IBCLC Detailed Content Outline: Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology Focused CERPs - Section V

Cathy Carothers is co-director of Every Mother, a non-profit organization providing lactation training for health professionals. An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 1996, she has provided more than 600 training events and conference presentations in every U.S. state/territory and several countries. She is past president of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA), a fellow of ILCA, and past chair of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. She chairs the design team for the equity initiative in the lactation consultant profession, and chairs the Monetary Investment for Lactation Consultant Certification (MILCC), which works to reduce financial barriers to the IBCLC exam. She has directed several national breastfeeding promotion and support initiatives for the U.S. federal government, including the national USDA WIC peer counseling program, and national workplace support initiatives through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She was honored with the 2014 National Leadership Award from the National WIC Association.

Marie Zahorick, MS, APRN, PMHNP-BC, 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 NICU lactation. She did not get much sleep.

After graduate school, Marie went to work in psychiatry and also did a post-masters certificate to became board-certified in psychiatry and mental health. 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 their 20s. Her children all breastfed for at least two years but now just make faces when confronted with that embarrassing fact.

Megan Dunn is a board certified Lactation Consultant and Health Educator who views infant feeding from an anthropological perspective and through a sociological lens. Her experiences have run the gamut as a volunteer, peer-to-peer counselor, clinical IBCLC, and as an educator.

Currently she is the Breastfeeding Program Coordinator for a local WIC agency where she is coordinating a pilot program to equitably expand peer services. She is privileged to be a part of the excellent team at Legacy Health as a perinatal Educator. She also provides community lactation support as a home-visiting provider. Her goals are to support biological feeding norms and to offer practical and empowering solutions for dyads. Professionally, her special interests include the fascinating world of our microbiome, empowering parents through Participant Centered and motivational approaches, and creating successful feeding solutions for complex cases. She is eager to collaborate on projects which focus on improving public policy and accessibility to culturally aware and trauma informed care for all perinatal families.

When she’s not pondering and working on all things human milk, Megan enjoys cooking, hanging out with her teenagers, going on nature walks, volunteering, and spinning tunes as a community radio host and DJ.

Priyanka Idicula is a Certified professional International midwife (U.S.A) and a Lamaze certified childbirth educator(FACCE,LCCE). She is currently the director of Birthvillage the natural birthing centre one of India’s popular natural birth centres and is the managing trustee for birth for change (NGO) India. She also has extensive experience in working in maternity care with pregnant teenagers as part of the Tejus home project one of its kind in India.

She has presented various papers on holistic maternity care and has been the face of India at various international midwifery conferences. She has also been invited to speak as a guest speaker at various nursing colleges on midwifery education and human rights in childbirth in India. She has been honoured with one world birth hero runner up championship in 2011. She has been awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award for Service to Mother Baby" by Midwifery Today recognising midwifery leadership and in the promotion of birth as normal life event in 2018 at Germany. She has also been awarded the best midwife of the year 2019 at the International breastfeeding conference, India. She is also one of the early pioneers for water birth in India in 2010. She is also the first Asian to win the dual scholarship from Lamaze International She also carries with her Bachelors and Masters in microbiology.

Marea Goodman (she/her) is a licensed midwife specializing in pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and conception care for the LGBTQ+ community. A graduate of the National Midwifery Institute, Marea got her license from the California Medical Board in 2015 and spent the following year and a half working at birth centers in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala. She founded her midwifery practice, Restore Midwifery, in 2016 in the Bay Area, and is now serving the community in Santa Cruz, CA.
Aside from midwifery, Marea is also a writer whose work has been featured by the Huffington Post, Ms Magazine, and Mother.ly. She co-authored the book, Baby Making for Everybody—Family Building and Fertility for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents, which is set to be published in April, 2023. She lives in Santa Cruz with her three children and her wife, Andrea Ruizquez, who is also a midwife.

Ray Rachlin (she/they) is a Licensed Midwife and Certified Professional Midwife providing home-birth midwifery care, fertility and home-IUI care, and community education throughout the greater Philadelphia area and South Jersey. Ray founded Refuge Midwifery in 2017 to create a home for families not served by our current healthcare system.
In addition to their midwifery practice, Ray has been immersed in promoting affirming reproductive care for transgender patients and has taught midwives, doctors, nurses, and birth professionals throughout the country on trans-inclusive fertility, birth, and postpartum care. In their private practice, Ray specializes in natural fertility support for individuals with prior hormone use. Ray is the co-author of the forthcoming book Baby Making for Everybody—a Guide for LGBTQ+ and Solo Parents, coming April 2023.
Ray earned their Bachelor of Science in midwifery at Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, Oregon, in 2016 and also holds a Bachelor of Science in political science, urban studies, and labor studies from Queens College. Ray is a member of the Queer and Transgender Midwives Association. Ray lives with their partner and child in Philadelphia, PA.

An inspiring international teacher and published author, Jan Tedder is a nurse practitioner and lactation consultant who was honored as the NC Maternal-Child Nurse of the Year and the recipient of the American Nurses Association’s 2020 Innovative Nurse Award. Jan worked in primary care for decades and trained nurses and physician residents in well-child care and lactation support. She developed HUG Your Baby, an international education program to help parents and the professionals who serve them, understand a child’s behavior and help mothers meet their breastfeeding goals. Available in six languages, her work has been accessed by thousands of professionals around the world used in 50 countries and tribal nations.

Joy MacTavish, MA, IBCLC, RLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and certified Holistic Sleep Coach focusing on the intersections of infant feeding, sleep, and family well-being. Through her business, Sound Beginnings, she provides compassionate and evidence-based support to families in the greater Seattle area, and virtually everywhere else. She entered the perinatal field in 2007 as birth and postpartum doula, and childbirth and parenting educator. Joy holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies, graduate certificate in Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, and two Bachelors degrees from the University of Washington. She enjoys combining her academic background, analytical skills, and passion for social justice into her personal and professional endeavors. Joy serves as an Advisory Committee Member and guest speaker for the GOLD Lactation Academy. When not working or learning, she can be found homeschooling, building LEGO with her children, or dreaming up her next big adventure.

Cristen Pascucci is an advocate for human rights in childbirth. She is the founder of Birth Monopoly and working on a documentary film exposing the epidemic of obstetric violence and the state-sanctioned suppression of midwifery in the U.S. With a background in public affairs, Cristen has led multiple consumer-based advocacy campaigns to get birth trauma and institutional mistreatment in maternity care into the media. Today she teaches birth and healthcare workers about their patients' human rights.

Dianne is an IBCLC, podcaster, author, lactation education manager and has been working with families since 2008. She has worked with thousands of families in all areas of their breast/chest feeding journey. Dianne teaches using her real-life experiences and case studies, which sets her apart in the lactation field providing a personalized and realistic experience for her audiences. Dianne’s evolution began as a clinical, patient-centered lactation consultant to a public speaker and educator, where she really shines. Her energy is contagious, and is felt by families, lactation consultants and birth workers alike.

Saleemah McNeil is a Reproductive Psychotherapist, Certified Lactation Consultant, professionally trained Birth Doula and a traumatic birth survivor. Saleemah has dedicated her work to helping families of color heal from traumatic birth experiences and transition into parenthood. Saleemah has held several positions in the field of Maternal & Child Health and Wellness. Mrs. McNeil furthered her knowledge and experience with vulnerable birthing persons and served as a Philadelphia County Jail Based Case Manager at Riverside Correctional Facility. In this role, she assisted birthing women during their most vulnerable times as a Doula. Working in the Department of Corrections, ignited anger and passion which ultimately guided Saleemah to a masters in clinical psychology and counseling . After watching years of unfair treatment and inhumane conditions, reproductive injustice, systemic racism and trauma, Saleemah founded a nonprofit organization, Oshun Family Center. She launched a citywide initiative to reduce Black maternal mortality through the “Maternal Wellness Village” program and became a key figure and content area expert in the region. Mrs. McNeil's work is rooted in a deep appreciation and understanding that surviving the 4th trimester can mean life or death for some women. As a clinician, advocate, researcher and trainer, Mrs. McNeil’s work is grounded in helping families not only survive but thrive by utilizing an anti-racism and trauma sensitive framework. Her passion has driven her to explore new endeavors such as impacting policy change and ultimately shifting the provider - client dynamic in healthcare by addressing the disparities for Black women.