Bettina: “I didn’t really want to breastfeed, and by the time I changed my mind, I was having difficulties that could easily have been avoided. When I realized how close I had come to not breastfeeding, I started wondering, why were women like me getting turned off or throwing in the towel?  What were the cultural and institutional barriers that were tripping moms up?  What could be done to motivate, inspire and prepare women to breastfeed, without pressure, judgment or guilt?”

Danielle: “I always knew that I wanted to breastfeed, but found myself unprepared and unsupported by my hospital and my pediatrician. I became a certified lactation counselor because I didn’t want to see more moms with the best intentions to breastfeed set up to fail. I made it my personal mission to teach and support expecting parents to be inspired, prepared and empowered to breastfeed successfully.”

Bettina Lauf Forbes has a 10-year background in marketing and communications for Merrill Lynch, where she rescued, developed and managed a highly successful scholarship program for inner-city youth in ten major U.S. cities.  Ninety percent of the students randomly selected in the first grade graduated from high school, and the program received numerous awards, including this nation’s highest honor, the President’s “Points of Light” Service Award, in 1999. Previously, she held Development and Finance department positions at Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Because of her personal struggles with breastfeeding, Bettina became motivated to develop a cutting-edge social & business entrepreneurship hybrid to act as a catalyst in raising breastfeeding rates through a top-down marketing effort among partners with a vested interest. Bettina received her B.A. from Swarthmore College in Biology. A former Manhattanite, she is married with two young children, and lives in NJ. Read Bettina’s Story »

Danielle Rigg is an attorney and certified lactation counselor (CLC).   Prior to her work as a CLC, she practiced Employment Law with a prominent New York City firm and then became the Employment and Labor Counsel for a multi-state corporation in Stamford, CT.  In 2002, after a difficult experience breastfeeding her son, she became a CLC, resolute about helping other new parents to be set up for breastfeeding success through breastfeeding classes, support groups, and private consultations in Montclair, NJ.  In 2003, recognizing the sore lack of social and institutional support for breastfeeding, she expanded her practice by creating Milk ‘n Cookies, a community-based, multidisciplinary networking group for all professionals and businesses catering to new and expectant mothers in Montclair, New Jersey.  At age 37, just prior to launching Best for Babes, Danielle was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. Losing her breasts made her more motivated than ever to ensure that women and babies receive the tremendous gifts of breastfeeding — which include a reduced risk of breast cancer for both moms and their breastfed daughters. Danielle received her B.A. from Barnard College and her J.D. from St. John’s University. A former Manhattanite, she currently resides in Georgia with her musician/physician husband and two children.