About BFAR

Moms Find Each Other Online

BFAR resources first began in 1996 when five moms found each other online and created an email support group to share information and support when others didn’t understand.

They named their new group “BFAR” for BreastFeeding After Reduction (pronounced “bee-far”), The acronym became a term that spread quickly in the lactation field. Nearly thirty years later, it’s now used by parents and professionals around the world to mean breastfeeding after breast and nipple surgeries. 

The BFAR email group grew rapidly as other mothers found them. When their email message volume became overwhelming, the group was converted into a website form, ultimately becoming today’s closed and private group on Facebook. 

More about the BFAR support group history

The BFAR Website is Born

Around 1998, Diana West and Carol Maranta developed the first BFAR website, originally registered as BFAR.com. Soon after it launched, Bridgestone-Firestone of Argentina claimed rights to the domain, so it was surrendered to them and the BFAR website was moved to the BFAR.org domain, where it has lived ever since. (Bridgestone-Firestone never developed the BFAR.com site and later sold it to another company.)

The BFAR Book is Born

By 1999, the BFAR email group had compiled so much useful information that Diana West saw the need for a book to help others in the same situation. With the group’s blessing, she began writing the original BFAR book, Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Reduction Surgery. It was published by La Leche League International in June 2001, just days after her third baby was born.

Over two decades later, the original BFAR book is now seriously outdated (and ridiculously expensive on the resale market). So Diana West and Sarah Johnson are working on a second edition, with much updated information and new resources, that they hope to publish in 2024.  In the meantime, Diana is currently working on a condensed and updated edition of the original book called BFAR Basics (available now for pre-orders) so that no one has to pay outrageous prices for the outdated original edition.

More about the BFAR books

Diana has since published several other breastfeeding books, including The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk, co-authored with Lisa Marasco and published in 2008. It was originally based on the BFAR book and intended to be a similar resource to help anyone struggling with low milk supply issues. Diana and Lisa published an updated and expanded second edition in 2019 with a tweaked title, Making More Milk.

A Lactation Consultant is Born

Diana’s experience delving deeply into lactation research and textbooks to write the first BFAR book became a stepping stone toward becoming a professional lactation consultant. She began helping mothers breastfeed as a La Leche League Leader (volunteer accredited counselor) in Gaithersburg, Maryland (US) and passed the IBCLC exam in 2002. She opened her lactation consultant practice the next year and has been a credentialed lactation professional for over twenty years.

More about Diana West’s career as a lactation consultant