Flossie Rollhauser is a board-certified lactation consultant who works at Special Beginnings, as well with the WIC (Women, Infant and Children) Program of Anne Arundel County.

She began working with Special Beginnings in June 2002, but her experience as a lactation consultant stretches back more than 20 years.

A mother of four, Flossie said she always knew she wanted to breastfeed her own children. In 1979 while pregnant with her fourth child, she became a volunteer Leader for La Leche League International – an organization whose mission is to help mothers breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, education, information and encouragement. She retired from La Leche League in 1999.

Her experience with her own children and with La Leche League led her to take the certification exam for lactation consulting in 1986. Shortly after, she started her own lactation consulting practice.

In 1997, she began working as a lactation consultant for Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. Then in 2002, she started at Special Beginnings.

Four of Flossie’s eight grandchildren were born at Special Beginnings. Her granddaughter Elizabeth, who is now 8 years old, was the first water birth at the center.

At Special Beginnings, Flossie teaches breastfeeding classes, as well as milk expression classes. She leads a monthly mothers’ discussion group and works every Monday in the center’s Breastfeeding Boutique. She is also a certified bra fitter.

“I consider what I do my ministry,” Flossie said. “The skills I have are a gift from God. I just have a passion for helping mothers breastfeed successfully.”

In her spare time, Flossie likes to read, crochet and sing in her church choir, as well as traveling to historic sites and hiking.