Nekisha Killings, MPH, IBCLC

Biography:

Nekisha Killings MPH IBCLC has led in equity education across a variety of fields over the past 20 years. From consumer goods to religion and non-profit sectors, she has utilized her writing and facilitation talent to impact how employees and volunteers approach their work and communities. Through motherhood, Nekisha made a natural transition to focus her work in maternal and child health equity; becoming internationally board certified in lactation and launching a comprehensive lactation support entity focused on marginalized communities.

Nekisha studied breastfeeding disparities within the Black American community for her Master of Public Health thesis and has published peer-reviewed research on the subject. Her expertise is sought after in operationalizing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion within organizations. Nekisha penned the chapter titled Cultural Humility in the 2018 and 2022 editions of Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Care and the chapter titled Reclaiming Black Breast Power in the 2023 APHA publication.

Nekisha is on a mission to normalize brown breasts in health provider education, thereby better equipping providers to accurately diagnose and treat people of color. Accordingly, in 2021 she founded The Melanated Mammary Atlas® – the world’s largest database of clinical reference images showcasing conditions on brown breasts and chests. Coined the Aha! Moment Maven, Nekisha works to shift paradigms in ways that forever alter one’s approach to life and work. Her mission can be aptly summarized in Zora Neale Hurston’s quote, “once you wake up thought in a man, you can never put it to sleep again”.

Abstract: What the Milkline Remembers: Clinical Care for Complex Lactation Rooted in Body, History, and Healing

This session expands the concept of clinical management by integrating both evidence-based protocols and embodied awareness of how trauma and history impact lactation outcomes. Using powerful case studies, we will explore complex presentations in lactation that aren’t just about milk transfer—they’re about what the body remembers.

Participants will examine real-world scenarios involving trauma, medical mistrust, intergenerational lactation loss, and psychosomatic responses that complicate care. Alongside protocols, we’ll highlight how culturally humble, memory-aware care can transform the lactation experience—for both patient and provider.

This is not a departure from clinical care. It is its deepening.