Lactation & Breastfeeding Online Course(s) & Continuing Education

In this session, I will explore how trauma held in the body interferes with the breast/chestfeeding experience on a physiological level, including how experiences of trauma, stress, and conflict contribute to stress hormones, as well as on an emotional level, preventing the bonding between parent and child that facilitates a fulfilling breast/chestfeeding relationship. I will share techniques for supporting parents with past trauma using interdisciplinary approaches that promote self-care and healing of trauma that include talk therapy, bodywork, use of herbs and other holistic and traditional approaches such as acupuncture, potential Western medicine/pharmaceutical support, peer support, lactation professional support, and family support, and how to integrate trauma-informed care into their lactation practice. We will discuss the role of gender dysphoria during breast/chestfeeding for trans and gender non-conforming parents and delve into the available research on techniques that queer, trans and gender non-conforming parents use to combat gender dysphoria, including hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery, and chest binding, and the compatibility of those techniques with lactation.

One of the most complex and challenging tasks required of an infant in the neonatal ICU (NICU) is oral feeding. Oral feeding progression is also one of the most critical pieces of the discharge puzzle. Depending on their medical and nutritional needs, these infants often experience procedures like intubation and/or placement of medically necessary interfaces like nasal prongs, CPAP masks, orogastric and nasogastric feeding tubes. Intra-oral presence of tubes paired with the sensory motor implications of tape used to secure these interfaces and the overall challenges of a developing infant in the ex-utero environment places these infants at risk for oral feeding difficulties downstream. This presentation will provide participants with ways to support the developing oral structures and subsequent oral motor and oral sensory components of a neonate in an attempt to support breast and bottle feeding progression in the NICU.

In this presentation, Dr Pound will discuss the evidence supporting the importance of physician support, in order to encourage and maintain successful breastfeeding. An overview of recent research of Canadian physicians’ attitudes, comfort and knowledge with regards to breastfeeding will be provided, with a particular emphasis on specific knowledge gaps. Clinical scenarios will be discussed, in which ways to address breastfeeding difficulties will be examined, from the physician’s standpoint. Common universal myths and pitfalls will be addressed, and ways to efficiently integrate breastfeeding assessment into one’s clinical practice.

Mothers 35 year of age or older are the fastest growing demographic of new mothers in many developed countries, & a steadily emerging global trend. The quality of a mother's breastfeeding experience has the potential to affect breastfeeding duration and factors that promote healthy maternal-infant attachment, infant growth and development, and maternal mental health. There is a lack of understanding of how older first-time mothers make decisions about breastfeeding and mothering. Learn more about new research that looked to answer the research question ‘What factors affect how first-time mothers >35 years of age make decisions about breastfeeding and the motherhood in the first six months postpartum?’ The findings provide a framework to work in partnership with older first-time mothers to enhance positive breastfeeding experiences, adaptation to motherhood and positive mental health outcomes through strategies that promote resiliency and shared decision-making around early postpartum care, and breastfeeding/infant feeding supports. Key components include helping mothers identify what satisfaction with breastfeeding is for them, encouraging increased levels of knowledge, control, trust and ownership, supporting them in redefining their core self, and providing realistic, evidence-based information.

For many mothers/lactating parents, their reasons for deciding to breast/chestfeed are often grounded in an effort to do what’s best for themselves and their child. Unfortunately, the reality is that on the road to trying to be the best parent they can be, breast/chestfeeding doesn’t always work out in the way that parents had hoped. In fact, sometimes it doesn’t work out at all. This loss can be deeply felt by a parent for a long time.

This presentation will explore what is at the heart of breast/chestfeeding grief and what distinguishes it from other types of grief. Lactation providers will also learn about several socio-cultural factors that amplify grief after the loss of the breast/chestfeeding relationship. Additionally, attendees will learn about some of the emerging data related to how the pandemic has impacted this type of grief. And lastly, we will take a closer look at how to respond more effectively to clients who are experiencing the loss of a breast/chestfeeding relationship with their child.

One in four girls in the United States report having been sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. This session will explore how this experience impacts breastfeeding and how lactation supporters can play a positive role in both healing and feeding. A small amount of time will be dedicated to understanding the scope of child sexual abuse in the US. Participants will benefit from hearing lessons gleaned from contemporary peer-reviewed literature that explores the relationship between the surviving child sexual abuse and breastfeeding. The majority of time will be spent hearing from the experts themselves: mothers talking about how their experiences of child sexual abuse impacts their experiences with breastfeeding. Participants will gain insight to the vulnerability and resilience that exists within this large group. The session will end with recommendations for how to provide lactation support that respects and enhances parents’ opportunities to gain power, self-possession, softness and inter-generational healing.

Cow’s milk protein allergy is one of the most common food allergies in young children, diagnosed in 1/200 breastfed infants. Both underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis can have negative implications for mother and child, underlining the importance of a timely and correct diagnosis. An adequate management of a cow’s milk protein allergy should not only focus on the correct elimination of cow’s milk proteins, but also on practical advice on adaption of family meals and nutritional adequacy for the breastfeeding mother and infant. Research shows that 85% of children develop tolerance to cow’s milk proteins, on average between the age of one and three years old. This presentation will include when and how reintroduction with cow’s milk should occur to determine acquisition of tolerance in the breastfed infant. Finally, we will discuss whether the development of a cow’s milk protein allergy can be prevented and which factors raise the risk of developing a cow’s milk protein allergy.

In this talk, Dr Lisa Amir explains how to take a history in a breastfeeding consultation. Developing rapport, listening and asking the right questions are essential to helping women experiencing challenges with breastfeeding. This talk will consider taking a history from clients before and during pregnancy, as well as early postpartum and later in their breastfeeding journey.

Breastmilk has long been understood to be a pathway towards long-term health for both mother and child. The specific mechanisms for how this communication works has long been studied and today many researchers believe that messenger RNAs and stem cells contribute in many ways to appropriate developmental pathways for the baby and cause gene activation that promotes health for life. mRNA in breastmilk can also be influenced by the time of day and even the timing of the babies delivery, becoming adaptive for the baby’s unique needs. Not only do these messenger RNA communicate important genetic information to the baby via breastmilk, changes in the mothers body via mRNA occur during lactation responding to a new “mothering” focus during the period of lactation. This may impact the mother’s postpartum mental states, adaptation to stress, and changes in fatty acids. This presentation highlights some of the fascinating studies that demonstrate the myriad of ways that stem cells and mRNA during lactation become the ultimate communicators, affecting change for years to come.

This is a presentation on how explaining things to babies of all ages, including newborns, can help solve difficult moments during lactation in the parent-baby relationship and lead to healthy parenting. Communication blocks happen frequently due to changes, events, and anxiety, and sometimes they can interfere with breastfeeding/chestfeeding. At least some of these blocks can be solved by communicating with the baby in an open, compassionate, and respectful way.

Lactation and healthcare professionals will learn how to approach such situations, what questions to ask and what suggestions to make to parents so they and their babies can overcome the situation. Lactation and healthcare professionals will also learn about different cases that I have encountered, how the method was applied and what were the results.

I deeply believe that the way we talk to babies, communicate with them and how we teach parents to do that is an essential part of our work. On the long term, it can make an important difference to how those babies are treated, respected, parented, educated, and raised and what kind of adults they will become.