly born drug addicted which often led to feeding challenges and developmental delays.  Before I was in junior high I knew how to help calm and feed babies going through drug withdrawals and my passion for helping babies had been ignited. 

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I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2005. My entire OT career has been in pediatrics, starting in a Sensory Integration clinic and then moving on to an early intervention clinic before making the transition to acute care in a large children’s hospital working with children birth-21. I started in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in 2011 where treatment with preemies and medically fragile infants is focused on neurodevelopmental care, feeding, and caregiver education. In wanting to expand my knowledge of breastfeeding to better support the families I was working with, I became a Lactation Education Counselor in 2014. By 2018 I became Advance Practice Approved in Swallowing Assessment, Evaluation, or Intervention (SWC) by the California Board of Occupational Therapy. In 2020 I became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) after completing coursework through UC San Diego the previous year.

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My amazing husband and I are blessed to have 4 kids. We have 3 that are biological, and I like to say that our fost-adopt daughter, who was born just shy of 26 weeks at the hospital I was working at, is our souvenir from my time in the NICU! By the time I became a mother in 2015, I was already an experienced feeding professional, yet the unique feeding journey with each of our kiddos was a humbling learning experience. I’ve breastfed through lip and tongue ties, reflux, food allergies, and while pregnant. I also spent several months exclusively pumping for our ex-NICU baby before turning to donor milk.  I am forever grateful for these motherhood experiences which have also shaped my career life. I know first-hand what it is like to feel lost at sea in what can feel like a postpartum storm you were not prepared for. I find great joy in helping guide parents and little ones like yours through to brighter days. 

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