FWB lactation specialist racks up 31,000 Instagram followers with breastfeeding tips

Allegra Gast had 6,000 Instagram followers in June; now she has more than 31,000 followers — and counting — devouring her postpartum nutrition and breastfeeding advice.

The Fort Walton Beach resident and military spouse started her Instagram account, @aloha.nutrition, while she and her husband were stationed in Hawaii. She was working at Women, Infants, and Children and started posting maternal nutrition tips in her downtime.

After leaving WIC, Gast became an international board-certified lactation consultant and launched her private practice. Her husband, Joshua, has been stationed at Hurlburt Field for two years.

“As a lactation consultant, I help moms with breastfeeding issues — whether that’s helping them with latching, painful nipples, increasing their supply, decreasing their supply if they have an oversupply,” Gast said. “I help them with coming up with a plan for their return to work. I go over bottles, bottle refusal, breast refusal, induced lactation — anything that pertains to breastfeeding. I’m kind of like the boob doctor, as they call it.”