Posted by My STEAM project was focused on lactational mastitis. I made cupcakes to take an artistic fun and less painful view of this disease. These cupcakes represent breasts that have lactational mastitis. The sprinkles represent the redness of the skin and the inflammation. The strawberry is the inflamed areola, as the red marshmallow on top represents the cracked nipple that the bacteria entered through. When you cut the cupcake open you will find that it is filled with a strawberry filling, this is representing the swollen alveoli( the engorged milk sacs).
Halene used baking for her STEAM project as a creative way to show lactational mastitis. This project showed how mastitis is breast tissue inflammation caused by a bacterial infection or clogged milk duct. As depicted in the cupcakes the sprinkles show the skin redness and inflammation. The strawberry is a clever way of showing the red inflamed areola. The marshmallow was a great idea to show how bacteria could enter the breast through cracked nipples causing the mastitis. Using the strawberry filling to simulate the swollen alveoli is a great way to show how the milk can get back up and cause mastitis.