Breastfeeding Education and Advocacy Lecture Pack

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.

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.

Christy Jo has over 25 years of teaching experience. She is passionate about teaching in ways that simplify learning. She has been awarded the United States Presidential Volunteer Award for her community service, the Phyllis Klaus Founder's Award for her contribution to the Mother/Baby bond and the Above and Beyond Award for innovative projects that exemplify the mission of Public Health. She has also been named Lactation Educator Faculty of the Year from Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association and earned their Visionary Award in 2015. Christy Jo is the author of Mommy Feeds Baby and co-author of Making Milk. She created the Grow Our Own Lactation Consultant/IBCLC Prep Course which has been used to train hundreds of students to become Lactation Consultants. She currently resides in California with her husband and three children. She continues to serve her community as a birth doula, Private Practice IBCLC, Health Educator for Public Health, and faculty for the CAPPA CLE© and Childbirth Educator Programs.

Mother of 6 breastfed children, Tytina is a Certified Lactation Counselor, La Leche League International Breastfeeding Peer Counselor and Program Administrator. Tytina is a Loving Support WIC Peer Counselor and Rush University Medical Center Mother’s Milk Club peer counselor. She is an International Center for Traditional Childbearing provisional Doula. She has 15 years of community-level maternal child health. Her affiliations include Chicago Region Breastfeeding Taskforce, March of Dimes, National Association of Professional and Peer Lactation Supporters of Color, Breastfeed Chicago, the United States Breastfeeding Committee, and GOLD Learning Professional Advisory Committee.

After studying biology at Meredith College in North Carolina, Nicola Singletary, PhD, MAT, IBCLC spent the early part of her career sharing her love of science with middle school students. It was not until after the birth of her first child in 2007 and the challenges she faced breastfeeding that she became interested in pursuing a career in breastfeeding support. She enrolled at North Carolina State University to study human nutrition and completed the Mary Rose Tully Training Initiative through the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute at UNC Chapel Hill in 2012. In the fall of 2013, she opened Harmony Lactation, LLC with the goal of helping mothers meet their breastfeeding goals. She recently completed her PhD in Nutrition and is a postdoctoral researcher at NCSU; her research focuses on breastfeeding education. She is also co-owner of Next Level Lactation, an educational and consulting company for lactation professionals.

Geraldine has been involved in breastfeeding support and education for 30 years in Ireland. She works in private practice as a Lactation Consultant doing home visits. She has a major interest in Adult Education and she runs Training of Trainer (Lactation) courses for healthcare professionals in Ireland. She tutors for a group called Cuidiú, training both breastfeeding counselors and childbirth educators.She has organized Peer to peer education for other groups in Ireland and abroad. Geraldine has spoken at many conferences both in Ireland and abroad or a range of topics but her choice usually comes back to her interest in Adult education and the theories around learning styles, groupwork, experiential learning and programme development.