Bridging Lactation, Nutrition & Public Health to Support Mothers and Families
Meet Melisa Glover, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), maternal and child health professional, nutrition professional, public health educator, founder of My Nourishing Moment, LLC, and graduate of the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach Certification Program.
Based in Opelika, Alabama, Melisa’s professional work extends across state lines into Georgia, where she currently serves as Health Education/Breastfeeding Supervisor with the West Central Health District.
Her career brings together several areas that are deeply interconnected during pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood:
Nutrition.
Lactation.
Infant feeding.
Maternal wellbeing.
Health education.
Public health.
Family support.
And behind those professional credentials is something equally important:
Personal experience.
Long before Melisa became an IBCLC or nutrition professional, she experienced firsthand just how challenging feeding a baby can be when a parent doesn’t have the support they need.
That experience ultimately helped shape the professional she became.
When Personal Experience Becomes Professional Purpose
Melisa is a mother of four, and her path into lactation support began with her own experiences.
When her oldest child was born in 2004, Melisa remembers being told how easy breastfeeding was supposed to be—but not being given the practical support she needed to help her baby latch.
With her second child in 2007, she tried again.
This time she encountered challenges involving latch, pain, milk supply and her baby’s weight gain. Without adequate support, she ultimately transitioned to formula after approximately six weeks.
Years later, when her third child arrived, Melisa was determined to learn everything she could.
She studied.
She persisted.
And despite encountering many of the same challenges again, she ultimately reached her personal breastfeeding goal.
Even after professional education, however, the birth of her youngest child in 2018 brought additional breastfeeding challenges.
Those experiences left Melisa with a powerful understanding:
Knowing that feeding is important isn’t the same as having meaningful support while you’re trying to do it.
Her experiences became part of the reason she decided to become that support for other parents. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
Becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant
Melisa transformed that personal experience into extensive professional education.
She became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in 2017, a credential she continues to maintain. Her current professional profile lists her IBCLC certification through December 2027. LinkedIn
Her specialized lactation education has also included training involving:
breastfeeding medications during pregnancy and lactation,
breastfeeding disparities and barriers,
telehealth in breastfeeding support,
outpatient lactation care,
slow infant weight gain,
obesity and lactation,
ethics in lactation consulting,
family support,
and other maternal-infant feeding topics. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
But Melisa increasingly recognized that supporting mothers and babies also required looking beyond feeding alone.
Nutrition was part of that conversation.
Expanding the Conversation Into Maternal Nutrition
Pregnancy and postpartum create extraordinary nutritional demands.
Parents may be thinking about how to nourish a developing baby during pregnancy, how much they should eat, how their bodies are changing, and what nutrition looks like after birth.
For breastfeeding parents, there may be additional questions surrounding energy needs, milk production and maintaining adequate nourishment while simultaneously caring for a newborn.
Melisa understood many of those concerns personally.
Her own professional website describes the challenges parents can face trying to nourish themselves adequately during pregnancy and postpartum—particularly while breastfeeding and caring for other children. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
That interest led Melisa to expand her professional education through the International Parenting & Health Institute.
Becoming an IPHI Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach
Melisa completed IPHI’s Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach Certification Program, adding specialized preconception, pregnancy and postpartum nutrition education to her extensive lactation background.
Her LinkedIn profile independently lists her Pre and Post Natal Nutrition Coach certification through the International Parenting & Health Institute, issued in March 2022. LinkedIn
Her private practice also publicly identifies her as an IBCLC and Pre/Postpartum Nutrition Coach. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
For Melisa, nutrition became a natural extension of lactation support.
Because feeding the baby and nourishing the parent are not unrelated conversations.
A parent’s wellbeing matters, too.
From Lactation to Nutrition Science
Melisa continued taking that education further.
Her academic background is unusually comprehensive and multidisciplinary.
She earned a:
Master of Arts in Health and Wellness with a concentration in Lactation
Union Institute & University
Master of Science in Psychology
University of Phoenix
Bachelor of Science in Business/Corporate Communications
University of Phoenix
and, most recently,
Bachelor of Science in Nutrition
Purdue Global — 2023.
Her educational path therefore spans:
psychology + communication + lactation + nutrition.
Each offers a different perspective on supporting families.
Nutrition provides the science.
Lactation provides specialized feeding expertise.
Psychology contributes an understanding of people and behavior.
Communication matters when translating complex information into something families can actually use.
Together, they form a strong foundation for maternal-child health education.
My Nourishing Moment, LLC
Melisa is also the owner of My Nourishing Moment, LLC, established in 2017.
Her practice was built around an important principle:
High-quality nutrition and lactation support should be accessible.
Her website emphasizes individualized plans based on each family’s questions, needs and circumstances rather than a standardized approach.
It also describes offering sliding-scale options for families without insurance and those receiving—or narrowly missing eligibility for, public assistance programs. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
That commitment to accessibility reflects something Melisa understood through her own experiences:
Support is only meaningful if families can actually access it.
A Feeding Philosophy Without Judgment
One of the strongest elements of Melisa’s professional philosophy is that there isn’t only one acceptable way to feed a baby.
Her practice supports families using:
breast/chest feeding,
pumping,
combination feeding,
human milk,
and formula.
Her website emphasizes helping parents feel heard, validated and supported rather than judged. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
That is particularly meaningful coming from someone whose own feeding experiences did not follow a perfectly linear path.
Melisa knows what it feels like when breastfeeding doesn’t happen the way a parent expected.
She knows what it is like to stop.
She knows what it is like to try again.
She knows what it is like to reach a feeding goal.
And she knows that professional knowledge does not magically eliminate every challenge.
Her lived experience brings another layer to the education she now provides families.
Nutrition Without Restriction
That same compassion extends into Melisa’s approach to maternal nutrition.
Her philosophy isn’t centered around pressuring a new parent to quickly return to a pre-pregnancy body.
Instead, she emphasizes fueling the body.
Her practice encourages parents to nourish themselves with adequate food rather than approaching those early postpartum weeks and months through restriction. My Nourishing Moment, LLC
This creates a different conversation.
Instead of:
“How quickly can I change my body?”
the focus becomes:
“How can I nourish my body through what it is being asked to do?”
Pregnancy.
Birth.
Recovery.
Lactation, when chosen.
Sleep disruption.
Caring for a newborn.
And often caring for older children at the same time.
Maternal nutrition exists within all of those realities.
Bringing Lactation Support Into Public Health
Melisa’s work now reaches far beyond her private practice.
Since 2023, she has served with the West Central Health District in Georgia, where her LinkedIn identifies her current role as Health Education/Breastfeeding Supervisor. LinkedIn
That role allows her to apply years of maternal-child health experience at a broader community and public-health level.
Her recent work has included helping develop a free breastfeeding-support initiative through the health district, including virtual access and support without income restrictions. LinkedIn
That is particularly aligned with the accessibility principles Melisa has emphasized throughout her private work.
The setting may have changed.
The mission hasn’t.
Make meaningful support easier for families to reach.
Educating Professionals and Communities
Melisa’s role also includes education.
In April 2025, the Georgia Public Health Association Nutrition Section featured Melisa, identified as breastfeeding coordinator for the West Central Health District, presenting “The Power of Support in Breastfeeding and Parenting.”
The training examined how support from partners, families, healthcare professionals and community programs can influence breastfeeding experiences and parental confidence. GPHA: Georgia Public Health Association
This represents another evolution in Melisa’s career.
She began as a mother searching for answers.
She became a lactation professional supporting individual families.
She expanded into maternal nutrition.
And today she also educates within public health.
The Power of Support
Perhaps the strongest theme connecting every stage of Melisa’s professional journey is one simple word:
Support.
Support when breastfeeding isn’t going according to plan.
Support when a parent chooses a different feeding path.
Support when pregnancy changes someone’s relationship with food and body.
Support when a postpartum parent is struggling to nourish themselves while caring for everyone else.
Support for families who cannot afford traditional private services.
Support from partners.
Support from healthcare professionals.
Support from communities.
Melisa’s career demonstrates that knowledge matters enormously, but how that knowledge reaches families matters, too.
Professional Profile
Melisa Glover
IBCLC | Maternal & Child Health Professional | Nutrition Professional | Health Educator
Location: Opelika, Alabama, USA
Current Professional Role
Health Education/Breastfeeding Supervisor
West Central Health District Georgia
Business
Owner — My Nourishing Moment, LLC
Established 2017
IPHI Certification
Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach
International Parenting & Health Institute
Education
B.S., Nutrition
Purdue Global
M.A., Health & Wellness — Lactation
Union Institute & University
M.S., Psychology
University of Phoenix
B.S., Business/Corporate Communications
University of Phoenix
Professional Credentials
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach
Areas of Expertise
Lactation & Breastfeeding
Preconception Nutrition
Pregnancy Nutrition
Postpartum Nutrition
Maternal & Child Health
Infant Feeding
Health Education
Public Health
Family Support
Accessible Maternal Care
From Personal Challenges to Public Health Impact
There is something especially meaningful about Melisa Glover’s professional journey.
She remembers being the mother who needed answers.
She remembers breastfeeding challenges.
She remembers not having enough support.
And rather than allowing those experiences to remain simply difficult chapters of her own motherhood journey, she transformed them into education.
Then expertise.
Then service.
Her path has taken her from personal breastfeeding challenges to becoming an IBCLC, earning graduate education in health and wellness with a lactation concentration, completing specialized Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach education through IPHI, earning a bachelor’s degree in nutrition, building My Nourishing Moment, LLC, and eventually bringing that experience into public health leadership and community education.
Today, the parent who once needed support has become the professional helping create it for others.
That is a journey worth celebrating.
💙 Congratulations, Melisa!
We are proud to recognize you as an IPHI Holistic Pre-Postnatal Nutrition Coach graduate and celebrate the knowledge, compassion and dedication you continue bringing to maternal nutrition, lactation, public health and families.
