Lactation & Breastfeeding Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Lactation & Breastfeeding for professional training. These Lactation & Breastfeeding online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Lactation & Breastfeeding education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
What’s New With Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding: Updates and Its Cost/Benefit Implications
Andini has bachelor and master degree in public health, majoring in hospital administration. She is an IBCLC and is currently undertaking PhD at the Australian National University. Her PhD thesis is looking at the facilitator and barrier of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative implementation and accreditation in Indonesia and Australia. One part of her PhD was measuring its social value using Social Return on Investment.
Her journey began when she was pregnant with her first child, then found and attended full series of Indonesian Breastfeeding Mothers Association (AIMI)'s breastfeeding classes. She then decided to volunteered as breastfeeding counselor at AIMI.
With her work experience in hospital management consulting for 8 years and personal experience when her breastfed son undertook open heart surgery, she realized that not every hospitals provide adequate education and support for breastfeeding mother, either since pregnancy, during and after birth.
Andini was awarded Deeble Summer Research Scholarship from Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research Scholarship Program of Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) in 2020 and published a Health Policy Issues Brief titled "Improving the Uptake of the Baby Friendly Health Initiative in Australian Hospitals" as the outcome. Thanks to her supervisor, Andini involved in working group for Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Accreditation at ANU in 2018-2019 and involve in WBTi Australia since 2019. Currently living in Canberra Australia, Andini has been providing breastfeeding education and assistance for Indonesian mother-student, students' wives or any Indonesian women who live in Canberra.
In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued the first revision of the 1989 WHO/UNICEF Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Revisions are subtle, yet meaningful for implementation. A major change made by WHO is subdividing the Ten Steps into 1) critical management procedures, and 2) key clinical practices. Lessons have been learned on how the change has shifted the focus from health care staff to parents and families and shifted the responsibility for some elements of care from hospitals to the community. In this presentation, we will compare 1989 and 2018 Ten Steps, and explore its cost and benefit implications for diverse stakeholders, such as healthcare professionals, parents, family and government.
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Liz Brooks is a private practice International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and licensed lawyer, with expertise in criminal, administrative, non-profit, ethics, and lactation-related law. Liz offers in-home lactation consultations, and bedside care and teaching in two Baby-Friendly-designated hospitals.
She has been a leader in organizations for IBCLCs, breastfeeding promotion, and non-profit human milk banking. She authored the only textbook on legal and ethical issues for the IBCLC, and writes on health care ethics, equity, and conflict-of-interest in several books, blogs, and peer-reviewed journals.
She is a popular international conference speaker, offering practical tips with wit and wisdom for anyone who works with lactating and human milk-using families. Liz self-identifies as a cisgender hetero white woman with unearned privilege, and uses she/her/hers pronouns.
Topic: Using a Cool Head When You’re on the Hot Seat: Ethical and Legal Topics That Make Us Sweat, and How to Avoid Getting Burned - [View Abstract]
Topic: What’s Too “Friendly” for an IBCLC on Social Media? - [View Abstract]
Topic: Whiners and Deniers: Ethics and Diplomacy in Difficult Cases - [View Abstract]
It's all about the Internet! Families in 2015 want to be connected to their network of families and friends. They use Internet-accessing devices and social media to share news, gather information and seek opinions. If this is where families are ... can an IBCLC (or other healthcare provider) be there, too, without violating long-standing principles of privacy and professional ethics? Can healthcare providers engage in clinical discussion with someone on Facebook, Twitter, a chat room or a website? What about real-time webinars, or static websites, where mothers type in their clinical questions? Is texting ever permissible? Can a clinician post a picture of a client, or ask colleagues on a private listserv about a tricky case? We'll learn how the Internet is used by new families to seek and share information, and the professional risks of "friendly" clinical care by the IBCLC or HCP who joins the conversation.
Lucy is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Holistic Sleep Coach (HSC), public speaker, and author on the topic of lactation. She is also a qualified counsellor, child and is qualified in child development and child psychology.
Lucy runs a small but thriving Private Practice based on the South Coast of the UK but sees clients internationally. As a single mother of two boys who were hard to breastfeed, and as someone with ADHD, Lucy truly understands the highs and lows of parenthood both for neurotypical families and those who may have additional challenges.
Lucy’s approach is strongly underpinned by the belief that parents are the only true expert on their child, and that parental instinct is rarely wrong. Lucy uses listening and counselling skills first and foremost in her work, and prides herself on striving to provide a safe and inclusive space for everyone.
Topic: When Baby Says No: Assessment and Management of Breast and Bottle Refusal - [View Abstract]
Breast or bottle refusal can be distressing for parents and present a significant challenge for professionals. There are many underlying reasons why infants may display feeding aversion. These are often multi-layered and typically include emotional as well as anatomical or physical difficulties. During this presentation we will consider the causes of both breast and bottle refusal, looking at how these may present under different circumstances. We will explore how refusal impacts the parent – infant relationship and maternal self-efficacy. Once we have a clear, holistic picture regarding the complexities of feeding aversion, we will look at ways to support the dyad to overcome their difficulties including through working with other professionals. For those parents who find they cannot overcome the challenges they face, we will look at ways to help them reframe the experience and shift feelings away from failure and towards success.
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When Breast Isn't Best: Challenges and Opportunities In Breastfeeding for Sexual Abuse Survivors
Elizabeth M. Johnson, MA is a trauma educator and peer support advocate in private practice. She helps people understand how sexual abuse affects sexual and reproductive health. She looks at how sexual abuse affects breastfeeding for example but also how traditional sex education ignores issues like how past abuse affects consent, teen pregnancy and risky behavior. Using a trauma lens, Elizabeth talks about everything sexual health related from Asking (about abuse) to Z(zzzz's) and everything in between. Elizabeth is the only educator in the world specializing in training and consulting on this topic.
In addition to training, speaking and consulting, Elizabeth has facilitated a free, weekly peer support group for sexual abuse survivors for over three years. She holds a Masters of Arts degree in Womens Studies from Southern Connecticut State University. Elizabeth identifies as a rape survivor and has worked with survivors since 2005. She lives in Durham, NC with her family.
Topic: When Breast Isn't Best: Challenges and Opportunities In Breastfeeding for Sexual Abuse Survivors - [View Abstract]
The benefits of breastfeeding are well known. Less known is how pervasive and long-lasting the effects of sexual abuse can be. As many as 1 in 3 women are survivors of contact sexual abuse. And, unfortunately, sexual abuse is rarely over when it's over.
Most new parents state that they want to at least “try” breastfeeding. And yet everyone knows someone for whom breastfeeding “didn’t work”. While informed care can sometimes help families stick with breastfeeding, even well-intended support can be triggering. Providers who deal with new families must have a working knowledge of sexual abuse as well as a trauma-informed approach in order to effectively support breastfeeding families. Learn how abuse can impact ability and desire to breastfeed, red flags that could indicate a history of sexual abuse and practical tools to support all families in a sensitive way.
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Dr. Nastassia Harris is a licensed registered nurse with over 15 years’ experience in perinatal nursing and became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 2009.
Nastassia serves as an assistant professor in the school of nursing at Montclair State University. Over her career Nastassia developed a passion for eliminating disparities in black infant and maternal health. In 2018, she went on to found a nonprofit, the Perinatal Health Equity Foundation where she serves as the executive director. Through the nonprofit, Nastassia established Sistahs Who Breastfeed, a breastfeeding support group for black women which operates in several NJ cities.
She is active in several committees and organizations including the Association of Women's Health Obstetrics and Neonatal Nursing and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance. Nastassia's research and clinical interests include implicit bias/racism in healthcare, breastfeeding in the black community, obstetrical violence, high risk OB, and reproductive justice.
Topic: When It's Time to Let Go... Stories of Weaning - [View Abstract]
Weaning is an inevitable component of breast/chestfeeding. Many families have expressed feeling unprepared for the experience and the challenges they face in that journey. This presentation will explore the current research and lived experiences of weaning among different families and cultures. We will discuss strategies that were both effective and ineffective in the weaning process, time period in which families began the weaning process as well as tips and tricks from the parent perspective that lead to successfully weaning their child. Weaning will be discussed in the context of the impact on both the parent and the child.
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Divya Sinha Parikh MD, IBCLC, FAAP is a board certified pediatrician practicing in Columbus, OH. She received her medical training at The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed her residency in general pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital at Case Western Reserve University. She formerly served on the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Committee at MetroHealth Hospital Systems in Cleveland, OH and created a breastfeeding medicine clinical rotation during residency. Within her practice, she has extensive experience managing lactation concerns and has taken a special interest in mentoring current and aspiring breastfeeding providers. She has presented her work at local and national meetings.
Topic: When Supply is Greater than Demand: Maternal Hyperlactation Syndrome - [View Abstract]
The objectives of this lecture are to understand the definition, pathophysiology, and basic management of hyperlactation. Topics discussed will include proposed mechanisms leading to hyperlactation, health effects on mother and baby, and approach to diagnosis and management. Participants will learn key history and physical findings for hyperlactation, behavioral interventions to reduce milk supply, herbal and medical interventions to reduce milk supply, and will learn how to determine which dyads would benefit from medical intervention.
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When Tears Flow and Milk Doesn’t: Support Through Breastfeeding Grief
Amy Barron Smolinski holds an MA from Union Institute and University, where her thesis explored re-emerging Sacred Feminine manifestations in the lives of contemporary women. She is the Executive Director of Mom2Mom Global, a network of breastfeeding peer support, education, and advocacy for military families. She works with breastfeeding dyads in a variety of settings, from inpatient postpartum and NICU to home visits, telephone, and online consulting as an Advanced Lactation Consultant and Certified Lactation Counselor. Supporting breastfeeding families has shown her how each parent’s breastfeeding journey with each of her children is a reclamation of her connection to her inner wisdom and power. Amy is an actress, director, and professional voice artist in Germany, where she resides with her husband and four sons, all of whom breastfed to self-weaning.
Topic: When Tears Flow and Milk Doesn’t: Support Through Breastfeeding Grief - [View Abstract]
Some women who initiate breastfeeding will not meet their duration goals. There are a number of factors that contribute to undesired weaning. For a woman who ceases breastfeeding before she desires to do so, it can be devastating. For the lactation professional or peer supporter, this can also feel like failure. Grief counseling and ethical principles are applicable to supporting a mother grieving the loss of the breastfeeding relationship she desired. This presentation uses case studies to address the questions of how breastfeeding supporters ethically and compassionately support mothers who end their breastfeeding journey before they wish to, how lactation professionals and peer supporters can manage our own feelings in these situations, and what are the ramifications of these cases as we continue to share accurate breastfeeding information in the face of media-driven culture in which infant feeding is loaded with guilt, shame, and fear.
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Where Should We Dig? Not All Gold Is Buried Under the Tongue
Carol has been a therapeutic bodyworker in Portland, Oregon for over 26 years. She is a retired home birth midwife. She specializes in infant and maternal Craniosacral Therapy.
Carol is convinced that if women are appropriately supported in growing, birthing and nurturing their babies, their lives will improve. When women's lives improve their children's health improves. Healthy children grow up to be healthier adults who create healthier communities and a saner, more peaceful world. Carol believes that when things are out of balance even the smallest intervention can bring about great healing. Our need for it is so great.
Carol is passionate about using her CST skills to gently make space in maternal bodies so babies can assume ideal positions for gestation and birth. She is currently developing specialized prenatal yoga classes to support and enhance the maternal bodywork techniques she practices and teaches.
Topic: Where Should We Dig? Not All Gold Is Buried Under the Tongue - [View Abstract]
Carol will explain how the sources of tongue and oral dysfunction aren’t always in the mouth. Sometimes the gold is buried elsewhere. She will discuss torques and twists in the body that extend into the floor of the mouth and express themselves as a lack of tongue mobility. She will discuss how fetal lie and restricted fetal mobility cause babies to grow in ways that negatively impact their breastfeeding. These things may masquerade as and/or exacerbate tongue mobility issues disguised as short frenula. Carol will also explain the CST treatment approach for these babies.
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Where to Start: Creating a Lactation Care Plan for Complex Breastfeeding Cases
Annette Leary is a registered nurse with over 33 years of experience working in Maternal Child Health (pediatrics, postpartum, home health care and level 2 NICU). She became an IBCLC in 1995. She owns a private practice providing office, in home, and virtual visits at Orlando Lactation and Wellness. In 2022 she formed a collaborative company Baby B.L.I.S.S. : Central Florida Feeding Collaborative where she and her business partners help families prenatally, antepartum and post partum navigate the growth, development and feeding journey of their children. She began her craniosacral therapy training through the Upledger Institute in 2015, taking advanced maternal and pediatric specialty classes. Annette has found great improvement incorporating craniosacral therapy techniques with lactation consulting. Helping Families Latch onto Parenting has always been her mantra.
Topic: Where to Start: Creating a Lactation Care Plan for Complex Breastfeeding Cases - [View Abstract]
Designing a sustainable proposal of lactation care involves many components. The parents are the main leaders in constructing this plan. Family dynamics that include the physical, emotional and mental health of both parent and child make up the key layout. Setting client-centered goals, developing strategies, outlining tasks and setting up routines are important to accomplishing their personal goals. Families often seek a holistic integrative approach that includes personal goals, support networking, comfort, and collaborative resources that make up their action plan of care. This program will review several complex case studies and how the families designed their plan of care with the guidance and understanding of a team approach.
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Nikki started as an LPN in 1971, got her RN and BSN, and a graduate degree. She is an author, a teacher, a holistic lactation consultant, a craniosacral therapy practitioner, and a baby body worker (teaching Infant Massage and TummyTime! She is mother to 2 wonderful (breastfed for a long time) daughters, wife to 3 interesting men, only one of whom was the right one for the past 37 years, Rafe!
Her publications include the books, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy and A Breastfeeding Owner’s Manual; the monographs, “Benefits of Breastfeeding and Their Economic Impact” and “Sexuality and Breastfeeding” and the educational pamphlet “How to help yourself through labor”. She has been the reviews editor for the journal Clinical Lactation, and has worked as the lactation consultant for the division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health since 2006.
Topic: Words That Work - [View Abstract]
In the past, childbirth educators and breastfeeding helpers have given information that has inadvertently worked against breastfeeding exclusivity and duration. This presentation will address at least 4 common teachings and how they can reinforce perceived milk insufficiency and new mothers’ insecurity about milk supply. Strategies, evidence and scripts will be given to update breastfeeding education.
