IBCLC Detailed Content Outline: Clinical Skills / Education and Communication Focused CERPs - Section VII B

Karleen Gribble (BRurSc, PhD) is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University.

Her interests include infant and young child feeding in emergencies, marketing of breastmilk substitutes, parenting and care of maltreated children, child-caregiver and caregiver-child attachment, adoption reform, and treatment of infants and young children within the child protection, immigration detention, and criminal justice systems.

She has published research on these subjects in peer-reviewed journals, provided media commentary, contributed to government enquiries, provided expert opinion for courts, and engaged in training of health professionals, social workers, and humanitarian workers on these subjects.

Karleen is an Australian Breastfeeding Association Community Educator and Breastfeeding Counsellor. Since 2010 she has been a member of the Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies Core Group and has been at the forefront of the development of policy, training and research in the area of infant and young child feeding in emergencies.

Maureen Minchin is a medical historian whose 1970s experience of motherhood resulted in her second book, Food for Thought: a parent’s guide to food intolerance, recognized as ground breaking in its treatment of infant allergy. Her third book, Breastfeeding Matters, was declared a “milestone in the history of breastfeeding” by Prof JD Baum. For 35 years she has worked extensively in the area of infant nutrition, including for WHO, and UNICEF, and teaching health professionals in Australia and overseas. She was influential in the creation of IBLCE and BFHI, and a founding (and later Board) member of both ILCA and ALCA. Maureen has continued to work free of charge with families with both infant feeding and allergy problems. After a decade in eldercare, Maureen is getting back to writing, recently helping with the online infant feeding courses being developed by the UK’s University of York and the National HS-sponsored e-learning for health project. Her latest book, Milk Matters: Infant Feeding and Immune Disorder was published in 2015.

Keira Sorrells is the mother of triplets born at 25 weeks, 5 days gestation. After starting a non-profit, the Zoe Rose Memorial Foundation in 2008, to offer support services to NICU and bereaved families, she became aware that a collective voice for parents of NICU babies was missing in the Maternal and Infant Health community. In response, she helped launch the Preemie Parent Alliance (PPA) in 2012, where she now serves as President. PPA is a national network of 35 NICU parent support organizations that collaborate to represent the needs and best interests of NICU families in a variety of ways. Ms. Sorrells believes a trusting parent-provider relationship is crucial to build a foundation of empowerment and support on which NICU families thrive well beyond discharge, no matter what the ultimate outcome may be.

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.

Dr. Craig lives in metro Atlanta, GA., is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair of Brenau University’s School of Occupational Therapy program. She has been practicing for 35 years, received her degree in OT at the Medical College of Georgia, her MBA from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and her PhD in Infant and Childhood Disorders with emphasis in Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities from Fielding Graduate University. Jenene currently serves as the Director of Education for National Association of Neonatal Therapists (NANT). She is also on the executive committee of the Board of Directors for the National Perinatal Association. In addition to consulting with several local NICUs, Jenene works PRN at a regional Level III NICU. She serves as a national speaker for the care of premature infants and families embattled in the stressful environment of the NICU. Jenene’s personal passion is to support multidisciplinary work in the NICU with a focus on parent-infant outcomes.

Rue Khosa, AKA The Boob Boss, is the owner/founder of The Perfect Push, a lactation and parenting wellness clinic in downtown Redmond. She is a board certified family nurse practitioner, lactation consultant and a THRIVE parenting educator. Rue was born and raised Zimbabwe, where family plays a critical role in supporting expectant and new parents. This type of communal caring, called “kugarira”, helps families prepare for a new baby both emotionally and physically and guides them through the often challenging newborn period. Rue created The Perfect Push to bring that experience to Seattle. Rue began her women’s health career as a labor and delivery nurse over 10 years ago, at Washington Hospital Centre in DC. She received her graduate degree from Georgetown University, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Prior to opening her private practice, Rue was a Teaching Associate in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine and an Adjunct Clinical Faculty at Northwest University Buntain School of Nursing. In July 2019, Rue was commissioned by the Mayor to the City of Redmond’s Human Services Commission. In February 2020, Rue was invited to join Washington State Hospital Association's Safe Delivery Roadmap Commission. She sits on their Birth Equity task force working on program development. She also sits on the board of No More Under, a non profit organization committed to drowning prevention and awareness. Outside of redefining the childbirth and parenting experience, Rue is a mother of two young boys with a third on the way. She lives in Redmond, WA with her husband, mother and boys.

Tomoko Seo is a pediatrician and IBCLC in Japan, working in a private clinic with colleagues including IBCLCs who practice's general pediatrics and breastfeeding medicine. She became certified as an IBCLC in 1999 and recertified in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. She is a member of the Japanese Association of Lactation Consultants (JALC) since 1999, when it was founded. JALC has been holding conferences several times a year, including the “Annual Breastfeeding Seminar for Physicians” since 2005 to provide breastfeeding education to physicians and improve breastfeeding support among physicians. Tomko has been a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) since 1999. She is also an active member of the International, Protocol, Education, Conference, Membership Committees of ABM.

Tamara Drenttel Brand holds an MA in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona and a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from the American University of Beirut. She spent 10 years in the Middle East, where she worked as a public health practitioner, infant and maternal health consultant and an IBCLC. She has supported breastfeeding dyads from all over the world both in private practice and as a volunteer. In 2011, she founded and still actively facilitates “Mama 2 Mama Beirut Breastfeeding Support,” the largest breastfeeding peer support network in the Middle East (currently at 25k+ members). Additionally, she founded Galactablog, a professional group for lactation specialists and those aspiring-to-be (currently at 4.7k+ members) and has authored several articles for La Leche League’s monthly leader publications in both the Middle East and Ireland.

She is currently an international speaker on the topics dealing with breastfeeding in the Middle East, innovative lactation teaching strategies, working in resource-scarce settings, providing culturally sensitive lactation support, developing and implementing peer counselor training programs, mast cell disease and other related topics. Due to her own chronic health conditions, she has a special interest in educating others about mast cell disease and supporting those with chronic illnesses. She currently resides in a seaside village in Ireland with her family.

Catherine Watson Genna BS, IBCLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in New York City. Certified in 1992, Catherine is particularly interested in helping moms and babies breastfeed when they have medical challenges and is an active clinical mentor. She speaks to healthcare professionals around the world on assisting breastfeeding babies with anatomical, genetic or neurological problems. Her presentations and her writing are enriched by her clinical photographs and videos. Catherine collaborates with Columbia University and Tel Aviv University Departments of Biomedical Engineering on research projects investigating the biomechanics of the lactating nipple and various aspects of sucking and swallowing in breastfeeding infants. She is the author of Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools: Improving Care and Outcomes (Praeclarus Press 2009) and Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants (Jones and Bartlett Learning 2008, 2013, 2017) as well as professional journal articles and chapters in the Core Curriculum for Lactation Consultant Practice and Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. Catherine served as Associate Editor of the United States Lactation Consultant Association’s official journal Clinical Lactation for its first seven years.

Paulina is the mother of three multicultural Latino children and Project Director for Lifespan Local. Paulina earned her BS in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University, a MS in Organizational leadership from the University of Denver and is completing her PhD in Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Colorado - Denver. Paulina has over 18 years of experience working with families with young children. As a Maternal Child Health specialist for Jefferson County Public Health, she developed a NICU follow-up home visitation program and the pediatric emergency preparedness plan, co-founded and coordinated the Conectando Network (former Adelante Jeffco), established community navigation and lactation support groups focused on the Latino Spanish speaking community, and lead other initiatives to support leadership and partnerships among communities and organizations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she managed the new program Whole Community Inclusion to ensure the pandemic response and recovery implementation included health equity practices that recognize the needs and the strengths of priority populations in the county. Her areas of current work include promoting perinatal and infant mental health along the continuum of care; building community capacity to navigate health and education systems; facilitating organizational change to embrace linguistic and culturally responsive practices; and establishing community-placed participatory programs to strengthen communities. She likes to be with people, learn from and with others, and connect passions for meaningful work.