Birth Interventions Online Course(s) & Continuing Education
Access the latest clinical skills and research for Birth Interventions for PREGNANCY, LABOUR & CHILDBIRTH professional training. These Birth Interventions online courses provide practice-changing skills and valuable perspectives from leading global experts. This Birth Interventions education has been accredited for a variety of CEUs / CERPs and can be accessed on-demand, at your own pace.
Breaking the Silos: Understanding the Connections Between Labor Interventions and Lactation
Janiya Mitnaul Williams, MA, IBCLC, RLC, CLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Registered Lactation Consultant, and Certified Lactation Counselor who has been supporting nursing families since 2007. She holds degrees from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Union Institute and University in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Health & Wellness with a concentration in Human Lactation respectively.
Janiya is the Program Director of the Pathway 2 Human Lactation Training Program at N.C. A&T SU (NCAT P2P). She also works for the Women’s and Children’s Center at Cone Health as the Co-Coordinator for Doula Services. In 2015 she created Mahogany Milk Support Group in order to promote, encourage, and normalize nursing for Black and Brown families. That same year, Janiya also became the first person of color and Non-Registered Nurse to be hired as a Lactation Consultant for Cone Health’s hospital system.
She is most passionate about creating diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field of Lactation in order to promote better health outcomes for Black and Brown, marginalized, and underprivileged families because they have the greatest lactation barriers to overcome.
Birth and breastfeeding/chestfeeding are intimately woven together although many separate the two. One's labor and birth process however, have a direct impact on how their nursing journey begins. Naturally, most infants can independently progress through the fetal to neonatal transition and produce a baby-led latch within the first hours of life. However, the process of birth is often unpredictable and many birthing families are regularly faced with common or unexpected labor interventions that can adversely affect milk supply and the initiation and receptivity of breastfeeding/chestfeeding for the infant. Some of the most common interventions include: IV fluids, induction of labor, epidurals, and continuous electronic fetal monitoring. These maternity care practices come with unintended consequences that directly impact lactation. Furthermore, studies indicate that many of these interventions are done more for convenience as opposed to medical reasoning. In order to promote, protect and support breastfeeding/chestfeeding for birthing families, providers and other members of the healthcare team should be encouraged to work in tandem; using effective communication and facilitating open dialogue. By including families in every aspect of their birth and postpartum period, self-efficacy and confidence is increased and trust is developed, setting the foundation for increased initiation and duration of human milk feeding.
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