Katja Priester, MPH, IBCLC

Katja Priester is a board-certified lactation consultant and provider. Katja received her Bachelor's of Applied Science at Texas State University and her Master's in Public Health at Concordia University Texas, as well as over 1,000 clinical hours, 90 hours of lactation-specific education, and 150 hours of continuing education related to infant feeding and maternal support modalities.

Katja has extensive experience in infant feeding related to tongue-tie diagnosis and treatment, oral exercises, supply, mastitis, pain and damage, reflux, cleft lip/palate, weight gain, bottle-feeding assessments, and premature/pre/late term. Katja has provided infant feeding support for over 18 years in various settings, including Health and Human Services, in-patient NICU, postpartum, antepartum, and labor and delivery. Katja believes there may be many challenges that arise related to infant feeding. Having raised three boys, each with their own set of challenges, she can relate to her patients in many ways. Katja has a passion for researching One Health and believes in a whole-person approach to healthcare that considers direct health assessments, as well as various factors that may have an impact on the health of the infant and family. Katja warmly welcomed the role on the board of directors of The Newborn Project to offer her expertise in lactation to aid in the development of a cumulative program supporting parents on their postpartum and postnatal journey.

Katja lives with her three boys in Austin and enjoys hiking and traveling to remote places. She now runs a successful outpatient business, Baby Bloom Lactation, which caters to the needs of Austin and its surrounding regions.