Lactation / Breastfeeding Continuing Education Bundle #9 (29.5 Hours)

Dr. Blanca Aguilar Uscanga is a Biochemical Engineer in Food Science and has a Masters in Food Science. She graduated from the Institute Technologic of Veracruz (ITV) México. She completed her doctoral studies in the specialty of Biotechnology at the National Institute of the Sciences Appliqués of Toulouse in France.

She is currently a full-time research professor (since 2006) at the Centro Universitario de Ciencias Exactas e Ingenierías (CUCEI) de la Universidad de Guadalajara. Dr. Aguilar Uscanga is adjunct professor to the Department of Pharmacobiology, where she teaches courses of Applied Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food Science to undergraduate and PhD students.

She is a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico recognized by CONACYT, with level 2. The research areas are: Food Biotechnology and Microbiology, which cover different areas of research such as: Obtaining bioactive compounds and metabolites of industrial importance through of microorganisms, production and development of functional foods, fermented beverages, probiotics, prebiotics and food safety.

She has international collaborations with the Institute Armand Frappier, Canada and the Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF) in Québec. Currently she is member of INRS and has an honorable mention of “Professeure associée” provided by the INRS- the Institute Armand Frappier in Laval, Canada.

Shondra Mattos is an IBCLC (Internationally Board-certified Lactation Consultant) and owner of a Location-independent lactation practice where she provides breastfeeding and infant feeding support to families countrywide.

Shondra finds the science of lactation fascinating, and as such, she has a passion for sharing her understanding of complex lactation subjects with her colleagues and aspiring lactation students. When she's not with clients, speaking, or teaching, she spends time with her husband and daughter in Fayetteville, NC.

Bryna is a lactation consultant, mentor, educator, and birth doula in the Pacific Northwestern United States. They are active in their community as an advocate for mutual aid, reproductive justice, and reduction in barriers to care. They also own and manage an inclusive private practice. As a member of both Queer and Neurodivergent communities, offering inclusive care on every level is very important to Bryna. Their vision is to offer information and tools to providers to build a community of comprehensive, concordant, and individualized care for all families in the perinatal period.

As a Pediatrician and an IBCLC, Shacchee is attracted to ways of promoting health and well-being for families. She transitioned to lactation support 14 years ago after her first daughter was born, realising the felt need for skilled Lactation Support in her community.

She works at a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India, and heads a Lactation team, supporting families in their antenatal, intra-natal and postnatal periods. She also trains medical and paramedical staff in skilled lactation support.

She is the current President and Executive Team member of ALPI (Association of Lactation Professionals India). She works as a clinical instructor, helping train future lactation professionals in various aspects of Skills, Ethics, Scope of Practise and Communication. She co-ordinates between Public and Private healthcare bodies to provide equitable lactation support across her community.

She is an advocate of teamwork in supporting dyads with special lactation challenges (oral restrictions/ NICU babies etc) and has been working to bring experts from different fields together for comprehensive lactation support. Working with different teams locally and nationally allowed her to achieve the goal of making, "skilled lactation support a reality in India."

Married to Vipul, they have two super girls Navya (14) and Ayana(11).

Alyssa has been helping parents and babies with breastfeeding since 2002, first as a La Leche League Leader and since 2009 as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.

Alyssa works in private practice serving clients worldwide, primarily through telehealth. She is the author of Breastfeeding Without Birthing: A Breastfeeding Guide for Mothers Through Adoption, Surrogacy, and Other Special Circumstances and a professional supplement to the book, The Breastfeeding Without Birthing Professional Pack online training.

Alyssa has authored articles for The Journal of Human Lactation: The Three Step Framework for Inducing Lactation and Successful Co-Lactation by a Queer Couple: A Case Study. She has also authored articles for La Leche League’s Leader Today and Breastfeeding Today magazines, and Adoptive Families magazine. She is an international speaker on the topics of inducing lactation, relactation, and other related topics. Alyssa is the proud mother of three breastfed children, two by birth and one by adoption. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Dr. Diane DiTomasso achieved a Diploma in Nursing from Newport Hospital School of Nursing; a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Nursing Education, and a PhD from the University of Rhode Island. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing.

Her research focus is human lactation and infant weight. She has multiple publications in journals such as Journal of Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN), Journal of Human Lactation, Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, and Nursing for Women’s Health and has presented her work nationally and internationally.

Dr. DiTomasso has received various honors and awards with the most recent being the 2020 Suzanne Feetham Nurse Scientist Family Research Award by the Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) and the 2020 Best of JOGNN Award as first author of the article, “Systematic Review of Expected Weight Changes After Birth for Full-Term, Breastfed Newborn. She has served as Principal Investigator for a variety of neonatal research studies. Dr. DiTomasso is a member of AWHONN, the International Lactation Consultant Association, the Eastern Nursing Research Society, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She currently serves as a Member on the AWHONN Research Advisory Panel.

Lina Mazzoni is a Lactation Consultant, IBCLC with a Bachelors Degree in Speech and Language Therapy. Since 2013 she has been working primarily with children and specialized in the treatment of sucking, swallowing and feeding disorders. In 2019 she became a Lactation Consultant to be able to work equivalent with the children and the mother. As a working mom she worked part time as a Lactation Consultant in a hospital in Hamburg, started her own privat practice in 2019 and since october 2021 she works exclusively in her private practice as a lactation consultant and SLT. She also works as an Instructor in lactation education and further education regarding feeding developement and disorders . Lina has two children and lives with them and her husband in Hamburg, Germany.

Johanna Sargeant is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, teacher and writer based in Zurich, Switzerland. She is passionate about utilising her background in education, biological science, psychology and language to empower parents with empathetic support and evidence-based information through her private practice, Milk and Motherhood.

Originally from Australia, Johanna provides much-needed English-speaking support to many thousands of parents throughout Switzerland and across Europe, and has recently been writing new education modules for the European Society of Paediatric Research and the European Society of Neonatology. She has taught at the University of Zurich, has spoken as a panelist for the WHO's Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative congress in Geneva, has been an expert speaker and facilitator for Google, and has presented at a wide variety of international conferences. The complexities of her personal feeding experiences fuels her passion for providing knowledgeable, guilt-free infant feeding support globally.

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. During residency, she created a breastfeeding medicine clinical rotation.

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.

Rachel Walker received her master’s degree in exercise science and wellness from Old Dominion University and a PhD in nutritional sciences from Penn State University. Her PhD work focused on lipid metabolism and insulin resistance. She has over 3 years of experience teaching both nutrition and exercise science courses.

In 2020, she was selected for a research fellowship from the United States Department of Agriculture for her study, ‘The Role of Metabolic Health and Lipid Metabolism in Human Lactation and Milk Composition’. Her current research is focused on the effects of insulin resistance during pregnancy and lactation, especially with the goal of developing therapies to improve lactation.

She has presented her research at numerous national meetings. Rachel’s proudest achievement is becoming Mommy to her 3 children, Clark, Lee, and Nora.

Marie Zahorick, MS, APRN, FNP-C, IBCLC became a La Leche League Leader in 1999 and an IBCLC in 2005. After several years of working as a hospital-based bilingual Spanish-speaking IBCLC, she attended nursing school and eventually became a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. In the meantime, she continued working as a hospital-based lactation consultant doing inpatient, outpatient, and Level III NICU lactation. She did not get much sleep.

After graduate school, Marie was recruited to work as a nurse practitioner in psychiatry. She was fellowship-trained to manage patients in the acute inpatient setting, partial hospitalization, outpatient office, and OB patients in the general hospital setting.

She specializes in women’s psychiatry, especially medical management of women who are pregnant or lactating. Her expertise also includes general psychopharmacology. She is experienced at diagnosing and treating mental conditions such as bipolar disorder, perinatal/postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, postpartum psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, premenstrual and perimenopausal mood disorders, and personality disorders.

She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and three adult children in the transient stage of life. Her children all breastfed for at least two years but now just make faces when confronted with that fact.

Wendy is a breast biologist at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Her research explores the biology of how the breast develops and functions to better understand how disease states occur, including lactation mastitis and breast cancer.

After postdoctoral research as an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA, Wendy returned to Adelaide in 2005 and established the Breast Biology and Cancer Unit at the University of Adelaide. In 2011 she was appointed a National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellow and also The Hospital Research Foundation Associate Professor of Breast Cancer Research, which is her current appointment.

In 2016 Wendy won the Award for Excellence in Reproductive Biology Research from the Society for Reproductive Biology. Wendy’s research challenges old paradigms and explores new concepts in how the breast develops and functions to improve breast health across the life course.

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.

Dr. Amal Omer-Salim is the Executive Director of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA). She is a nutritionist with a Ph.D. from Uppsala University, Sweden. Her areas of expertise are nutrition, breastfeeding, international health, gender, programme planning, research, and advocacy, with a special focus on Africa and Asia.

Dr. Smaranda Nay is a Family Doctor, an IBCLC, a Personal Development Counselor and a mother. She has been studying Transactional Analysis psychotherapy since 2007 and is now in her second year of training to become a Somatic Experience therapist. She uses her knowledge to teach parents how to connect with their children and how to attune to their babies’ needs, both through individual counselling sessions and in classes. She is part of the Romanian Lactation Consultants Association and holds lactation education courses for future IBCLCs. She gives lactation counselling consults and holds breastfeeding and childcare courses.

She also holds personal development workshops for teenagers and adults, collaborating with non-formal education organizations and schools. She is particularly curious about the development of an attuned relationship between people and building intimacy and trust. Working with babies, she observes the parent-child connection and explores its potential in healing and growth, and how it impacts the future development of the individual. Working with teenagers and adults, she facilitates ways in which childhood disruptions can be healed in the present.

Tom Johnston is unique as a midwife and lactation consultant and the father of eight breastfed children. Recently retired after 27 years in the US Army, he is now an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Methodist University where he teaches, among other things, Maternal-Child Nursing and Nutrition. You may have heard him at a number of conferences at the national level, to include the Association of Woman’s Health and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), the International Lactation Consultant’s Association (ILCA), or perhaps at dozens of other conferences across the country. In his written work he routinely addresses fatherhood and the role of the father in the breastfeeding relationship and has authored a chapter on the role of the father in breastfeeding for “Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: A survival guide to breastfeeding in the military”.

Muswamba Mwamba is a father of five breastfed children. An International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, a public health practitioner, and a scholar; his research interests focus on immigrant health within the minority group in the context of the US health disparity. Muswamba helps mothers and babies obtain the best health outcomes by teaching and inspiring their partner/ father to fight to remove barriers that prevent successful breastfeeding. As a professor at the University of North Texas at Dallas, Muswamba disseminates clinical and non-clinical information to inform graduate students of significant developments and trends in the field of infant feeding.

Muswamba is a lifelong learner. He trained in Belgium, where he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering, a master's degree in human nutrition biochemistry, and a second master's degree in food science and technology. Witnessing striking disparity in his maternal and child health practice, he deepened his understanding of public health's complexity in the US and elsewhere. He earned a master's degree in Public Health at the University of North Texas and a doctoral degree in Public Health Executive Leadership from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Hope has always been the type of person to dive head-first into the deep end (literally - she learned to swim before she was 2!). Hope became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in 2017, completed her PhD in nutritional biochemistry in 2018 at NC State University, and became a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) in 2020.

In addition to owning and operating Hope Feeds Babies in Rock Hill, SC, Hope is employed full time at Winthrop University in the Department of Human Nutrition overseeing the Certificate in Medical Lactation and running a research lab that focuses on helping mothers to reach their infant feeding goals, improving access to human milk, and analyzing the nutritional content of human milk. As an IBCLC, Hope has a passion for connecting with mothers to help them to reach their individual feeding goals and advocacy for maternal health. As an RDN, Hope loves to support parents in feeding their children, whether that is traditional solids, baby-led weaning, or blenderized tube feeds.

Karin always knew that helping people would guide the course of her career. Karin’s professional path demonstrates this passion as she pursued a BA in psychology from Villanova University, a Master’s in Nutrition Education from Immaculata University, and is currently in the latter stages of her dissertation work towards a PhD in Health Education and Promotion from Walden University. In the past 20 years, Karin has sought opportunities that allow her to gather experience in various settings. While earning her Masters in Nutrition Education, she worked as a counselor and nutrition therapist at the world renown Renfrew Center in Philadelphia, PA. It was here that Karin adopted her view that an individual’s relationship with food and body are critical to change and sustain physical and mental health.

Sharing this approach with future health-minded individuals prompted Karin to begin teaching at Winthrop University, where she has taught for the past seven years courses related to health and nutrition. During this time, Karin continues her own education through the pursuit of Doctorate in Health Education and Promotion from Walden University. Her dissertation focuses on online faculty perceptions of college student mental health concerns and if these perceptions predict the likelihood of a mental health service referral.

Naomi Hull is a Registered Nurse, an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and has a Master of Public Health (Nutrition).

Naomi is mum to two teenage young adults, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and five chickens. Since 2006 Naomi has been a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor (Cert IV Breastfeeding Education) with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, and she qualified as an IBCLC in 2010 and has worked in a small Private Practice in Brisbane. While completing her MPH at the University of Queensland (UQ) she focused her dissertation on a qualitative review of stakeholder’s perceptions of the implementation of the Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy (2010-2015).

Since then she has gone on to lead and coordinate a national team in the assessment of Australian breastfeeding policies and programs using the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) Assessment Tool.

Naomi is the Senior Manager for Breastfeeding Information and Research at the Australian Breastfeeding Association, where she is responsible for the provision of up to date, evidence-based information for the general community and health professionals.

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.

Decalie is a Registered nurse/midwife with over 40 years of experience collectively working as an IBCLC in a clinical roles within Primary Care and Community Health. Currently working as a Child & Family Health Clinical Nurse Specialist 2 in busy Community of the Blue Mountains, NSW Australia. She supports health professionals and parents with education of lactation/infant feeding/settling and behavioural issues for infants and children 0 to 5 years of age as a clinical specialist. A current BFHI Assessor. Has shared her extensive clinical experience in workshops at many ILCA, LCANZ and ABA conferences over the years. Her passion in support for mothers and babies.

Decalie has volunteered for Board of Director for the Australian Lactation Consultants Association (ALCA) 7 years on the ILCA International Lactation Consultant Association, last 2 years as President. On the Inaugural World Trends Initiative WBTI AUS Core group. Advisory committee for International Childbirth Education Ass. ICEA. World Health Organisation working group for revision of BFHI Education package, WABA advisory group. ILCA Nominations committee chair, IBCLC Care award Co chair.

Enjoying the next level of parenting being Mimi to her 3 year old grandson Cole.

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.

Michal A. Young, M.D., FAAP, FABM is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Howard University College of Medicine. She also serves as the Medical Director of the B.L.E.S.S. (Breastfeeding Lactation Education Support Services) Initiative as well as Director of the NICU and Newborn Services, at Howard University Hospital. She is a graduate of Howard University College of Medicine, Class of 1979. Dr. Young completed a rotating internship in Medicine and Pediatrics at Grady Memorial and Emory Hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by a Pediatric residency in the Howard University Hospital/D.C. General Hospital Combined Program, and a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Georgetown University Hospital.

Dr. Young has several publications and presentations over a range of topics governing infant care. Her research interests are in developmental outcomes of the ELBW, HIV perinatal transmission, the Diabetic Dyad and in breastfeeding education for professionals and parents.

She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (sections on Perinatal Medicine and Breastfeeding), a Fellow and member of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (Chairman of its Protocol Committee), member of the National Medical Association (a Past Chair of its Pediatric Section), Member of the Board of Directors for the D.C. Breastfeeding Coalition, Member of the Board of Directors for ROSE: Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere, Inc., one of the Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinators for the D.C. Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Board Member of the Prolacta Bioscience Foundation.

Lisa Marasco has been working with breastfeeding mothers for 35 years and has been Internationally Board Certified since 1993. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development with specialization in Lactation Consulting and was designated a Fellow of ILCA in 2009.

Lisa is co-author of Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production, a contributing author to the Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Care, and a Cochrane Collaborative author. She is employed by WIC of Santa Barbara County while she continues to research, write and speak. In addition, Lisa is affiliated with La Leche League of So. Calif/Nevada, and serves on the Breastfeeding Coalition of Santa Barbara County.

Nekisha Killings is an equity strategist, internationally board-certified lactation consultant, and maternal and child health advocate who speaks, teaches, and facilitates on topics related to equity and dismantling bias across various sectors.

When she is not home educating 4 future world changers, she acts as a Director of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Lactation Education Resources and consults organizations on creating and implementing strategies to better support marginalized communities.

Nekisha holds a Masters in Public Health and penned the chapter titled Cultural Humility in the latest Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Support text. Nekisha is on a mission to normalize brown breasts and nipples in health education, thereby better equipping healthcare providers to accurately assess and treat people of color.

Nekisha's work is rooted in a compassion and candor that could only have been cultivated in years of supporting new parents during their first days of parenthood. Nekisha is an active duty military spouse who has been awarded the Spouse of the Year designation for her volunteer efforts supporting families.

Robin Kaplan has been an IBCLC since 2009, the same year that she opened up the San Diego Breastfeeding Center. She founded the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation in 2016, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to reduce breastfeeding disparities among families of color and low-income families, as well as provide scholarships for women of color to become IBCLCs.

Robin was the founding host of the Boob Group podcast and published her first book, Latch: a Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence at Every Stage in 2018. Robin’s center has been a clinical training site for the UCSD Lactation Consultant program since 2015.

In 2019/2020, Robin helped write the curriculum for the University of California San Diego Lactation Educator Counselor program and was the Program Manager for the UCSD Curriculum Development Team for the Pathway 1&2 Lactation Consultant program. Robin has a BA from Washington University in St Louis and Masters in Education from University of California Los Angeles. Robin is currently attending the Functional Nutrition Alliance to become a Functional Nutrition Counselor.

Annette Leary is a registered nurse with over 33 years of experience working in Maternal Child Health. She became an IBCLC In 1995. She works as a Maternal Educator in a large tertiary care hospital (14,000 deliveries a year) that is Magnet designated, JCAHO certified, and BFHI awarded. Her responsibilities include providing outpatient lactation virtual and in-person support, staff education, and inpatient consultations. She began her Upledger Craniosacral training in 2015, taking advanced maternal and pediatric specialty classes. Her most special efforts to date include her marriage of over 33 years, four adult children and being nana to two grandchildren.

Naomi Hull as a Registered Nurse, an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and has a Master of Public Health (Nutrition). Naomi is mum to two teenage young adults, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and three chickens. Since 2006 Naomi has been a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor (Cert IV Breastfeeding Education) with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, and she qualified as an IBCLC in 2010 and has worked in a small Private Practice in Brisbane. While completing her MPH at the University of Queensland (UQ) she focused her dissertation on a qualitative review of stakeholder’s perceptions of the implementation of the Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy (2010-2015). Since then she has gone on to lead and coordinate a national team in the assessment of Australian breastfeeding policies and programs using the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) Assessment Tool. Naomi is the Senior Manager for Breastfeeding Information and Research at the Australian Breastfeeding Association, where she is responsible for the provision of up to date, evidence-based information for the general community and health professionals.

Maxine Scringer-Wilkes graduated with a nursing degree followed later on by her Master of Nursing in 2017 both from the University of Calgary. Maxine was a public health nurse in Calgary for 13 years, where providing face to face contacts with new families soon after discharge is a standard of care. Most families named feeding challenges as their biggest concern. In turn, Maxine developed a passion for lactation support, worked towards and attained the International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant designation, in order to assist families to reach their feeding goals. In 2016, Maxine made the transition from public health to acute care where she currently works in all areas of a large Children’s hospital to support dyads with a myriad of lactation concerns but is primarily in the NICU. Maxine’s responsibilities includes orienting new staff to teaching a provincial lactation education within a team. Maxine is passionate about sharing knowledge with aspiring LCs and is a mentor to many. Maxine participates on numerous committees to update lactation and feeding policies, procedures and documents. Furthermore, she volunteers on provincial and national breastfeeding committees.

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>

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.

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.

Sejal is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in private practice and an infant massage educator in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. She combines her professional expertise with her personal instincts as a mother and a supportive team member.
She holds a Bachelors in Microbiology and Clinical Laboratory Science.
She also brings with her the following comprehensive toolkit: Certified Educator of Infant Massage, Formerly Certified in skin-to-skin care for full term infants from the United States Institute of Kangaroo Care Certified Provider of Innate Postpartum Care.
She has presented nationally and internationally for GOLD lactation, ILCA, community colleges, local lactation organizations.
As a lactation consultant, she believes that every individual needs to be educated about breast health, optimal infant feeding and how breastfeeding support is a basic human right and can impact world health globally.
She strives to help each family by continuing to learn all she can about breast health, breastfeeding ecology, breastfeeding movement and parent-infant connection using the neurobiological and infant mental health lens.
When she’s not with her clients, you can find her at home in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA, listening to bollywood music, hanging out with friends and spending time with her family.