I will always remember the moment I first breastfed my daughter. It didn’t feel like anything was happening except for these small tugs at my breast. The nurse came by to take a look and she said that she saw colostrum - the first milk after birth - but it seemed like a pitiful drop or two to me. Within 24 hours, my milk fully came in but I was anxious the entire time before it did. I wondered if my daughter would become dehydrated or if I should supplement with formula. My mind was racing a million miles an hour extremely worried about this little being that I now had complete responsibility for. I actually didn’t worry about whether I could breast feed or not as I just assumed that I would be able to so that oblivion probably did help with the emotional stress. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I really hadn’t prepped at all for breastfeeding especially the after-effects of how my nipples would feel. I was a super busy full-time MBA graduate school student and didn’t even take out time to go to prenatal classes. Being an archetypal Type AAA personality, I thought I could wing it. While winging it did help me avoid some of the emotional stressors associated with breastfeeding, I couldn’t avoid the inevitable nipple cracking, bleeding and soreness that came from a baby pulling at my breasts every 20 minutes for about 18 to 20 hours a day.

We formulated and created Mary by Damiva - a probiotic nipple treatment - based on the classic experience that many mothers have in terms of dryness and bleeding. We named the product after the classic name for a mother - Mary - and there’s something about Mary that you should know.

Our product is the only moisturizing one for breastfeeding that contains a probiotic that has been clinically proven to be effective for colic.

Mary contains only plant butters that can be ingested orally, as well as a version of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri that is stable at room temperature.

In my search for a soothing product for myself, I looked for something all natural that wouldn’t have chemicals that could be ingested by my daughter. This was 22 years ago so there weren’t many options. I tried cold tea bags - which helped for about 10 minutes with pain -, oils and finally found a moisturizer that I used as a nipple balm. I always worried about the steroid creams and other topical pain killers that women were being prescribed for cracked, bleeding nipples. It was important to me when I was breastfeeding that I felt comfortable with the balm I was using because although I took care to wipe and wash it off, there could certainly be residual transfer to my daughter.

We invented Mary for mothers such as yourself - who want something all natural and beneficial. We hope you try our product out and agree with us that there’s something about Mary that’s unique and helpful to women.

As always, made by women for women at Damiva.