In September 2025, the Breastfeed Durham Lactation Collaborative launched.
Alayjah Morrison, who has been with the Collaborative since shortly after its launch, has a phrase for what that first year has felt like.
We’re not even a year old yet. Small but mighty.
Alayjah is a Certified Lactation Counselor and a Pathway 3 lactation student (the most rigorous of the routes to becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, requiring hundreds of hours of mentored clinical practice). By day, she is a pasteurization technician, preparing donor breast milk for medically fragile and NICU infants. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from UNC Greensboro, and she is pursuing a Master of Public Health in Women, Youth, and Infant Health at George Washington University. She is also the mother of two.
When she joined the Collaborative, she was looking for something specific.
“As a Pathway 3 lactation student, I was struggling to find a place where I could comfortably get my clinical hours. Since the Collaborative started, that’s gotten smoother, and I’ve had so many incredible mentors in one space, each with their own style to learn from.”
That is no small thing. The shortage of IBCLCs in the United States, and particularly the shortage of Black IBCLCs, is one of the structural reasons families lose access to lactation support. The Pathway 3 clinical-hours bottleneck is part of that problem. Quietly, by mentoring students like Alayjah, the Lactation Collaborative is part of solving it.
Equally important to Alayjah is the breadth of the families the Collaborative is reaching.
What I love most is the diversity of the families we’ve served: single-parent households; married couples and partners showing up together; different races and ethnic groups; low- and middle-income families; queer families; families who are prenatal or freshly postpartum. Different birth stories, different parts of their journeys.
That diversity has been possible, in part, because of where the Collaborative sits.
“Coming up under the umbrella of Breastfeed Durham, already well-established, with boots on the ground, made creating this space feel smooth.”
In a single year: 62 visits. 39 families. 24 free pumps. 11 volunteer professionals. One hundred percent of families uninsured or underinsured. Forty-two percent of visits in Spanish.
I’m really happy. I can’t wait to see what we do next.
Alayjah Morrison, CLC · Pathway 3 IBCLC student · Lactation Collaborative volunteer
About the Breastfeed Durham Lactation Collaborative
The Lactation Collaborative is a free, culturally responsive lactation clinic serving uninsured and underinsured families across the Triangle. We are designed for any parent who feels access to lactation care is a financial barrier: no insurance, no documentation, no proof of need required. We offer in-home visits and clinic visits, in English and Spanish, with a team of volunteer IBCLCs, CLCs, and Pathway 3 students.
If you need lactation support, please reach out!
Lactation Collaborative Home Visit: https://teachingbabies.intakeq.com/booking?locationId=5
Lactation Collaborative Clinic Visit: https://teachingbabies.intakeq.com/booking?locationId=6
Visita Domiciliaria: https://teachingbabies.intakeq.com/booking?locationId=7
Consulta en la Clínica: https://teachingbabies.intakeq.com/booking?locationId=8
Para obtener apoyo a la lactancia en español, llame al 919-646-5130 o 339-225-1212
Gratitude and the road ahead.
The Lactation Collaborative launched in September 2025 thanks to the vision and generosity of a private donor who believed in this work. The MAG Mutual Foundation has sustained our first full year of operations, and we are deeply grateful for their investment in equitable lactation care. As we look toward year two and beyond, we are actively seeking the next funding partners to keep this care free and accessible. If your organization, foundation, or family fund is interested in supporting this work, please reach out to Love Anderson at love@breastfeedingcommunities.org.