Kelley Baumgartel (Dr. B) is a nationally recognized nurse scientist whose work bridges human milk research, education, and clinical innovation. Her career began in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where she witnessed the lifesaving impact of human milk on critically ill infants.
Today, her NIH-funded research explores the mechanisms of milk composition, lactation physiology, and how human milk directly shapes health. A Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Baumgartel is widely sought for her ability to translate complex lactation science into practical, evidence-based education for clinicians, students, and policy leaders.
She is also co-author of the textbook chapter “Human Milk as Medicine” in Fetal and Neonatal Pharmacology for the Advanced Practice Nurse (Jnah & McPherson, Eds., Springer Publishing, 2024).
Mothers earning under $20 K per year are 57% more likely never to breastfeed than those earning above $85 K
Only 1 in 4 mothers aged 20 years or younger initiate breastfeeding
Only 36% of non-Hispanic Black mothers breastfeed at six months — well below the national average
38% of mothers with a high-school education or less initiate breastfeeding
Only one in four U.S. infants is exclusively breastfed at six months
