IBCLC Detailed Content Outline: Pathology Focused CERPs - Section III

Upon becoming a mother and struggling through breastfeeding both of her babies, René first began supporting breastfeeding as a peer counselor, with a desire to help others as she was helped, and continues to support families in this way. She became an IBCLC and started her private practice, First Food For Baby, to provide professional lactation care a few years later. Recognizing the need to serve underinsured and marginalized families, she founded the Phoenix based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, American Breastfeeding Foundation, in 2020 that will one day reach and support families nationwide, facilitating specialized care for underserved populations.

René loves helping families through their unique breastfeeding journey, providing guidance to avoid complications and empowering them to exceed their goals. She welcomes the challenge this brings, from the complexities of airway issues to feeding position experimentation. She cherishes the loving interactions between babies and their parents. She considers it an honor to be trusted with each precious new life and to witness the intimacy and beauty that is breastfeeding. She bases her foundational knowledge on evidence-based data and research but realizes that the human experience she’s has learned over the past 25 years is equally important.

Maureen Minchin is a medical historian whose 1970s experience of motherhood resulted in her second book, Food for Thought: a parent’s guide to food intolerance, recognized as ground breaking in its treatment of infant allergy. Her third book, Breastfeeding Matters, was declared a “milestone in the history of breastfeeding” by Prof JD Baum. For 35 years she has worked extensively in the area of infant nutrition, including for WHO, and UNICEF, and teaching health professionals in Australia and overseas. She was influential in the creation of IBLCE and BFHI, and a founding (and later Board) member of both ILCA and ALCA. Maureen has continued to work free of charge with families with both infant feeding and allergy problems. After a decade in eldercare, Maureen is getting back to writing, recently helping with the online infant feeding courses being developed by the UK’s University of York and the National HS-sponsored e-learning for health project. Her latest book, Milk Matters: Infant Feeding and Immune Disorder was published in 2015.

Michelle has been a pediatric neurodevelopmental Occupational therapist specializing in precrawling infants for over 26 years. She has specialty certifications and training in lactation, manual therapy, and pre and peri natal psychology. Michelle has specialized in optimal cranial nerve function and oral restrictions, with an emphasis on infant movement, innate biological imperatives and human potential, providing novel curriculums, support and resources for both professionals and parents. She enjoys collaborating and working in teams for babies and families going through the tethered oral tissues release process.

Sarah is a Registered General Nurse, Health Visitor, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Tongue-tie Practitioner with a busy private practice based in Cambridgeshire, UK. Sarah worked as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor for the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers for several years and continues to run a weekly breastfeeding support group as a volunteer. Sarah is a founder member and former Chair of The Association of Tongue-tie Practitioners in the UK and is the author of the book, ‘Why Tongue-tie Matters’. She offers an online course in tongue-tie and infant feeding in association with Babyem and provides education on infant feeding and tongue-tie for healthcare professionals and breastfeeding supporters in the public, private and volunteer sectors.

Bianca Balassiano has been working with families in private practice since 2008 as an IBCLC and perinatal psychologist/maternal-child health specialist. As a natural consequence of her professional background, has supported breastfeeding families into achieving individual goals while maintaining mental health and stimulating a holistic look towards the subject. Since 2014 is also working as an educator for healthcare professionals in one of the most recognized breastfeeding courses in Brazil, currently offering virtual classes and all over the country. Lives with husband and two children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2020, she launched her first book aimed at families with the title "Gradual Weaning: How to Bring Your Breastfeeding Story to a Happy End".

Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC, has a Master’s Degree in Community Health Education from the University of Oregon. She began working with breastfeeding families in 1992 and became an IBCLC in 1998. She has worked as a lactation consultant in a variety of settings including private practice, county and state public health programs and high risk maternal and pediatric hospitals. She began teaching lactation training courses in 2003 and is currently an adjunct faculty member teaching in the Pathway 2 Lactation Training Program in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health at Portland State University. She is a past presenter for the GOLD Perinatal Conference. She is an active member of the Oregon Washington Lactation Association, the US Lactation Consultant Association and the International Lactation Consultant Association. She was a founding Board Member for Northwest Mothers Milk Bank, a HMBANA non-profit donor milk bank.

Lisa Gonzales, BSN, RN, IBCLC earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Linfield College. She started her nursing career as a Labor and Delivery nurse at a Level III OB hospital in 2006. After having her first baby, Lisa pursued lactation education and became an IBCLC in 2013. She made full career change in 2015 to become a lactation nurse in a high risk maternity and pediatric hospital, providing inpatient and outpatient consults to growing families. She is an active member of the Oregon Washington Lactation Association, the US Lactation Consultant Association and the International Lactation Consultant Association. Lisa currently helps families during in-home visits with her private practice.

Christine Staricka is a Registered, International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant and trained childbirth educator. As the host of The Lactation Training Lab Podcast, her current role focuses on training and coaching current and aspiring lactation care providers. Christine created and developed The First 100 Hours© concept, an early lactation framework designed to support lactation care providers with the knowledge and mindset they need to help families optimize early lactation. Christine worked as a hospital-based IBCLC for 10 years and has over 20 years experience providing clinical lactation care and support. She provides clinical lactation care to families at Baby Café Bakersfield and serves as its Director. Christine recently completed 6 years of service on the Board of the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA.) She holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Phoenix. She has been married for 27 years, lives in California, and is the proud mother of 3 amazing daughters.

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.

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.

Barbara Wilson-Clay became a La Leche League Leader in 1982. She certified as an IBCLC and entered private practice in Austin, Texas in 1987. Barbara was named a Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association in 2008. She recently retired from her practice, which specialized in difficult breastfeeding situations. With a client load of 400-450 visits yearly, Barbara garnered a wealth of clinical and counseling experience and a trove of clinical teaching photos. In partnership with Kay Hoover, she created The Breastfeeding Atlas, which was translated into Chinese in 2019 by Fudan University Press. A Korean translation will be published in September 2020.

Barbara has been a citizen advocate for breastfeeding in the Texas legislature and helped pass a landmark law protecting breastfeeding rights. She is one of the co-founders of the non-profit Mothers Milk Bank at Austin, and retired as Vice President of the Board of Directors in 2010. She continues to serve on the Advisory Board. Barbara's research and commentaries have appeared in the Journal of Human Lactation, Archives of Disease in Childhood, the International Breastfeeding Journal, and others. She has served on various editorial review boards and contributed chapters to several lactation textbooks.