Our Team
Tirza Jova
CEO & FOUNDER
Tirza founded Milk by Mom to empower breastfeeding mothers. Freeze-drying is a well-studied, clinically proven method of storing breast milk that isn't well-known among the mom community or many others.
As a mom of two with a full-time job, she knows the decisions and sacrifices breastfeeding moms face because she navigates them daily. She wants to help by expanding this service to the mom/caregiver community and share her knowledge and experience with this great alternative when it comes to milk storage and transportation.
Tirza holds an MBA and has more than 15 years’ of experience in international business and marketing. She has spent the better half of the last decade working in the medical device industry helping to bring products to market that help to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life.
She is now focused on helping to educate and bring freedom and flexibility to mamas and caregivers around the country through her breast milk freeze-drying business.
Valeria Jacobs
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE PEDIATRIC PHYSICIAN
A native Arizonan, after graduating Suma Cum Lade from Arizona State University then went on to earn her doctorates in both Medicine and Pharmacology from Dartmouth College. Her Ph.D. emphasis was on pharmacology, neuroscience and immune-based therapies. This work helped lay a strong foundation in her pursuit for a holistic approach to understanding medicine and safe, effective, complementary treatments for patients. She is also trained in motivational interviewing and counseling from Columbia University.
Doctor Jacobs completed her pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. She initially accepted a faculty position at Harvard Medical School, working full time in the Boston Children’s Hospital Emergency Department. It was during this time, she pursued Integrative Medicine curriculum and training.
Ultimately, she was able to bring these unique skill sets back to Arizona to do what she truly loves, primary care and taking care of your families! She has over a dozen scientific publications and continues to actively be involved in speaking engagements and writing. She currently has her own general pediatric practice in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
Melanie Jacobson, MD FAAP
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
I’m thrilled to be part of the Milk by Mom team and to help empower breastfeeding moms everywhere learn more about freeze-drying as a great alternative to breastfeeding. I am passionate about the health and well-being of all newborns and practice as a neonatologist (newborn baby doctor). I am double board certified in Pediatrics and Neonatology.
I spent my childhood years in France and Minnesota, after which my life path took me all over the U.S. I attended medical school at George Washington School of Medicine and then completed a residency in Pediatrics at Brown University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Perinatal-Neonatal medicine at New York University School of Medicine.
I am lucky to now live in sunny Hawaii with my French bulldog and spend my working hours surrounded by babies, practicing as a doctor in a newborn intensive care unit. I have studied the ins and outs of newborn medicine and can’t wait to share the benefits of freeze-dried breast milk and spread the word among us busy mamas!
Neonatologist and Assistant Clinical Professor
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology
Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children
University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine