Carrie Cohen, MA, MS, IBCLC in an instructor with the University Studies Department of Portland State University. Her Senior Capstone course, “Current Issues In Pregnancy and Birth” has partnered with the Family Preservation Project of the YWCA of Greater Portland on various projects to support families prenatally through postpartum and beyond while incarcerated. Additionally, she works as a lactation consultant serving families in Oregon and SW Washington in the United States.
Lesley Mondeaux has served as the Executive Director of Northwest Mothers Milk Bank since it opened its doors in 2013. Formerly serving on the board of directors she helped in the effort to bring a nonprofit milk bank to the Pacific Northwest. She is a registered nurse and lactation consultant with over 30 years’ experience working with mothers and babies in labor and delivery, postpartum, and outpatient breastfeeding support. In 2011 she was awarded the Oregon March of Dimes Nurse of the Year in Maternal-Child Health. She is active in the Human Milk Banking Association of North America, currently serving as the conference chair and member of the accreditation committee.
A native Oregonian, Lesley lives with her husband of 36 years. She has four amazing children.
Lactation support in US prisons and jails continues to be limited in access and scope. Up to the COVID pandemic, the rate of women incarcerated in the US rose by 800% since the 1980s. Approximately 60-80% of these women are the parent of a minor, many the primary caregiver of their child/children. Every year, approximately 10% of women entering custody are pregnant. Native American, Black/African American and women of lower educational attainment and socioeconomic standing are also overrepresented in American prisons, perpetuating cycles of intergenerational trauma and health disparities.
Enabling mothers/lactating parents to breast-feed or express milk for their infants while in custody has the potential to reduce the harm associated with infant-parent separation. Mothers have expressed positive mental health impacts from the act of milk expression and knowing their milk was reaching their infants. The availability of lactation support can help mothers manage breast health throughout the postpartum period. Infants maintain connection with their parent, while receiving all the benefits human milk brings.
Milk Banks can play a unique role in their ability to support infants, parents-in-custody and caregivers through their expertise in human milk handling, transportation and storage. Our presentation will highlight the Expressions of Care program of the Northwest Mothers Milk Bank: to provide a potential model of how organizations might further expand infant access to human milk within this important and often-overlooked population.
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