Spotlight on Joy MacTavish

Most lactation professionals love client interactions, but only send reports to health care providers out of a sense of duty. But writing and sending reports to our client’s health care providers can be more just an administrative task. Yes, it complies with IBLCE’s Code of Ethics to “Principle 4: Report accurately and completely to other members of the healthcare team” but it can also increase collaboration, improve client outcomes, and grow your practice.
This presentation seeks to reframe the process of writing and sending reports from a dreaded task to a clinical, ethical, and holistic way of supporting our clients while positively positioning ourselves as allied health professionals. Beyond the ethics (yes or no) and practicalities ("S.O.A.P." or not), a report to a health care provider is a source of communication about the consultation as well as marketing about your clinical skill, role in the client’s lactation experience, and lactation practice. With a combination of the why and how, this presentation outlines the ways in which reports to health care providers can be beneficial to the client, the health care provider, and the IBCLC, as well as devoting some time to specific strategies that lactation consultants can implement to streamline the process of sending reports so that we can get to the next client.

The age-old practice of mindfulness meditation has increased in popularity across the globe over the past four decades and gained traction within the psychological and medical fields. Mindfulness centers on non-judgmental awareness of one’s bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions in the present moment. It has been scientifically shown to reduce stress, chronic pain, medical and psychological symptoms, and enhance immune function. Mindfulness practices often focus on psychobiological processes, which makes them well suited in intervention during the perinatal period, and even more specifically breastfeeding. This presentation outlines the ways in which mindfulness can positively impact lactation, during its normal course and especially when there are challenges. As lactation professionals who clinically and holistically support clients, it is beneficial to be able to share mindfulness strategies that can serve as a bridge between the mental, emotional, and physiological realms. Through a greater understanding of the practical aspects of mindfulness, gentle interventions can be incorporated into each feeding session. By supporting calm and connection within the parent and between the parent and infant, the experience of breastfeeding can be enhanced.

While lactation support spans the time from the prenatal period through weaning, there is less available information about the process of weaning. We know that there are a variety of reasons why families need or desire to stop lactation. We also know that there are emotions and logistics involved in ending a breastfeeding/chestfeeding relationship. Depending on the goals, timeline, and individual context of each dyad there are a variety of factors that need to be considered by the family. Unfortunately, these families often feel that the clinical information and emotional support available for weaning is lacking.

Evidence-based support presented in a compassionate manner can make a world of difference to the individual's decision-making process and overall weaning experience. For lactation supporters and professionals, being able to support families who are stopping lactation and/or ending their breastfeeding/chestfeeding relationship is a vital skill. This presentation will offer research-based information about the reasons for weaning, steps lactation supporters and professionals can take when working with families, and scripts for compassionate phrasing while offering this important information and support.

"Full-term," "natural term," or "extended" are just a few of the phrases that are often used when describing breastfeeding/chestfeeding relationships that last longer than the cultural norm for a given community or geographic region. We know that breastfeeding/chestfeeding past infancy is full of benefits for both the parent and the child. Yet many families who plan for (or unintentionally find themselves in) a breastfeeding/chestfeeding relationship into toddlerhood or beyond face critiques, emotions, logistics, and a need for support that is unique to this experience. This presentation will cover considerations of full-term nursing including an overview of developmental stages for a breastfeeding/chestfeeding child, changes in milk composition, and psychobiological benefits to both the child and parent. We will also explore ways that lactation supporters and professionals may offer support, encouragement, and guidance to these families. Whether you have been supporting full-term nursing for years, or this is an area that you'd like to learn more about, you're sure to leave this presentation with insights and strategies that you can use to support full-term nursing families.

Many breastfeeding/chestfeeding parents seeking to grow their families through Assisted Reproductive Therapies (ART), including IVF will be faced with limited or conflicting information and challenging decisions. When they turn to lactation professional for support it’s important that the receive knowledgeable and compassionate care. This presentation will equip lactation professionals with an understanding of not only the various therapies, procedures, and medications, by the mental and emotional aspects that breastfeeding/chestfeeding families may experience in their fertility journey.

New parents often have questions and concerns about infant sleep, and the changes and challenges that go along with it. It is important to meet families where they are at the intersection between infant feeding, lactation, sleep, and family well-being. As lactation professionals, we can support them in gaining greater understanding of what to expect for infant sleep, as well as how to navigate challenges that may arise while working toward their lactation goals.

This presentation provides evidence-based information about common topics related to lactation and infant sleep. Participants will leave with an understanding of the key steps for how to integrate the management of infant sleep challenges into a lactation care plan. This includes 1.) a process for obtaining information about current sleep, and the variety of factors that may be impacting infant and parental sleep; 2.) elements to consider as a lactation care plan is created; and 3.) how to provide evidence-based information and resources in a compassionate manner that will allow informed decision-making about next steps toward their lactation and sleep goals. Incorporating this process into one’s practice will lead to more comprehensive care plans that take into account the realities and needs of the each family.