Breastfeeding in the NICU Lecture Pack

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.

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.

Naomi Bar-Yam, PhD, ACSW, has been working in maternal and child health for over 30 years as an educator, researcher, advocate, and writer. She is the immediate past president of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) and the founding director of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, which provides safe donor milk to hospitals and families throughout the northeastern US. An expert on access to perinatal health care and policies that support breastfeeding, she has been a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control (on a panel that created “The CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions”), to the United States Breastfeeding Committee (developing an issue paper addressed to CEOs and legislators on breastfeeding and the workplace), and to the March of Dimes (developing educational material for women and families who are medically and socially vulnerable to high-risk pregnancy). She also developed a curriculum for hospital personnel about combining breastfeeding with their work. She reviews articles submitted to the Journal of Human Lactation, Breastfeeding Medicine, and other publications related to breastfeeding, milk banking, and access to perinatal child care. As Executive Director of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, she is thoroughly versed in the technical, procedural, and ethical aspects of milk banking. She often speaks at professional conferences, hospital staff trainings, and grand rounds about milk banking and breastfeeding policies.

Nancy Mohrbacher was born and raised in the Chicago area, where she lives today. She is a board-certified lactation consultant who has been helping nursing mothers since 1982. Her breastfeeding books for parents and professionals include Breastfeeding Answers Made Simple and its Pocket Guide; Breastfeeding Made Simple(with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett); Working and Breastfeeding Made Simple; and Breastfeeding Solutions and its companion app for Android and iPhone.

Nancy currently contracts with hospitals to improve breastfeeding practices, writes for many publications, and speaks at events around the world. Nancy was in the first group of 16 to be honored for her lifetime contributions to breastfeeding with the designation FILCA, Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association.