A new baby helped birth a new cookie business for this St. John's couple
Melissa Carerra and David Langmead teamed up for a business while caring for their child
A couple just easing into the rhythm of parenthood have added another new role to their busy lives, becoming entrepreneurs who sell tasty treats to help new mothers' breastfeeding problems.
Leche Materna — Spanish for "mother's milk" — was inspired by one of baby gifts bequeathed to the yet-to-be business owners along with the arrival two months ago of their baby boy, Cillian.
Mom Melissa Carerra was intrigued by the box of lactation cookies that a friend gave her to help her ease into breastfeeding. But when she bit into one of them, she wasn't a fan.
"I thought they had quite a lot to be desired," she said. The cookies had a lacklustre flavour and dry, crumbly texture, she said.
Luckily, she had a professional chef close at hand — her partner, David Langmead.
"To break up the day, baking cookies seems like a fun, natural thing to do for a chef," Carerra said.
The two got to researching what goes into making a lactation cookie. The answer? Galactagogues, a mouthful of a word — easier to eat than to say — that covers a variety of foods that help increase milk flow for breastfeeding moms.
"Oats, almond milk, flax meal and brewer's yeast are the special ingredients that go towards helping a mother produce more milk," said Carerra.
All those ingredients went into Langsmead's mixer, and out came oatmeal cookies, amped up with lactation superpowers.
'Such a big issue'
The couple's son suffered from jaundice in his first few days, and Carrerra is still close to the overwhelming feelings of trying to feed him and pump extra milk that came with it.
"You get this sort of defeatist feeling, that you're not doing enough," she said.
In her own research to help, she found she was far from alone.
"I feel it affects more moms than I ever thought was possible," she told CBC Radio's On The Go.
It's not just baking a cookie and a commodity. We're actually helping moms, and that's such a nice feeling.- Melissa Carerra
"It is a constant conversation that's being had, and I had no idea until I was in the world myself that it was such a big issue."
It didn't take too many conversations between Carerra and Langmead to realize their recipe could help a lot of other women in the world, and so the business was born just weeks after their son was.
"It actually was more natural than one would think, because my husband is home with me. We're both off during COVID, and newborn aside, days can get pretty long when it's just the two of you," she said.
"So we decided, you know, how many other moms are sitting at home and have their hands full, and aren't as lucky to have Dad at home with them? We thought maybe other people would avail of these cookies."
Snack success
Avail they have, and Carerra said the cookies have been selling like hotcakes (if those hotcakes were heaped with galactagogues).
"We're getting such a great response. I'm so happy about it. I knew they tasted great, but there's something more to it when the moms are coming back and saying, 'Thank you so much for helping with my supply,'" she said.
"It's not just baking a cookie and a commodity, we're actually helping moms, and that's such a nice feeling for us at home, going through the exact same thing."
The cookies come in three flavours: chocolate chip, salted caramel and peanut butter chocolate chip, the last inspired by Carerra's own cravings amid the calorie burn that is breastfeeding.
Because the ingredients are all natural lactation helpers, she added, dads "can certainly dip into the supply" without any ill effects besides a full stomach.
With files from On The Go