Latch & Position Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Latch & Position for Lactation & Breastfeeding professional training. These Latch & Position online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Latch & Position education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.

Beyond the Basics of Latch: Support strategies for helping babies when the basics aren’t enough

Melissa Cole is a board-certified lactation consultant, neonatal oral-motor assessment professional and clinical herbalist in private practice. Melissa is passionate about providing comprehensive, holistic lactation support and improving the level of clinical lactation skills for health professional. She enjoys researching and writing, especially on topics such tongue tie and botanical medicine.
Her bachelor’s degree is in maternal/child health and lactation and her master’s degree is in therapeutic herbalism. Before pursuing her current path, Melissa’s background was in education and cultural arts, which has served her well in her work as a lactation consultant and healthcare educator. She loves living, working and playing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her 3 children.
Topic: Beyond Fenugreek: An Individualized Approach to Dietary and Herbal Galactagogues - [View Abstract]
Topic: Beyond the Basics of Latch: Support strategies for helping babies when the basics aren’t enough - [View Abstract]
Topic: Common Infant Digestive Health Concerns and Useful Support Strategies - [View Abstract]
Topic: Connection and Care: Virtual Support for Tongue-Tied Infants - [View Abstract]
Topic: Connection and Care: Virtual Support for Tongue-Tied Infants - [View Abstract]
Topic: Infant Gut Health: Common Concerns and Useful Support Strategies - [View Abstract]
Topic: Infant Oral Assessment: Exploring Anatomy and Function Beyond the Frenulum - [View Abstract]
Topic: Infant Oral Assessment: Exploring Anatomy and Function Beyond the Frenulum - [View Abstract]
Topic: New Thoughts on Infant Pre and Post-Frenotomy Care - [View Abstract]
Topic: Placenta Medicine as a Galactogogue: Tradition or Trend? - [View Abstract]
Topic: Thinking Critically About the Use of Clinical Lactation Tools - [View Abstract]
Topic: Will it hurt? Frenotomy aftercare strategies to optimize healing outcomes for the newborn - [View Abstract]
In a perfect world, every baby would latch beautifully right after delivery and breastfeed happily ever after. In reality what we often see is that most moms and babies need a little help to get breastfeeding off to a good start. Many dyads need a lot of help. And a few mother/baby pairs need a miracle to breastfeed successfully. How can we best help those tough cases? There are many reasons babies struggle to latch and feed well. Some issues may include structural issues, physical discomfort, respiratory concerns, medical issues, digestive issues, poor feeding tool choices, prematurity, etc. Many providers are frustrated when they are unable to help a dyad latch and feed successfully. This presentation will covers some reasons why babies struggle to latch and breastfeed well. We will go over cases that portray challenging situations and the assessment techniques and care plan strategies that helped. This session is designed to help providers implement critical thinking skills in order to think outside the box when it comes to difficult cases.

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Dr. Bhagat is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist practicing at Kandivli, a western Suburb of Mumbai. He has been running Grace Maternity and Nursing Home, a Baby Friendly Maternity Service, for the past 22 years. Hon. Asst. (Obst & Gyn )at Akurli Road Municipal Maternity Home since June 1994 and Borivli Municipal Maternity Home from 1996 till 2010.
Dr. Bhagat is also a founding member and currently the Past-President of The Association of Fellow Gynaecologists, an organization representing practicing Gynaecologists from the suburbs of Mumbai. He has given many lectures, conducted workshops all over the country and contributed chapters to a number of publications on Optimising Labour and Delivery for Safe Motherhood, Caesarean Section: the Misgav Ladach technique, Active Management of the 3rd stage of labour, Post Partum Haemorrhage, Medical Disorders in Pregnancy, Breastfeeding; Breast Crawl and Neonatal Resuscitation.
Dr. Gangal is a Practicing Pediatrician in Mumbai for last 25 years. He has also been Mother Support & Training Coordinator of BPNI Maharashtra since 1995, Co-Coordinator of Mother Support Task Force of WABA since 2003 & Lactation Consultant since 2009.
Dr. Gangal was trained in lactation management by Dr. Felicity Savage and has been a breastfeeding trainer and advocate for over 2 decades. He was instrumental in establishing the first Mother Support Group in India (1995) and played a key role in training 500 Traditional Massage Women in Mumbai , Breast crawl rejuvenation (video, dossier and website), training thousands of Government health care providers in 5 Indian States with an innovatively written module in collaboration with UNICEF and organizing IBLCE exam for the first time in India (2009). He made significant contributions to LLLI publication ‘Hirkani’s Daughters’
Dr. Gangal has multiple publications to his credit and was a speaker at LLLI conferences in San Francisco and Chicago. He was honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by Mumbai Breastfeeding Promotion Committee in 2008 and WABA Secretariat award in 2010.
The phenomenon of Breast Crawl is unique due to multitude of Neuro-Endocrine components in the baby and the synchronized Neuro-Endocrine platform provided by the mother. The scientific details will help the Health Care Providers to understand the reasoning behind dos and don’ts for successful implementation of Breast Crawl. Addressing the obstacles to initiate breastfeeding by Breast Crawl in any maternity set up is a challenge for administrators as well public health experts. It is time that WHO and UNICEF declare Breast Crawl as the universally recommended method to initiate breastfeeding because that is exactly the process described in revised BFHI documents. Breast Crawl phenomenon is also a rich fertile ground for many research avenues like breastfeeding success, neuro-motor development, neonatal mortality, bonding etc. The entire spectrum from initiation with Breast Crawl and Baby Led Attachment to KMC in pre-term as well as full term newborns is worth exploring.

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Catherine Watson Genna BS, IBCLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in New York City. Certified in 1992, Catherine is particularly interested in helping moms and babies breastfeed when they have medical challenges and is an active clinical mentor. She speaks to healthcare professionals around the world on assisting breastfeeding babies with anatomical, genetic or neurological problems. Her presentations and her writing are enriched by her clinical photographs and videos. Catherine collaborates with Columbia University and Tel Aviv University Departments of Biomedical Engineering on research projects investigating the biomechanics of the lactating nipple and various aspects of sucking and swallowing in breastfeeding infants. She is the author of Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools: Improving Care and Outcomes (Praeclarus Press 2009) and Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants (Jones and Bartlett Learning 2008, 2013, 2017) as well as professional journal articles and chapters in the Core Curriculum for Lactation Consultant Practice and Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. Catherine served as Associate Editor of the United States Lactation Consultant Association’s official journal Clinical Lactation for its first seven years.
Topic: Breastfeeding Strategies for Tongue-tied Infants - [View Abstract]
Topic: Critical Assessment of Apparent Tongue-Tie - [View Abstract]
Topic: Introduction to Cervical Auscultation - [View Abstract]
Topic: Lactation Support for Infant Biomedical Challenges - [View Abstract]
Topic: Organization of tongue movements before and after frenotomy for posterior tongue-tie: an Ultrasound analysis - [View Abstract]
Topic: Positioning and Latch for Breastfeeding - [View Abstract]
Topic: Positioning and Latch for Breastfeeding - [View Abstract]
Topic: Ultrasound Analysis of Sucking: Tongue-Tie and Confounders - [View Abstract]
Topic: Ultrasound Analysis of Sucking: Tongue-Tie and Confounders - [View Abstract]
Topic: Using Breastfeeding Supplementers - [View Abstract]
Topic: Using Breastfeeding Supplementers - [View Abstract]
The comfort and effectiveness of breastfeeding depend largely on how deeply the baby is attached to the breast and how stable the body positions of mother and baby are. This presentation reviews infant requirements and capabilities for breastfeeding and best practices to facilitate optimal latch.

Using Gravity-Assisted Positions to Prevent Early Breastfeeding Problems

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.
Topic: Applying Bioethics to Milk Banking and Milk Sharing - [View Abstract]
Topic: Concerns About Low Milk Production - [View Abstract]
Topic: Transitioning the Preterm Infant to the Breast - [View Abstract]
Topic: Using Gravity-Assisted Positions to Prevent Early Breastfeeding Problems - [View Abstract]
Topic: What Mothers Need to Exclusively Breastfeed - [View Abstract]
Topic: What's New In Lactation - [View Abstract]

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What to Do When the Laid-back Breastfeeding Position Doesn't Work... Self Attachment, the Flipple Technique and the Koala Hold all with a "Hands off" Approach

Meg is the mother of three breastfed boys and lives with her husband and children in QLD, Australia. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in private practice and works with parents to help them reach their breastfeeding goals. She has a degree in psychology and her prior work was is in counselling and sexual health. She was a La Leche League Leader (breastfeeding counsellor) for seven years before becoming an IBCLC. Meg is the author of two books including, "Boobin' All Day...Boobin' All Night. A Gentle Approach To Sleep For Breastfeeding Families". She has published articles in numerous parenting magazines and websites. She was also filmed for a short documentary, "Lactaboobiephobia", based on one of her blog posts which was released in 2016.
Topic: Breastfeeding With A Tongue Tie. How Can We Help When A Tie Revision Is Not Possible? - [View Abstract]
Topic: Exclusively Breastfeeding Triplets-Case Studies - [View Abstract]
Topic: Social Media Backlash – Addressing Emotionally Charged Responses - [View Abstract]
Topic: What to Do When the Laid-back Breastfeeding Position Doesn't Work... Self Attachment, the Flipple Technique and the Koala Hold all with a "Hands off" Approach - [View Abstract]
Topic: What to Do When the Laid-back Breastfeeding Position Doesn't Work...Self Attachment, the Flipple Technique and the Koala Hold all with a "Hands off" Approach - [View Abstract]
As Lactation professionals we are taught and often reminded of the “laid back breastfeeding position” or “biological nursing” and how this can best facilitate a great latch. While this can be very useful and helpful in most cases, there will be circumstances where this position does not lead to a better latch and leaves the professional, the mother and the baby continuing to struggle.
This presentation will explain other useful and practical tips on how to help facilitate a baby to get the best latch possible, why the “look” of the latch does not matter, all while empowering the mother and baby to do it themselves, without physical help from the professional. The techniques covered include self-attachment in the side-lying position, self-attachment in the koala hold and trying the flipple technique to get as much breast tissue into the baby’s mouth as possible. This can be helpful for all babies struggling with latch including babies with tongue and/or lip ties. This presentation will include video examples and practical tips.

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