Leaxy Solves a Common but Undiscussed Problem for New Mothers: Leaky Boobs
Leigh Coggiola-Belza , founder of Leaxy and her daughter Brooklyn. (Photo courtesy of Leigh Coggiola-Belza)
When Leigh Coggiola-Belza of Dallas, Texas had her first daughter Brooklyn, she chose to breastfeed — a positive, intimate bonding experience for a new parent and their child with several benefits for both of them. But one thing she was not prepared for was “leaky boobs,” she said, describing a common problem for someone who chooses to breastfeed. But as the problem persisted of having milk stains on her clothes, Coggiola-Belza created her own solution: “Leaxy”.
Leigh Coggiola-Belza, 32, began working on Leaxy in 2018. (Photo by Cinthia Jaimes)
“Leaxy was born out of wet frustration. When I was breastfeeding my oldest daughter Brooklyn, I had been breastfeeding her for 13 months, and I was leaking like crazy. It just felt like there was nothing that could stop all of my breast milk [from] leaking everywhere and I was leaking so much every single night that I slept with a towel on my chest,” Coggiola-Belza said. “After 13 months I just thought, ‘this is ridiculous, there's got to be a solution.’ I was trying to buy different products and I could not find anything. And the last thing I wanted to do was wear my bra to bed at night. Knowing that, I just said, ‘all right, I've got to figure something out.’”
Leaking breastmilk can start to happen before the child is born and can continue for months following. The phenomenon typically occurs while your body adjusts to breastfeeding. According to Erica Davis, a breastfeeding educator and WIC breastfeeding community liaison at Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA), breastmilk offers way more benefits than formula feeding, and can even help women heal their bodies quicker after pregnancy.
“Some of the benefits for mom include a reduced risk of certain cancers such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer. It helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy shape faster … and you do burn a significant amount of calories when you breastfeed. And then the bonding is really significant for both mom and baby on the practice of skin to skin that happens just after birth. That continues to be a part of a family's daily life, it's not just something that you do for an hour in the hospital. And that significantly affects a hormone, which causes the bonding to happen,” Davis said. “For babies ... it kind of sets your baby's immune system up to do what it's supposed to do all throughout life. They have fewer risk factors for a lot of childhood diseases, fewer risk factors for things like asthma, obesity. So there's just a myriad things that benefit the baby, and everyone in general, when people choose to breastfeed.”
Leaxy’s hook and strap system is currently patent-pending. (Photo by Cinthia Jaimes)
Leaxy is breast leak leisurewear designed to absorb and conceal milky leaks from breastfeeding. Coggiola-Belza got to work on her own prototype in 2018, which she said took about a year. And when they were finally ready to begin production in 2020, the pandemic hit, causing a slow down to the process, but the product finally made it to market in August 2021. The Brooklyn tank is a top that uses technology to hook absorbency pads right into the garment so they don't slip out, so you no longer need to use a towel or wear a bra to bed.
“Our Brooklyn tank is [a] nursing tank with attachable washable nursing pads. It's a tank top that you can wear and nurse in but also there's a hook and strap system that allows you to actually hook the nursing pads directly into the tank,” Coggiola-Belza said. “A lot of companies and brands offer the opportunity to put nursing pads inside of a bra or inside of a tank, but what I was struggling with is when I was nursing at 2 a.m., all of a sudden these nursing pads would slip into the great abyss that were my bedsheets. So by being able to have that strap and hook system. It helps stay in place better. And also when you're nursing, it's still attached to that hook and strap, so it's not going to be falling out.”
Leaxy’s mission is to support all women on their breastfeeding journey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research shows hospitals serving primarily Black populations are less likely to breastfeed within the first hour of birth or receive other lactation support following the birth, among other racial inequities. That’s why 10 percent of all of the company’s profits will be donated to the Detroit-based nonprofit BMBFA whose goal is to have a national impact on the reduction of racial disparities in breastfeeding success for Black families.
“More Black women are breastfeeding now more than ever. I think we're reclaiming our ancestral ways as a matter of diversifying the field so that there's more lactation supporters, lactation professionals, peer counsellors who look like the communities that they need to be serving,” Davis said.
Coggiola-Belza is excited about the future of fem-tech, a growing sector of the technology industry that focuses primarily on solving problems related to womanhood. She hopes Leaxy continues to be an example of moving the conversation forward about issues not commonly talked about.
“When we look at fem-tech, you have all these amazing innovations and gadgets and technology that are finally coming out for women's health. We have these incredible period trackers or a CBD-infused tampon,” said Coggiola-Belza. “There's all of this great innovation that's finally coming out because we're having the right conversations, and we're not embarrassed and ashamed to talk about these things.”
For more information on Leaxy, click here.