GOLD Learning Speakers

Lactation consultants would benefit from expanding their understanding of the impact of the NICU stay on the family; moreover, they would benefit from identifying the essential role they could play in assisting families to accomplish a positive, healthy, and smooth transition home. Despite continuing efforts to reduce prematurely worldwide, a significant number of infants are born too early or in a fragile medical condition. Many of these infants experience a lengthy stay at the NICU. Lactation support varies across facilities, but families, especially mothers, develop strong connections with their lactation consultant. As one of their most consistent providers in the NICU, the lactation consultant has the opportunity to recognize families’ need for continuing support after discharge and strategies to protect the breastfeeding relationship, attachment, and mental health in the long term.

Many of us come to work in breastfeeding envisioning a world where mothers and babies can breastfeed without barriers; however, we quickly learn that breastfeeding challenges go beyond latching and positioning. To effectively support a breastfeeding/chestfeeding family, we have to support the parents, the extended family, the primary care provider, the workplace culture, the childcare, and the community; in summary, supporting one dyad can be an intervention to the whole social system. Indeed, breastfeeding advocacy is about building systems and consistently leading cultural changes to more deeply reinforce human feeding as the norm. Kouzes and Posner (2012) state: “if you want to have a significant impact on people, on organizations, and oncommunities, you’d be wise to invest in learning the behaviors that enable you to become the very best leader you can.” With that in mind, lactation consultants and lactation advocates would benefit by learning leadership behaviors and skills that will support their efforts towards cultural change, inspire shared visions, challenge processes, becoming strategic advisors, and leading from the inside out. Lactation leaders would benefit by being able to align values and beliefs with actions and strategies to promote breastfeeding as part of whole community development and as a public health strategy. In that way, lactation has a presence in early childhood initiatives, maternal and infant health, mental health programs, and any health, social, educational intervention. Want to normalize lactation? Join this interactive session and become the leader who can make extraordinary lactation things happen in your community.

Muchos de nosotros comenzamos a trabajar en lactancia visualizando un mundo donde las madres y los bebés pueden amamantar sin barreras; sin embargo, aprendemos rápidamente que los desafíos de la lactancia materna van más allá del prendimiento y el posicionamiento. Para apoyar efectivamente a una familia que amamanta, debemos apoyar a los padres, a la familia extendida, al doctor, a la cultura del lugar de trabajo, a la guardería y a la comunidad; en resumen, apoyar a una familia se transforma en la oportunidad para afectar todo el sistema social. De hecho, promover la lactancia se trata de construir sistemas y liderar cambios culturales para reforzar más profundamente la alimentación con leche humana como la norma. Kouzes y Posner (2012) afirman: "si desea tener un impacto significativo en las personas, en las organizaciones y en las comunidades, lo más recomendable sería invertir en aprender comportamientos que le permitan convertirse en el mejor líder que pueda ser". Con esto en mente, los consultores y asesores de lactancia se beneficiarían aprendiendo conductas de liderazgo y habilidades que apoyarán sus esfuerzos hacia el cambio cultural, inspirarán visiones compartidas, desafiarán procesos, se convertirán en asesores estratégicos y liderarán desde adentro hacia afuera. Los líderes en el mundo de la lactancia se beneficiarían de poder alinear valores y motivaciones con acciones y estrategias para promover la lactancia como parte del desarrollo de toda la comunidad y como una estrategia de salud pública. De esta forma, la lactancia tiene presencia en las iniciativas para la primera infancia, la salud materna e infantil, los programas de salud mental y cualquier intervención sanitaria, social y educativa. ¿Quiere normalizar la lactancia? Participe de esta presentación y aprenda a liderar iniciativas de lactancia extraordinarias en su comunidad.

Breast/chest feeding is a biological, emotional, and social process. There is an undeniable link between human milk and behaviors associated with feeding. Breast or chest feeding provide the perfect environment for babies’ development, such as bonding, attachment, mutual regulation, security, etc. But what happens when parents can’t access effective, culturally competent, compassionate lactation services? What happens when over generations lactation support has been lacking? Every parent deserves the chance to meet their feeding goals and enjoy the short and long term benefits of human milk feeding. Social inequities augment the effects of not experiencing those benefits making it even harder for parents and babies to have their physical, emotional and social needs met. Outcomes of lactation impact the dyad, the family, the community beyond the nutritional needs of the infant. Advocacy efforts at local, regional and national levels create meaningful opportunities for health equity, so those with no power or resources can reach optimal health. Lactation consultants are in a unique position to advocate and partner with others to support policies and programs that focus on equity as a systems approach to benefit marginalized communities and impact their physical and mental health in the long-term.

In this presentation participants will learn about parents’ experiences with feedings in the NICU and continuation of lactation after going home, the importance of parent-child mutual-regulation and its implication in feeding success, strategies for lactation professionals to support the nursing relationship, and infant mental health concepts in relationship to feeding. This presentation will include qualitative and quantitative data to broaden participants understanding of the context of lactation with a premature baby or a baby with special medical conditions. The participants will also receive information about multidisciplinary approaches and initiatives to support families with preemie babies.