Our Story

Lactation Culture and Challenges

After several decades of bottle and formula feeding prevalence, breast/chestfeeding is only just now beginning the return to being an accepted, normal feeding practice for babies and young children. Families all over the U.S. feel lost and confused and are often unsure of what to do when it comes to lactation.  

For military families, there are even more challenges. Not only do we struggle with whatever our internalized cultural beliefs are about lactation, it is also common for us not to have our close friends and family nearby to help with a new baby. Many families have to face a PCS (move, for the civilian world) during a pregnancy, leaving new parents with a new baby in a new place, without a support system of friends nearby. Often, due to deployments, temporary duty assignments, trainings, or the needs of the military, we don’t even have our partners with us.

For Active Duty parents, the challenges can be even harder. They have the difficult task of working to establish a breast/chestfeeding relationship, building up a pumping routine, returning to physical fitness standards, planning for extended separations from children, and coping with the demands of a military career.

Within this context, Global MilCom offers evidence-based support, friendship, advocacy, and networking. Through its Military Lactation Counselor (MiLC) program, the organization has enhanced its ability to educate and support diverse military populations.

Our Origins

In 1999, a pediatrician at LRMC observed a concerning trend among families who intended to breast/chestfeed. Many had great starts in the hospital, but by the time they came for the baby’s first well-baby check, they were having lactation difficulties. Parents lacked adequate resources and support for even basic questions about normal newborn behavior and many families had simply given up on breast/chestfeeding altogether within two weeks. Armed with this knowledge, the pediatrician partnered with other maternal/pediatric clinicians to develop Mom2Mom’ and its hallmark peer mentoring program.

In 2015, Mom2Mom Global was formed to translate the success of Mom2Mom’s founding chapter into a centralized platform for delivering evidence-based lactation support to U.S. military communities throughout the world. Over the course of the next several years, the organization expanded its presence with up to 30 chapters serving military communities worldwide. It also developed and launched the Military Lactation Counselor (MiLC) credentialing program to provide affordable lactation education that reflected the unique needs of military populations and delivered instruction through an equity lens.

In May of 2023, the organization rebranded under the name Global Military Lactation Community (Global MilCom), fulfilling the Board of Directors’ vision of reimagining the organization’s name to better align with its mission and reflect greater inclusivity. Global MilCom expressed its ongoing commitment to honoring the mission and values that had been central to Mom2Mom since its inception.

Today, Global MilCom offers both individual and group support, facilitated by trained lactation professionals, in both web-based forums and in-person settings. Chapters throughout the world host gatherings that are open to anyone who supports breast/chestfeeding. Families are able to meet other families in the community and discuss any concerns that they have, with trained lactation professionals on hand to provide assistance to families struggling with specific concerns. These meet-ups offer safe spaces for public breast/chestfeeding. Our closed and confidential online forums function as 24/7 support groups. Additionally, Global MilCom has developed specific initiatives to support the needs of Active Duty and civilian working parents. 

Evidence-Based Practice

Global MilCom is committed to providing up-to-date, accurate, and evidence-based lactation information to support families in making informed decisions about infant feeding. Chapter leaders are required to hold accredited lactation credentials, including the Military Lactation Counselor (MLC) credential, to ensure that members receive current information that is most relevant to military populations .

Program Expansion

Global MilCom has grown from a single peer-support program to a global network of nearly 30 chapters worldwide (and counting!). For more information on starting a new Global MilCom chapter in your community, contact us.

In January of 2021, Mom2Mom Global launched the Military Lactation Counselor (MLC) program, an affordable course designed to develop lactation support specialists who can provide equitable and culturally appropriate support to meet the unique lactation needs of military families. To learn more about the MLC program please click here or contact us.

Our Mission

Global MilCom is a worldwide network of lactation support and advocacy for military families. Our purpose is to provide consistent, high-quality peer support through local chapters and liaisons at U.S. military installations, to increase access to lactation professionals for all military families, and to provide a channel to raise lactation awareness and solutions for the concerns of military  families. ​

We are committed to:

• maintaining the highest standards of accurate, up-to-date, evidence-based information

• providing a friendly and encouraging atmosphere where anyone who supports breast/chestfeeding is welcome and where each parent finds the support to reach their own individual infant feeding goals

• supporting and celebrating diversity and equity

• advocating for military and civilian lactation-related policies, procedures, and laws that provide military families universal access to resources, support, and solutions to meet those goals

Our Values

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

Global Military Lactation Community (Global MilCom) is committed to inclusion, diversity, and equity as core values, reflecting the diversity of the U.S. Department of Defense, and integral to our mission of providing lactation support, education, and advocacy for military families. Global MilCom embraces meaningful participation by diverse stakeholders and actively solicits varied perspectives to inform our leadership, membership, actions, policies, and programs. We engage in individual and organizational introspection, outreach, and reflection to deconstruct all barriers to full participation in our organization.

Our definition of diversity includes diversity by position, military rank, gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, cultural experience, disability, family status, gender identity, formal education, life experience, religion, communication styles, geographic location, employment status, and work-related skill sets and experience.