Hello and welcome to the first episode of Anthrolactology – a podcast about lactation from an anthropological perspective! Today your hosts are Dr. Aunchalee Palmquist, Assistant Professor Maternal and Child Health, Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. EA Quinn, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis.

This monthly podcast will consist of several segments on different topics – an interview with an anthropologist studying some aspect of lactation, a segment on new research in the broader world of lactation, a segment on new lactation technologies (such as pumps, milk testing kits, lactation supplements, etc.), and a segment we are calling “We tried this at home” where we or others talk about some aspect of lactation as a lived experience.

In this episode, we introduce EA’s research with a community of ethnic Tibetans living in Nepal and talk about how living in a high-altitude environment influences milk composition and some reasons why high-altitude populations may produce milk with a higher fat content. We also discuss at home breast milk composition testing kits and EA outlines future plans to actually compare them to lab analyses.

Click here for show notes!

Credits:
Artwork by Aunchalee Palmquist
Editorial Advisor: Owen Palmquist
Audio Editing by Vitaliy at makesomenoise on Fiverr
Title music, “Big Plans”, by Grace Mesa