January 2021
We are excited to announce the launch of The Lactation College, an initiative to address racial disparities in the field of lactation and to further educate medical providers and the public. https://thelactationcollege.substack.com
The primary goal of the College is to assist candidates through the process to become an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). The IBCLC credential is the highest credential for lactation support. Currently fewer than 5% of the IBCLCs in the United States are from underrepresented minorities. The College will offer mentoring, financial, and educational assistance.
A second goal of the College is to address the problem that many medical providers received little education on the topic of lactation during their training. Anyone who wishes to learn more about lactation medicine, breastfeeding and human milk are welcome to use the College.
The first project of The Lactation College is to offer a course to help candidates pass the April 2021 IBCLC certifying examination. This “course” is on Substack, an online platform that provides publishing support for writers (and teachers).
The first semester runs from January 2021 to May 2021 with classes (in the form of newsletters) posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The course begins with a three-part series on colostrum. Topics are broken up so each class is no more than a ten-minute read. The colostrum section ends with Test Your Knowledge questions.
The course is free to all. Just start by clicking into the site and reading a post. If you like it, you also have the option to subscribe, which means submitting your email address so each new class (post) will be sent directly to your email. Email addresses are not shared.
You can check out The Lactation College here:
https://thelactationcollege.substack.com
We hope to see you in class.
Bella Breastfeeding: Provider Training
If your hospital is on the journey to Baby-Friendly designation and your providers (MDs, CNMs, NPs, PAs) are looking for a course to fulfill the three-hour training requirement, check out Bella Breastfeeding: Provider Training on OPENPediatrics. https://www.openpediatrics.org The learner needs to first register with OPENPediatrics, and then, once in the course library, search for “bella.” With completion of a few more questions, the course will begin. The course consists of 15 video modules (4-10 minutes in length), each with a pre-test and a post-test. At the completion of the course, and with a score of >80% on the post-tests, a certificate of completion can be printed. Thanks to the support of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the course is free.
Michigan’s 8th MotherBaby Summit was held on Friday, November 8, 2019 at the Atheneum Suite Hotel, 1000 Brush Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. Lauren Hanley, MD, FACOG, FABM, IBCLC gave the keynote address on: “Marijuana during Pregnancy and Lactation: High Time for a Review.”
Dr. Lauren Hanley is Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. In 2000 she completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Brown University/Women and Infants’ Hospital. She then joined the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she practices Obstetrics, Gynecology and Breastfeeding Medicine, and is also the Medical Director of Lactation.
The event is over but more information can be found by clicking on the box below.
The 2019 Missouri MotherBaby Summit was held on Thursday, September 12, 2019 at the Courtyard Marriott, 3301 LeMone Industrial Boulevard, Columbia, Missouri. Staff from 35 of the state’s 63 maternity facilities attended. Missouri’s Baby-Friendly and Show Me 5 designated hospitals were recognized.
Dr. Elisha Wachman, a neonatologist from Boston Medical Center (BMC), gave the keynote address entitled, “Rethinking How to Help Opioid Exposed Infants and their Families.”
We were delighted to have this nationally-recognized expert with us for the day.
Dr. Wachman is the leader behind dramatic changes in Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome care at Boston Medical Center including discontinuation of the Finnegan scale and initiation of the Eat, Sleep Console (ESC) tool. The BMC Mother Baby Unit now uses non-pharmacologic care (non-pharm care) as first line treatment, safety huddles to enhance communication, and works hard to encourage breastfeeding. Dr. Wachman shared criteria used to determine if breastfeeding is a safe feeding option and how a Cuddler program was started.
PDSA cycles discussed including: