GOLD Learning Speakers

Kamilla Gerhard Nielsen is as obstetrician and psychotherapist part of the delivery unit in Aabenraa in Southern Denmark. A unit that has worked towards minimizing intervention in a safe environment with good outcome for mother and child. After joint effort from doctors and midwifes the department now has a cesarean section rate of 13 %, which is the lowest in Denmark. The rate of elective cesarean is 3 % and the unit has a high rating of satisfaction in Denmark from women giving birth.

Kamilla teaches with Obstetriwise.dk in several countries on the Upright Breech Birth, Fear of Childbirth and Occiput Posterior workshops. All theoretical and practical workshops with the aim of reducing unnecessary intervention in childbirth.

Kara Wahlin is a licensed marriage and family therapist and art therapist who resides in the Coachella Valley of southern California. After going through the preterm birth of her twin sons William and Elliott, and the subsequent loss of William, Kara made the promise to dedicate her clinical work to helping other families coping with the trauma and loss often wrought by the NICU experience. She developed the website NICU Healing in order to provide free information, couples and individual therapy, and online support to NICU families. Kara uses strengths-based, neuroloscientifically-informed and creative practices to empower her clients to picking up the pieces of their lives and moving forward with their new life stories. She speaks frequently at conferences discussing best clinical practices, and writes for her own as well as other blogs about new ways of coping with mental health issues that come up after traumatic experiences. In her free time, Kara and her son Elliott are art machines and expert hikers, and also spend their time at home with their menagerie of small animals.

Karel Allegaert received his MD and PhD at the KU Leuven, Belgium where he trained as a pediatrician-neonatologist, with an additional expertise in clinical pharmacology. He is professor at the KU Leuven (department of development and regeneration) and is clinical consultant at the pediatric intensive care unit of the Sophia's Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research is focused on developmental perinatal pharmacology and neonatal and pediatric pain, has been supported by European funding (Albino study), and national grants (FWO, IWT-SBO) and has resulted in about 300 PubMed citations, H index 33. He is member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium, president of European Society of Developmental Pharmacology and section head clinical pharmacology of the European Society of Pediatric Research.

Dr. Karen D’Apolito is a Professor and Program Director of the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She has made national and international contributions to the care of drug-exposed infants through both education and research. Dr. D’Apolito received her PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle and her Post Masters Certificate as an NNP from the University of Tennessee, Memphis. In 2011 Dr. Apolito became a Fellow in American Academy of Nursing for her work with substance exposed infants. She developed a unique inter-observer reliability program to train healthcare professionals in assessing infants for signs of withdrawal. She has published numerous articles related to the effects of intra-uterine drug exposure on neonatal abstinence and has been an invited speaker to many local, national and international conferences to speak on this topic. Dr. D’Apolito has participated in two large multi-site clinical trials associated with neonatal abstinence syndrome and she recently completed a grant received from the TN Department of Health to identify the common treatment practices of infants with NAS within the state of TN.

Karen H. Strange is a Certified Professional Midwife (1996), American Academy of Pediatrics/Neonatal Resuscitation Program Instructor (1992).

She is founder of the Integrative Resuscitation of the Newborn workshop, which includes the physiology of newborn transition. She teaches the “when, why and how” of helping newborns that are either not breathing or not breathing well, with incredible clarity. She helps the provider have a sense of what the baby is experiencing which leads to a more appropriate response to newborns in need. Karen has done over 1,000 hours of debrief/case reviews regarding resuscitation. She is an international speaker and has taught over 14,000 people worldwide. There are many neonatal resuscitation instructors but Karen teaches practical neonatal resuscitation, regardless of the place of birth. And her teachings instill a strong sense of confidence and competence in providers, so they can respond in the least traumatic way.

Karen Kerkhoff Gromada, MSN, RN, IBCLC, FILCA has been an IBCLC since 1991 and has worked as an IBCLC in both private practice and hospital settings. She also has experience as an adjunct clinical instructor for the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and as a staff nurse in labor and delivery, childbirth education and postpartum discharge nursing care. Gromada was accredited as a La Leche League (LLL) Leader in 1975 and formed the first LLL group for mothers of multiples after the birth of her twin sons. The experiences of the group’s mothers provided the basis for her book Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More. Her numerous articles and chapters about breastfeeding multiples have been published in professional and lay publications. A former International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) president (1994-96), she was designated Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association (FILCA) in 2008.

Karen Laing, IBCLC, AMT is a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher with a background in reproductive health care. As a practitioner over the last 25 years, Karen has cared for families as a trauma-informed perinatal educator, a Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, and as a midwife. As an organizational leader, she is the founder and CEO of Birthways where she has played a role in creating innovative maternal/child service models incorporating perinatal education, home-based doula care, lactation services and perinatal mental health programs. She and her team are currently working to build the Okkanti platform, a transformative application that tackles disparities by providing care coordination, digital health tools, health education and access to maternal health supports. As a teacher of mindfulness and caregiving, she has taught and mentored providers throughout her career and is the creator of the Compass of Mindful Caregiving, 6 Qualities of Embodied Mindfulness, and 40 – second Compassion Initiatives, toolkits such as the Cup of Kindness for family caregivers and a number of programs designed to improve the ways we take care of one another. She founded WisdomWay Institute in 2017 to better share the tools that support improved safety, respect and compassion in care relationships while preventing burnout.

Karen believes that systemic change involves many facets, but that we can begin with our moment-to-moment interactions.

Karen has worn a number of hats in her nursing career but always comes back to her passion for premature babies. Her background includes NICU nurse, transport nurse and NICU educator, rural nursing, staff development, pediatrics, pediatric intensive care, and community health. For over 20 years Karen has lead Calgary’s specialized “Neonatal Transition Team”, which she will talk about today. Karen has presented locally, nationally, and internationally and has also been co-investigator in several research and quality improvement studies examining outcomes for very low birth weight infants. For nearly 30 years, Karen taught, wrote instructional material, and produced on-line courses for nurses to earn a certificate in neonatal nursing through Mount Royal University. Karen is a past-president of the Canadian Association of Neonatal Nurses and served on this national board for 12 years, and on the international board of the Council for International Neonatal Nurses for 3 years. In 2019, Along with co-author, Tammy Sherrow, Karen published the book “Preemie Care: A guide to navigating the first year with your premature baby”.

Dr. Karen Lawford (Ph.D., R.M., A.M.) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University and an Adjunct Research Professor in the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University. She is a member of Lac Seul First Nation

She is the first registered midwife and Indigenous midwife in Canada to obtain a doctoral degree and hold a university appointment. She advocates for maternity care that allows community members to give birth in their communities and on the land, and has explored the resiliency and resistance of women evacuated from their communities for birth. She also conducts research that examines the leadership of Indigenous women and Two Spirit people within health. She is a founding member of the National Aboriginal Council of Midwives.

Dr. Lawford is a 2020 Indspire Laureate in the category of Health. She also serves as a Senator for Queen’s University.

Karese, like many parents, suffered in silence while her children struggled with the symptoms of undiagnosed sleep and breathing issues. One visit to a pediatric dentist changed the trajectory of their lives. Already a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH), Karese, trained with Sandra Holtzman, Lois Laynee and Sarah Hornsby to establish her orofacial myology knowledge. With this initial training and numerous others, in a few short years she has not only resolved all her children's issues, but helped hundreds of patients, children and adults alike, discover how great life can be functioning on full. Her private practice, The Myo Spot is now a leader in the quest for myofunctional therapy awareness and public education. Her latest published book, Accomplished, delves into how to sleep better, eliminate burnout, and execute goals. Karese's mission is to transform and positively impact as many households as possible through dynamic breath, brain and body work.

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.

Karolina Ochoa is a Mother-Baby nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, speaker, and researcher. She has close to a decade of experience in serving breastfeeding families in both in-patient and outpatient settings. Karolina currently runs a successful Private Practice in the Inland Empire, California and she is a CEO of LactationHub.

Her areas of emphasis are clinical management of lactation, behavioral feeding aversions, as well as implementation and management of lactation programs in different healthcare settings. Karolina is passionate about addressing the inequality in access to lactation professionals across the US. She is a big advocate of extended maternity leave for all parents.

Karolina lives with her husband Julio and two lively toddlers in Redlands, CA

Kate White is and award-winning craniosacral and massage therapist, prenatal and early childhood educator. She is trained in somatic therapies, prenatal and perinatal health, lactation, brain development, infant mental health, and has specialized in mother-baby dyad care using somatic prevention and trauma healing approaches for nearly 20 years. She is a mother of two children, holds a BA and MA in Communication, is a Registered Craniosacral Therapist in the Biodynamic Craniosacral method and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner. Her work combines somatic therapy with brain development to help give families with babies and small children the best possible start. She is Founding Director of Education for the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health from 2013 – 2018 where she managed a large online educational program for professionals. She currently co-directs this program, administering an online program for parents and parent professionals, runs a private practice and offers her own seminars through the Center for Prenatal and Perinatal Programs, ppncenter.com.

Dr. Hawes provides clinical services in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and at the Perinatal and Postpartum Clinic at the Center for Children and Families at Women & Infants Hospital, where she treats women and their partners experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety issues. Treatment includes individual and family psychotherapy. She is an assistant professor (adjunct) in the Department of Pediatrics at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She trained in adult psychiatry and mental health at the University of Rhode Island and is board certified in adult psychiatric-mental health advanced practice nursing. Her research, clinical work, and lectures focus on stress and trauma related to the premature birth experience. In addition she studies the relationship between nursing practice and parent and infant outcomes; nurse-patient interaction; the healthcare work environment and provider and patient outcomes; and the epigenetics of stress. (https://vivo.brown.edu/display/khawes).

Katherine is a Senior Lecturer at School of Sociology, Australian National University. Katherine’s particular areas of interest include the sociology of reproduction and motherhood, perinatal medicine, lactation sciences, human milk banking and donation. Her current projects include an Australian Research Council funded study on maternal experiences of lactation after infant death, and a Mayo Clinic funded research project on the communication with families regarding periviable infant resuscitation.

Dr. Gregory began her career as a registered nurse more than 20 years ago and has dedicated her clinical and research work to improving health outcomes for preterm infants and their families. Her research is focused on gut health and disease, nutrition and the microbiome of preterm infants. She currently serves as the senior nurse scientist for Pediatric Newborn Medicine and Nursing at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, as well as the director of Newborn Care Improvement and Analytics. Those roles involve conducting research and developing new knowledge for practice, as well as finding ways to apply this knowledge to the development of improved clinical interventions for hospitalized infants. Dr. Gregory is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Editor of the Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing.

Kathie, an Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of CT School of Medicine, is a neonatologist, member of the Human Milk Research Center at CT Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT, and graduated from Cornell University and Cornell University School of Medicine, completing postgraduate training in Pediatrics, Pediatric Nephrology and Neonatology at Children’s National Medical Center, George Washington University, Washington DC USA. In the inaugural group of physicians designated “Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine” (FABM), she served twelve years on the ABM Board of Directors, chaired the Protocol committee, and chaired the United States Breastfeeding Committee 2013-14. Elected to the International Lactation Consultant Association Board July 2014-17, she is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding, serves as the AAP Connecticut Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinator since 2000, and Chairs the Baby-Friendly USA NICU Initiative. Initially founding Medical Director of the New England Mother's Milk Bank she is currently co-Medical Director of the Mothers' Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes and has authored many chapters, monographs, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and ABM protocols. Her research centers on breastfeeding and the use of human milk in the NICU, cup feeding, donor milk/donor milk banking, the Baby-Friendly NICU, global maternal-child issues and the education of medical professionals. Lecturing extensively in the United States and abroad, she resides in Glastonbury, CT, her greatest accomplishment her 4 amazing young adults, 19 to 29 years of age.

Katie Page, CNM, MSN, completed Midwifery training at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She has been in practice since 2009 – first as the only CNM in a physician- owned private practice in PA, then in a group hospital-owned midwife practice at CMG Women’s Center in 2013, which has grown to 10 CNMs. She is the Chair of the ACNM Professional Liability Section, the Education Committee chair for the Virginia Affiliate of ACNM, and a co-lead in the data center for the ACNM Healthy Birth initiative: Reducing Primary Cesarean Collaborative. Katie has been the Collaborative team lead at Virginia Baptist on implementing safety bundles promoting physiologic labor and birth to reduce primary cesarean. In addition, Katie works with a group of representatives from Virginia ACNM, Virginia Midwives Alliance, and Virginia ACOG on planning and presenting on collaborative practice in VA, barriers and opportunities.

Dr. Kathleen Baird is a Senior Midwifery Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University and Director of Midwifery and Nursing Education, Women’s and Newborn Service, Gold Coast Hospital. For the last fifteen years Kathleen’s main research interests have centred around intimate partner violence, with a focus on violence during pregnancy. Kathleen’s PhD explored women’s experiences of partner violence during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Kathleen has been involved with domestic violence training of qualified health professionals, undergraduate and postgraduate health students and members of the voluntary services for several years. Kathleen is currently involved with several research projects in relation to intimate partner violence and the role of health care and sits on the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council.

Kathy Gura is the manager for Pharmacy Clinical Research Program and a clinical pharmacist with the Clinical Nutrition Service in the Division of GI/Nutrition at Boston Children's Hospital. She is also an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an adjunct member of the faculty at MCPHS University, Northeastern University and the University of Connecticut. She is a member of the Center for Advanced Intestinal Rehabilitation and the Home PN Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Gura received her BS and Pharm.D from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. Certified as a Nutritional Support Pharmacist, Dr. Gura is a Fellow of the ASHP, ASPEN, PPA and MSHP. She was recently named the 2020 Nutrition Champion by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Dr. Gura is the author of numerous book chapters on pediatric nutrition and has written more than 130 peer reviewed on topics such as the intestinal failure associated liver disease, clinical practice guidelines for parenteral nutrition, and the use of parenteral nutrition in the neonate. She currently serves as an associate editor for JPEN.

Dr. Kendall-Tackett is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Psychological Trauma and was Founding Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Lactation, a position she held for 11 years. She is Fellow of the American Psychological Association in Health and Trauma Psychology, Past President of the APA Division of Trauma Psychology, and a member of APA’s Publications and Communications Board.

First and foremost I am a mother, wife and latterly grandmother, my personal life has always largely informed my practice and I am always careful to remember that the women I meet are also like me in that they belong to a family.

I am a freelance consultant midwife one of the first in the UK and formerly employed at 2 very large and diverse maternity units. My career started in the 1970’s in nursing however midwifery was always my ambition and particularly the nurturance of midwifery led care.

I am a practicing psychotherapist interested in the emotional impact of childbirth; in part due to my own mothering experiences and research. I have worked closely with women to understand this phenomenon and researched emotional transition to motherhood.

Raising awareness for maternal mental health and particularly women surviving sexual abuse, I co-founded Sanctum Midwives campaigning on maternity care and sexual abuse. I have worked for many years raising awareness around the issues of maternal mental health and supporting both women and all those who work in maternity care situations. I believe positive mental health is the cornerstone to mothering and self fulfilment.

I have published widely in peer review journals but also in many books. My latest publication is ‘Understanding Anxiety, Worry and Fear in Childbearing Women’ which I edited and wrote 4 chapters. I am currently writing on the issues of child and adult female sexual abuse and its implications.

I care very deeply about women and their babies that they may come through their pregnancy and birth unharmed. I will continue to do this for the sake of midwives everywhere.

Kathryn Stagg is mum to 4 boys, twins and 2 subsequent singletons. She trained as a breastfeeding peer supporter and volunteered in the groups for years in and around Harrow, NW London, UK.

Kathryn caught the breastfeeding support bug and decided to further her knowledge training as a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers and then qualifying as an IBCLC 5 years ago. Kathryn started Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets Facebook group almost 8 years ago and it now has over 9000 members. It has recently been made into a UK charity. Kathryn is passionate about delivering high quality breastfeeding support to as many twin and triplet families as possible, creating resources and educating health care professionals and breastfeeding supporters. She runs a small private practice and continues to teach music part time, her original career path. Kathryn is the author of Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets; a guide for professionals and parents. /p>

Kathy O'Grady Venter is a registered nurse and retired midwife. She has been an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) since 1990.

Kathy is a WHO|UNICEF trained BFHI Assessor and Trainer (1991) through IBFAN Africa and currently she is a CoChair of the BFI assessment committee of the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada (BCC), BFI Lead Assessor – BCC Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Assessment Committee, Lactation consultant Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and Breastfeeding educator and BFI consultant.

In the past, Kathy has been Chair for the BCC, Chair of the BFI assessment/education committee of the Baby Friendly Initiative Ontario and the recipient of the Canadian Lactation Consult Association Award for Clinical Excellence.

Kathy Parkes is a sought-after speaker and webinar presenter as well as a published author. She has lived all over the world, settling in San Antonio, Texas after her Air Force husband retired. Kathy is a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Nursing Education and received her International Board Certified Lactation Consultant designation in 1992. Her private practice, Breastfeeding Perspectives, adds to her over 30 years of lactation experiences, which include WIC staff and clients, in-patient hospital work on L&D, postpartum, and NICU, taking a hospital to Baby-Friendly designation, setting up a lactation visitation program for both a home health agency and for the largest birth doula organization in San Antonio, and providing home and office lactation visits for private clients. She specializes in tethered oral tissues (tongue-and-lip ties), milk supply problems, multiples, and preterm/late preterm infants.
On the fun side, Kathy met her husband of 47 years as she was jumping out of the airplane he was flying. (You could say she fell for him!) She loves animals, traveling, and gardening. Most of all, she loves teaching others about breastfeeding.

Katrien Nauwelaerts graduated as a prehistoric archaeologist in 2005. She's the mother of three breastfed children and the administrator of the Dutch breastfeeding-website Borstvoeding Aardig, https://borstvoeding.aardig.be. Katrien worked as a volunteer breastfeeding-counsellor, provincial coordinator and training manager for the Belgian breastfeeding organisation Borstvoeding vzw between 2010-2014. Up tot 2018 she was the founder and president of Aardig Leven vzw, a non profit ecological organisation. In 2013 she became an IBCLC. Since 2013 she's working as a lactation consultant at her own private practice Borstvoeding Aardig. She became a nutritionist and a herborist in 2014. Katrien shares her experiences and knowledge on lactation consulting as a public speaker since 2014.

Katrina B. Mitchell, MD, IBCLC, PMH-C is a breast surgeon, lactation consultant, and perinatal mental health provider. Her surgical practice includes the care of women with breast cancer and benign breast disease. She sees runs a daily breastfeeding medicine practice, treating patients for a wide variety of lactation concerns ranging from hypolactation to nipple trauma. Additionally, she provides medication management and support for women impacted by perinatal mood and anxiety conditions.

Dr. Mitchell lectures locally, nationally, and internationally on the intersection of lactation and surgery, and has authored book chapters, clinical care protocols, and journal articles on the topic. She is the creator of the physicianguidetobreastfeeding.org, an evidence-based resource for breastfeeding families and the communities that support them. Dr. Mitchell resides in Santa Barbara, California and practices at the Ridley Tree Cancer Center at Sansum Clinic. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her son camping at the beach. She can be reached at physicianguidetobreastfeeding.org.

Kay Hoover became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in 1985. She sat for the very first exam and has taken the exam 4 times. She has worked as a private practice lactation consultant, a hospital lactation consultant at 5 different hospitals, the lactation consultant for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, for The Center for Childhood Obesity Research at The Pennsylvania State University, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She currently is retired. She has presented workshops at national and international conferences and is a co-author of The Breastfeeding Atlas.

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.

Dr. Kelly McGlothen-Bell is an Assistant Professor at UT Health San Antonio, School of Nursing. As a nurse scientist, Dr. McGlothen-Bell is dedicated to understanding and resolving perinatal-infant health disparities in underrepresented groups, particularly among mother-infant dyads impacted by substance use disorders and preterm births. Dr. McGlothen-Bell uses interdisciplinary research, bio-behavioral methodologies, and community-engaged strategies to define and explore health priorities that can be remedied through culturally appropriate and sustainable health solutions. Her program of science focuses on understanding the relationship between infant feeding behaviors and readiness in high-risk infants and attunement between the primary caregiver and child during infancy and toddlerhood. The culmination of these findings contributes to the development of evidence-based interventions geared toward improving parental engagement and pediatric feeding success in marginalized populations. Dr. McGlothen-Bell has published numerous peer-reviewed articles related to developmental strategies for high-risk infants. She has also presented her work at conferences nationally and internationally. Dr. McGlothen-Bell has received numerous awards to include the 2019 National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN) Mentee/Mentor Grant Award. She was also selected as a 2019-2020 Academy Jonas Nurse Policy Scholar.

Kelsie Barta is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who lives in Richmond, Texas with her spouse and two young children. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing Science with Texas Woman’s University, with a primary research interest in lactation. She occupies her time with various part-time endeavors, including working as a Family Nurse Practitioner, a Clinical Nursing Instructor for nursing students in their maternal child health and pediatric clinical experiences, lactation consulting, and volunteer work with an emerging nonprofit maternal health organization in Houston, Texas. Her experiences with lactation are dynamic. Professionally, she has worked with breastfeeding/chestfeeding dyads in a postpartum hospital unit, through outpatient clinic visits, and via antenatal education. Her personal experiences include breastfeeding her children, serving as a resource to friends and family, and generally being “plugged in” to how lactation and lactation consulting may be perceived among people her age. She is passionate about empowering parents to reach their infant feeding goals, equitable access to lactation care, and health policy.

Kiddada Green is the founding executive director of Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association, co-­‐creator of Black Breastfeeding Week, founding member of the National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color, lead consultant for the First Food Friendly Community Initiative, and an esteemed member of the inaugural class of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Community Leadership Network Fellowship Program. She is committed to supporting families, and training maternal child health professionals on culturally appropriate breastfeeding support. As an expert in community-­‐centered approaches, she put forth recommendations for The U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding, has been featured in Ebony Magazine, and is a program reviewer for the American Public Health Association. She is a published writer for Breastfeeding Medicine and an avid learner. Kiddada holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University and a Master’s Degree in the Art of Teaching from Oakland University.

Kim Barthel is an award-winning occupational therapist, trans-disciplinary teacher and best-selling author who is actively supporting function and healing in many cultures. A pioneer in reinforcing the importance of relationship, Kim’s passionate interests include complex behaviour, attachment, sensory processing, trauma-sensitive practice, Neuro-Developmental Treatment and mental health. Kim’s mission is to support the conscious evolution of the human spirit. www.kimbarthel.ca

Kim is an advanced clinical practitioner, independent nurse prescriber, registered nurse and registered midwife with additional qualifications in epilepsy, complex pregnancies, child protection, pharmacology, advanced decision making, epidemiology, diagnosis and history taking and research. She is a specialist in antiepileptic drug prescribing management & all aspects of reducing the impact of epilepsy. Since 2000, she has conducted a women with epilepsy service which provides holistic care and treatment support from teenage years to motherhood. In addition, she established and ran for 7 years a thriving community epilepsy specialist nursing service for Southampton and since 2017, a new rapidly expanding secondary care service for Winchester. Kim designed the maternity epilepsy toolkit embedded in the SUDEP (sudden unexpected death in epilepsy) Action professional checklist and focuses professionally and academically on safety and reducing the risk of avoidable adverse outcomes. She is an MBRRACE assessor and represents the Royal College of Midwives on behalf of midwives on the valproate stakeholders committee.

Kimarie Bugg is currently a Doctor of Nursing Practice student and is President and CEO of Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE), a National nonprofit corporation developed in 2011 to address breastfeeding inequities in the African American community. Kimarie previously worked for Emory University, School of Medicine, as a nurse practitioner. She is a member of the faculty for CHAMPs, a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, and chair of the nominating committee of United States Breastfeeding Committee. She also provides training for healthcare providers and community transformers nationwide. She completed a Community Health Leadership Program, within the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine that stressed best practices to provide global health equity and eliminating health disparities through action-oriented projects. In 2016, Kimarie received a Legacy Award from the United States Breastfeeding Committee for her work in the breastfeeding arena for 38 years. She believes that Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation can take place in marginalized communities, starting with Breastfeeding. Kimarie lives in the Atlanta area with her husband, Dr. George W. Bugg Jr, a neonatologist and they are the parents of 5 adult children.

Kimber MacGibbon, RN, is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Hyperemesis Education and Research (HER) Foundation. She worked previously as an ICU nurse, a medical-legal consultant, and as a product manager in medical technology and nutraceutical markets. She has been a consultant on innumerable hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) cases, developed clinical tools and educational materials for both clinicians and families, and coauthored more than 24 peer-reviewed research studies with leading universities. With over 20 years of HG management experience, including her own HG pregnancies, she has extensive insight into best practices for HG management. Her passion is improving assessment and treatment of HG to reduce maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.

A love for babies fueled Kimberly's 20+ year career serving families in the postpartum time frame. With a passion for nurturing new parents, she trains doulas and educators with CAPPA to support and educate for a strong beginning of bonding and connection. She loves teaching expectant families to have a smooth transition to new baby life through the Providence Healthcare System in Portland, OR. She began as a postpartum doula, then quickly added breastfeeding and new parent classes to help parents from the very beginning, and then became an IBCLC to meet their bigger challenges. She owns ABC Doula & Newborn Care in Portland, OR, is the mother of 2 grown kids, and resides in Phoenix near her parents. Like many other baby whisperers, Kimberly has honed skills for listening and responding to babies that parents can quickly learn to understand and interpret their tiny humans. When she sees parents struggling, and especially with the most fussy of babies, her heart hopes that all parents could be given the tools to compassionately support their little ones, and learn how to meet their needs, which creates more confidence in themselves in their new roles as well.

Dr. Kimberly Thompson is a licensed psychologist in Texas. She works with people across the life span, but the majority of her clinical work centers around the special concerns of women and children.
Dr. Thompson is a published researcher, author, and teacher. She teaches in the Infant & Early Childhood Development Ph.D. program, Fielding Graduate University, and has recently authored “Perfect Mothers Get Depressed,” a book on the cognitive and relational roots of postpartum depression.
Dr. Thompson has been married to Dr. Charles D. Thompson, an obstetrician-gynecologist, since 1985. The two Drs. Thompson have four children and one grandchild.

Kimberly is a Sexological Bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution practitioner, Structural Integration practitioner, culture worker, and single mom. She specializes in helping women heal from birth injuries, gynecological procedures and sexual boundary ruptures. She is the author of the early mothering classic The Fourth Trimester: Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions and Restoring Your Vitality and Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken Our Own Power and Use It for Good- a feminist nervous system treatise, as well as the newly released Reckoning, co-authored with Stephen Jenkinson. She is the host of the Sex Birth Trauma podcast.

Kim is born for Naakaii Diné (Mexican People) and from Tsi’naajinii (Black Streak People) clans. Born in Tuba City, maternally from Tolani Lake, AZ located in the southwestern area of the Navajo Nation. Growing up on and off the Navajo Nation, and residing in various tribal communities throughout her life, Kim is passionate about utilizing her education and experience to promote healthy living through kinship values.

Kim is a International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and has over 10 years of experience in peer-counseling, clinical and educational lactation. Kim’s work has been inclusive of Tribal and culturally diverse communities serving the needs of prenatal, newborns, and post-partum mothers and families. She is a Co-Instructor for the Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor training course providing cultural breastfeeding and clinical education to those that can serve their community throughout Turtle Island. She also independently consults with Changing Woman Initiative out of New Mexico, a free access birth center serving Indigenous women to reproductive wellness. She is serving her second term on the United States Breastfeeding Committee Board of Directors. Currently, Kim continues to work at Valley Wise Health Medical Center as a Hospital lactation consultant for eight years and is serving the front lines assisting families and COVID mothers during the pandemic with breastfeeding and hospital policies. She also implemented the first Arizona Lactation Mentorship Pilot Program at Valleywise Hospital mentoring two student interns. This allows access to clinical hours to create strategic initiatives to bring BIPOC diversity, equity and inclusion to the field of lactation.

Currently a member of the Advisory Council Committee for the Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition; she will the Urban Dine’ Community Representative for the Phoenix area. This new role will include breastfeeding home visits and telehealth lactation support serving the urban and telehealth rural BIPOC community. She recently collaborated with Wellness Within Reach also providing breastfeeding education and one on one breastfeeding support. Kim's extensive experience in this field has led to opportunities in consulting, which along with her husband synthesized their consulting business in Tribal Indemnity. Within three years, Tribal Indemnity has assumed responsibility of complex projects and strategic planning with one of the largest Tribes in Arizona. She recently established her own small business, Indigenous Breastfeeding Az, dba.

Kim enjoys spending time with her husband of twenty-three years and three daughters of whom she breastfed until they were 2 years old. She also loves early morning runs, hiking, boxing and yoga.

Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, author and a nationally recognized commentator, consultant and advocate for breastfeeding and infant health. A former writer at FORTUNE and senior editor at Essence magazine, Kimberly’s thoughtful and provocative online commentaries on motherhood and infant health and the intersection of race, class and culture, received over 10 million page views last year.

In addition, Kimberly specializes in issues related to African American motherhood and breastfeeding. In March 2012, she launched Black Breastfeeding 360°, a first of its-kind online multi-media content library on the black breastfeeding experience. She is author of The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy (Amistad/HarperCollins) a hip and informative African American pregnancy guidebook and two other Mocha Manual™ books in the series. She is the founder of MochaManual.com, a pregnancy and parenting destination and blog for African Americans and former editorial director of The Black Maternal Health Project of Women’s eNews.

Kimberly is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A divorced mother of two, she lives in Queens, New York City, with her children and two turtles.

Kirsten Hannan is an Australian trained and registered Osteopath with 17 years of clinical practice experience, with a particular interest in pregnancy and postpartum care and working with babies and children of all ages. She has experience in treating babies for a variety of issues, including latching and feeding difficulties, birth trauma, neck tension, flat head syndrome and digestive issues. Kirsten uses a variety of osteopathic treatment methods, including cranial osteopathy. Her passion for education and helping children to develop in the best possible way led her to further her knowledge of breastfeeding and she qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in July 2017. She enjoys integrating the very best of bodywork and evidence-based lactation care and support to help mums and their babies. Kirsten is an author and reviewer for the International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, a member of Osteopathy Australia and registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE). 

Kristie Gatto, MA, CCC-SLP, COM received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. She has worked as a speech-language pathologist in the public and private school systems, skilled nursing, rehabilitation and children’s hospitals, and in private practice. In 2004, Ms. Gatto became the co-owner of a private practice in Northwest Houston and began her journey in treating children with pediatric feeding disorders. After years of searching for answers in traditional feeding approaches, she underwent training in the field of Orofacial Myology and became the first certified orofacial myologist in the city of Houston in 2011. Ms. Gatto is currently the owner of The Speech and Language Connection, which has two offices in the greater Houston area and employs 21 speech-language pathologists with various specialties.

For the past ten years, she has focused her clinical skills on treating patients with issues in feeding, dysphagia, deglutition, oral sensory aversion, orofacial myology, and swallowing- related disorders, as well as articulation, phonological processing, apraxia, and early childhood intervention.

Ms. Gatto is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), International Association of Orofacial Myology (IAOM), American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology & Audiology (AAPPSPA), Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA), and Houston Association for Communication Disorders (HACD). Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for the IAOM and AAPPSPA and the Community Advisory Board for the University of Houston.

Kristie is an accomplished Respiratory Therapist specializing in critical care transport medicine. Kristie started her career at the Hamilton General Hospital in 1998 consolidating her experience in critical care medicine, trauma, hyperbarics and clinical research. Kristie began to transition her focus to neonatal and paediatric care in 1999 with positions at Mount Sinai Hospital NICU and SickKids NICU. In 2003 she joined the SickKids Acute Care Transport Service (ACTS) Team, holding the position of a Certified Transport Clinician for neonatal and paediatric critical care transport. Kristie’s leadership initiatives and commitment to excellence as a Respiratory Therapy Clinician led her to transition to the role of a Transport Coordinator, remotely supporting clinical teams in the field, facilitating care decisions and supporting operational logistics of critical care transport. Kristie’s passion for interprofessional and collaborative practice on transport highlights her ability to lead and inspire the team to achieve best practice and excellence in transport medicine. This positioned Kristie to be successful as the Senior Manager of the ACTS team, commencing in 2019.

When Kristie isn't immersed in all things SickKids, she can be found cheering on her 2 boys at the hockey rink or golf course.

Kristin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and IBCLC in private practice in central NJ. Her practice specialties are low supply, maternal and infant mental health, and the intersection of ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender in the care of the new family. She has spoken on various lactation, mental health, and equity topics for USLCA, the Lehigh Valley Breastfeeding Association Conference, the Appalachian Breastfeeding Conference, LPPEC, LC in PP, and for LLL of the Garden State. She designed and taught a training course on Mental Health First Aid for Perinatal Providers. She has been a featured speaker on several lactation related podcasts.

She is the mother of two children who nursed full term despite maternal IGT, and who are now 16 and 13. She is an anti racist LGBT+ activist, a member of transformative works fandoms, and makes fighting for a better world part of her daily life.

Kristin Kali, LM CPM is a midwife, teacher, writer, speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in LGBTQ family building and gender inclusivity. Kristin is a warm and engaging presence, delivering professionalism and expertise with a down-to-earth, personable style. Kristin is an authoritative resource on LGBTQ healthcare during conception and pregnancy, functional approaches to fertility, and midwifery model preconception care.

Kristin is the owner of MAIA Midwifery and Fertility Services, internationally renowned for LGBTQ family building expertise. In addition to providing preconception care via telemedicine to families across the globe, Kristin provides midwifery care, home insemination, classes and support groups in Seattle, WA. You can read more about MAIA services, download webinars, access professional training, and purchase fertility related products at MAIA Midwifery & Fertility.

Dr. Ankur Bio Update - Dr. Kumar Ankur, MD, DNB is working as an Associate Director & Head of the Department of Neonatology at BLK MAX Super Speciality Hospital Delhi, India. He has been working in the field of neonatology with private and non-goverment organisations for improving neonatal healthcare in the country. He is the national faculty and trainer for FBNC (Facility based neonatal care), Neonatal Resuscitation, Kangarroo Mother Care (KMC) and the national assessor for Neonatology Fellowship accreditation programme of India. He has been invited as an expert speaker, faculty, chairpersons for various national and state level conferences and workshops. He has many publications in national & international journal and authored many chapters, guidelines published by Indian Academy of Pediatrics & National Neonatology of Forum Delhi & India. He is also the co-editor of Handbook of Neonatal Clinical Practices. He is also running training program in neonatal Fellowship for postgraduate students & neonatal nurses. Currently he is also the Secretary of prestigious National Neonatology Forum, Delhi. National Neonatology Forum (NNF) is a strong and large body of more than 8000 neonatologists across India and abroad. NNF has been actively involved in advocacy, policy making, research and ensuring quality health care to newborn for the last 4 decades. He had been past Secretary (2014) & President (2018) of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), Central Delhi Branch.

Kymeng Tang is a PhD student at KU Leuven. He develops immersive playful systems to allow expecting parents and wider society to experience breastfeeding, and currently explores how to demonstrate breastfeeding in a virtual reality environment. Kymeng obtained a Bachelor of Science in computer science with highest distinction under a government-funded-merit scholarship from the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2016. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree, he was awarded several merit-exchange scholarships to study abroad. Between 2015 and 2016, Kymeng also worked as a part-time research assistant at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. Shortly after obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he was awarded a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at KU Leuven, Belgium in 2016. In 2017, Kymeng was honored to have his bachelor’s degree awarded and congratulated by the prime minister of Cambodia. In 2018, he obtained a Master of Science in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology (Magna Cum Laude) from KU Leuven, where he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. In his most recent publication, “Information and Communication Systems to Tackle Barriers to Breastfeeding: Systematic Search and Review”, he highlights shortcomings in current information technology to support breastfeeding, and outlines design opportunities to turn breastfeeding into a collective and societal rather than individual effort.