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Stories from 2013 Exam Hopefuls: Angie Brekken

Posted on May 24, 2013 by lactationmatters

Lactation Matters is in the midst of a series of blog posts, from now until July, when the 2013 exam to certify IBCLCs is given. As we seek to increase access to the services of IBCLCs, cheering on those who are taking up the challenge should be celebrated! If you are a 2013 exam hopeful and would like to share a bit with us about what inspired you to become an IBCLC, please email us at lactationmatters@gmail.com.

My name is Angie Brekken and I will be sitting for the exam to certify IBCLCs this July. Breastfeeding wasn’t something I was familiar with growing up. The first time I recall seeing a woman breastfeed was when I accidentally walk in on my cousin’s wife with her infant. I remember feeling a little uneasy and embarrassed. My mother breastfed me for 3 months, and my little sister for a brief period as well. But I remember hearing stories from my mother that her milk “dried up” because of the stress she was going through when her grandmother died.

I thought that I would be doomed for my own breastfeeding experience. My dad asked me when I was pregnant with my first son if I would be breastfeeding. I answered “I will try”. I truly lacked the confidence in my body to succeed. Luckily, there was a fantastic lactation consultant at the hospital when I delivered. She helped guide me through learning to latch and was a true support and cheerleader for me. We made it out of the hospital without supplementing with formula despite an emergency C-section and loss of blood.

During my first week back at work at eleven weeks postpartum, my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 49. To say the least, I was devastated and crushed. I was sure my milk would “dry up”, like my mother’s. This same lactation consultant kept cheering me on and encouraging me through my grief. My first son didn’t receive formula and I nursed exclusively for 13 months. My second son went on to nurse for almost two years when he weaned himself. All through this, I was back in college to earn my Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in nutrition and became a Registered Dietician. The support that I received from this lactation consultant was so valuable to me.

I now work with WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and my goal is to be able to help mothers the way she helped me. I feel that the IBCLC credential will help me to do that. What better first nutrition than mother’s milk? What a great fit for a Registered Dietician (RD) to also be able to support mothers in their breastfeeding experience. I had the honor, a couple of weeks ago, to talk with a mother that said “I would have quit breastfeeding in the first week if it wasn’t for seeing you.” I shut my door and cried when she left, knowing that in some small way, I had made a difference. I want to continue making a difference, however small or large, and pass on this great gift that was given to me by that hospital lactation consultant 9 years ago. Thank you, Mary!

Hopefully, at this time 6 months from now, I will be able to add the coveted IBCLC credential to my RD and continue helping mothers to reach their breastfeeding goals.

Posted in IBCLCs around the globe | Tagged 2013, angie-brekken, Exam Hopefuls | Leave a comment

Contaminants in Breastmilk? IBFAN Responds.

Posted on May 23, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Joy Heads, OAM, IBCLC, FILCA,

The reality of the presence of environmental chemicals has been on the world’s radar since the release of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962.

Today it is accepted that every human body contains many man-made chemicals that can cause harm. Human milk has a high proportion of fat and therefore fat soluble contaminants, including dioxins, can be very easily measured.

Expressed breastmilk used to be included in the Australian Basket Market Survey, now called Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS), because it was easy to collect from consenting women in postnatal wards.

Over the last few decades, scare tactics have emerged, warning women about the perceived danger of breastfeeding. I clearly remember one front page headline in a Sydney Sunday paper in the mid 70’s screaming: “DDT’s in breastmilk: mothers poisoning their babies.”

The press coverage of Florence William’s 2012 book: “Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History”, which covers her investigations into the issue, did little to allay these fears.

It is therefore heartening that the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) has just released “IBFAN Statement on Infant and Young Child Feeding and Chemical Residues” (2013), which presents objective and independent information for parents, carers and health professionals.

The main author of the paper is well respected Dr Adriano Cattaneo, Consultant Epidemiologist and Co-ordinator of the Unit for Health Services Research and International Health, Institute of Child Health “IRCCS Burlo Garofolo”, Trieste, Italy, a WHO Collaborating Centre for Maternal and Child Health. Dr Cattaneo was an Expert Reviewer on the 2012 NHMRC Infant Feeding Guidelines.

This evidence-based, well referenced statement goes beyond the issue of possible residues in human milk to include that of contaminants in infant formula including in the unnecessary, but cleverly marketed, follow-on formulas, baby foods, feeding bottles and teats.

The paper also emphasises the potential harm of chemical exposure during pregnancy at a time when tissues and organs are growing rapidly. It reinforces the fact that there is now far greater understanding of the beneficial effects of breastfeeding and its role in developing immune protection and mitigating the harmful effects of chemical exposure in the womb.

Conversely, formula feeding does not afford any protection to babies at all. The ecological footprint and consequence of increasing rates of formula feeding is also addressed.

The document lists 10 Key Points and Key IBFAN Messages, which includes the statement that “pregnant and breastfeeding mothers have the right to receive full and unbiased information”.

IBFAN endorses international health regulations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding – because the benefits outweigh any possible harm -“except in the case of industrial disasters and of exceedingly high residues after industrial disasters”.

Contained within the paper is a Call for Action, urging decision-makers and industry across the globe to implement the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

The Appendix is an excellent reference and carries an analysis of 13 chemical residues or families of chemical residues. IBFAN have considered only substances “for which there is ample literature and that are a target for important policies and regulations worldwide.”

This paper provides strong evidence that the continuing fight for a healthy global environment, with minimum toxins, is a challenging one considering industry redistribution and weak environmental regulations.

This post was originally published on Crikey, a news service from Australia. We thank them for allowing us to republish it here.

Joy Heads, OAM, IBCLC, FILCA, is a midwife and has been an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 1986. In 2009, she was awarded the designation of Fellow of the International Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA™). She is currently on the Board of Directors of ILCA, and co-wrote the chapter on “Breast Pathology” for the ILCA’s Core Curriculum for Lactation Consultants (Editors: Mannel B, Martens P J, Walker M. (3nd ed) Jones & Bartlett. MA. USA. 2013). In 2006 she was awarded the Order of Australian Medal for service to nursing and midwifery as a specialist lactation consultant and to health professional and parent education. Joy was the Clinical Nurse Consultant (Lactation) at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney for many years until she retired from paid work in late 2010.

Posted in Advocacy, Australia News, Breastfeeding News | Tagged Australia, contaminants, IBFAN, Joy Heads | Leave a comment

Taking My Private Practice “Paperless”

Posted on May 21, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Jessica Lang Kosa, PhD, IBCLC

Going Paperless means no more of THIS!

I’m writing this in the YMCA lobby while my daughter is in swim class. As an independent IBCLC working in a solo private practice and the mother of three, I need to use these little chunks of time. This was one of my main goals when I decided to change my practice to a “paperless” one. Being “paperless” means that all of my charting, records, communications, and care plans are recorded on one of my electronic devices. I have an hour while she swims. I have emails from clients with questions. I want to check their records before responding to them, even if it’s just to make sure I know the baby’s name and age. Having a paperless practice gives me access to my records via my phone or ipad.

One of the strongest reasons for making this switch was the need to combine emails with the rest of my client records. Nearly all of my clients do email me at some point, and I wanted to integrate a record of those communications in the client’s chart. Printing out emails and stapling them to the consult report seemed tedious and
wasteful. Making the whole record electronic solved that problem.

Other IBCLCs may consider going paperless for many reasons – avoiding paper waste,
saving storage space, and ease of communication with clients and other providers are
also beneﬁts. I’ve also seen many different ways of approaching a paperless practice.
Here I’ll describe my system, not to suggest this is the correct or best way, but to offer it
up for others to improve on.

The ﬁrst step is having the clients fill out my online intake form and sign my consent form. For this, I use Formsite – I already had an account because I use it for registration for my breastfeeding classes. It’s web-based, so it can be used by anyone, regardless of what type of computer they have. An alternative would be to have an intake form built into your website but, for many, any changes would require having to pay to have updates made by the person who runs your website. Formsite has a secure server feature, allowing for HIPAA-compliant collection of protected information. These features required a paid account on Formsite, but you can get a basic account for free to try it out.

Building my intake form using their interface was time consuming, but not difﬁcult. It allows you to drag and drop questions of different types (checkbox, multiple choice, text answer, date) as well as arrange and format them. I built my consent form and HIPAA notice in as well. When a client makes an appointment, I give her the link and password to access the form. (If she didn’t have internet, I’d go back to a paper form, but it’s only happened once.) When she ﬁlls it out, the site sends me an email notiﬁcation. I log into Formsite and download the info as a spreadsheet. Then begins the fun.

I paste the spreadsheet including the intake info into an app called Bento. This is a Mac based program – if you have a PC, you would paste it into Excel or whatever spreadsheet
program you like. I chose Bento because it was the only app I found that would combine
emails, spreadsheet data, photos, and ﬁles all together. Now, when a client emails to
say the baby is up to 8 lbs., I can drag the email into her record in Bento. If she sends
me a picture, ditto. And her care plan and pediatrician’s report will be in there too.

At the actual consult, I use Bento on an ipad. It syncs with my home computer.
Important note – it syncs over my own home network, not through the cloud. The question of HIPAA compliance and the cloud remains formally unanswered, so I felt it behooves me to keep clinical info out of the cloud. (Yes, unencrypted email is also a potential HIPAA concern, so I address that in my consent form. And I don’t text with clients at all, except about scheduling.)

Bento allows me to create forms on my ipad to visually organize info. I have one form
that shows the intake info she gave me online, one with her doctors’ contact info, one
for the evaluation I do at the consult, one for followup info, and one for my superbill. I
use checkboxes and dropdown menus as much as possible so that I spend minimal
time typing. I complete the evaluation form as I go along, during the consult. At the
end, I complete the superbill, which I will export as a PDF ﬁle to send her. The followup
form will contain her care plan and report (as PDF ﬁles), emails, notes on phone calls,
or any subsequent visits. The providers’ form is linked to a database of doctors, so I
can easily look up their phone or fax numbers.

Another nice aspect of this – by using checkboxes, I can easily quantify data across my
whole practice, such as what percentage of babies I referred for tongue tie.

I could create Bento forms for my reports and care plans, but I haven’t. Bento doesn’t
allow for a lot of formatting, and I like them to be in letter form, so I do those separately
using Pages (Mac’s word processor.) I save the care plan and report as PDF ﬁle. I
email the care plan to the client, along with her superbill and any handouts or additional
info I want to send her, and I use PamFax (there are many other choices for online
faxing) to fax the report to the pediatrician and OB/GYN.

With all-electronic records, backup is critical. I use Carbonite for remote backup (if my house burns down, or my computer is stolen), and Time Machine for easy local backup (if my computer freaks out.) Both of these happen automatically.

All of this takes some investment of time to get up and running, but I’ve deﬁnitely found
that it makes my practice run more smoothly.

Jessica Lang Kosa is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in private practice in the Boston area. She offers home visits for comprehensive breastfeeding help, and teaches courses in breastfeeding support for professionals who work with mothers and babies.

Posted in Private Practice | Tagged IBCLC, Jessica Kosa, Paperless, Private practice, Records | 2 Comments

Stories from 2013 Exam Hopefuls: Brooke Smith

Posted on May 17, 2013 by lactationmatters

Lactation Matters is in the midst of a series of blog posts, from now until July when the 2013 exam to certify IBCLCs is given. As we seek to increase access to the services of IBCLCs, cheering on those who are taking up the challenge should be celebrated! If you are a 2013 exam hopeful and would like to share a bit with us about what inspired you to become an IBCLC, please email us at lactationmatters@gmail.com.

My name is Brooke Smith. My journey to the IBCLC exam began when I was 18 when I read Babycatcher by Peggy Vincent chronicling the events of a midwife during the 1970s and 1980s and I was hooked! Despite being unmarried with no plans of having children of my own, I knew my destiny lay somewhere in maternal and child health, but I didn’t know how I wanted to articulate my desires, so they remained on the back burner until I was pregnant with my first daughter.

After giving birth to her and struggling with the new feelings of motherhood, the old surge of passion for maternal child health showed back up. While still passionate about birth as a whole, I had found that breastfeeding was what I really waxed poetic about. Like many new mothers, I struggled with breastfeeding at first, and I returned to full-time work at 6 weeks postpartum with my trusty breast pump, but I couldn’t get my mind away from breastfeeding. After spending my lunch hours pumping and obsessively reading breastfeeding blogs, I decided to make the jump into lactation care as a full-time career.

After giving birth to my second daughter, I quit my “day job” and enrolled in Union Institute and University’s Bachelor of Science degree program and I graduated with high marks a mere 15 months later. I gobbled up every paper, book, journal, and blog post I could devour. My thesis paper focused on the experience of working mothers and breastfeeding, something I remain passionate about advocating for even today.

I currently volunteer at two of our local WIC offices counseling mothers , teaching the breastfeeding and childbirth classes, and co-leading a monthly breastfeeding support group. No matter how tired I may be when I walk in, I walk out full of excitement, passion, and energy! I also volunteer as a co-chairperson of our county’s birth network, providing lactation training to our county’s doulas, chiropractors, and midwives. I am excited to become a full-fledged IBCLC this year after I successfully write the exam. Although my third child will be due one month after the administration of this year’s exam, it is my plan to continue working as a volunteer educator with WIC as well as focusing on starting my county’s first private practice lactation service, Au Lait Lactation & Birth Services, provided two days a week in a local medical facility, and the remainder of the time providing in-home lactation care for dyads of all stages.

Posted in IBCLCs around the globe | Tagged 2013, Brooke Smith, Exam Hopefuls | Leave a comment

Melbourne 101: Everything You Need to Know to Fall in Love with our 2013 ILCA Conference City!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Iona Macnab, BA(Hons), LLB, IBCLC

Melbourne – where to start?! On the banks of the Yarra River, of course – where for 30,000 years the Wurundjeri tribe (part of the Kulin nation) knew the river as Birrarrung, the “Place of Mists and Shadows”. The Yarra River appears to flow upside down (you’ll see why when you get here), and has always been an important focal point for the city of Melbourne. When white settlers arrived on the riverbank in 1835, John Batman famously declared: “This will be the place for a village”. The Immigration museum now stands on the place where he landed. Melbourne grew rapidly with the influx of people hoping for good fortune in the Gold Rush of the 1850s, and by the 1880s was known as Marvellous Melbourne. Investments were made into the wide street grid and the grand architecture of Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD); the Town Hall, banks, churches and the iconic main rail terminus at Flinders Street all still stand as a reminder of those affluent days and add a distinct European charm to Melbourne. You can find a fascinating piece of old Melbourne footage by clicking HERE.

Photo by edwin.11 via Flick Creative Commons

The trams running through the middle of Melbourne’s central business district streets still serve the community as a major and much loved mode of transport. One tram is the free circle tram, which travels around the outer rim of the CBD, and anyone can hop on and off anytime. It provides a great way to enjoy a brief glimpse of the city for the time-limited lactation consultant! Melbourne’s cultural life maintains a riverside focus – the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Arts Centre with concert halls and theatres, Federation Square, and Flinders Street Station are all a stone’s throw away from Batman’s original landing point. Federation Square offers Qigong for everyone on Fridays at 8am! The NGV is hosting its annual Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition and this year ILCA delegates will be able to enjoy Monet’s Garden from The Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris. Close by, ACMI Moving Image Museum has an exhibition of Hollywood film costumes. The great expanse of the Royal Botanic Gardens and its running track “The Tan” are all within easy reach for fitness enthusiasts.

Photo by Karthick R via Flickr Creative Commons

One of my favorite places along the Yarra river bank is the quaint congregation of rowing sheds including the historic Melbourne University Boat House built in 1909, home to Melbourne University Boat Club, the oldest rowing club in Australia. Every morning and evening the river comes alive with rowers in eights, fours and sculls – seeing them always brings back memories for me of my university rowing days, passing under Melbourne’s many beautiful bridges, rowing with freezing, blistered hands at 5:30am during winter training!

Photo via WikiMedia

The 2013 ILCA conference in the Convention Centre is but a short paddle downstream from the boatsheds, alongside the Southbank River Promenade lined with a myriad of bustling cafés and restaurants, most with outdoor heating – perfect for Melbourne’s crisp sunny winter days. Trying your luck in Crown Casino may have a certain appeal, but for crafty IBCLCs, the Convention Centre is also hosting a massive craft fair the same weekend as ILCA and you may be able to squeeze some beautiful Aussie yarns into your suitcase.

Photo by ultrakmi via Flickr Creative Commons

Melbourne is considered a city for foodies. You will not leave hungry. In fact you may even gain a few happy pounds with the diversity of food available and the café culture we have going here. Local coffee shops even cater for toddlers, with “baby chinos”: frothy milk in a small cup to match mum’s real cappuccino or latte. A short tram ride to the bustling Queen Victoria Market is a feast for the senses, with traditional delicatessens mixed with rows and rows of fresh produce. Sunday markets are also full of Australiana for those looking for sheepskin boots or Melbourne T shirts as souvenirs. The market also has the best fresh jam doughnuts sold from the original 1950’s van!

Photo by Luke Dirkin via Flick Creative Commons

Melbourne is the birthplace of Australian Rules football. A rough and tumble game with rules that mystify visitors and goalkeepers who have a unique sign language, for the sports connoisseur it’s worth going along to the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (the MCG) to hear the enthusiastic crowds “barracking” for their teams. Collingwood is a particularly popular team, and they are playing at the MCG on the last weekend of July. You can combine an MCG tour of the stadium and its history with a match and a visit to the National Sports Museum.

Photo by fk-foto via Flickr Creative Commons

If you are making a big Aussie adventure of your trip to ILCA 2013, you might have time for a trip down the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles, impressive rock stacks down the coast, featured on almost every Australian calendar! Winery tours abound with plenty of opportunities to taste a few good drops, but no trip is really complete without seeing koalas and kangaroos – Healesville Sanctuary, or closer to the city, the Royal Melbourne Zoo are the must-visit places for wildlife.

Photo by JohnvW via Flickr Creative Commons

For fans of the long-running TV drama show “Neighbours” , you can also take a Ramsay Street tour to see the set. If, however, shopping is how you best spend your free time, then jump on the free shuttle bus from the city to Chadstone, the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere! Or stay close to the Convention centre with a visit to the DFO Outlet Mall right next door! Bourke St Mall in the centre of Melbourne has the famous department stores Myer and David Jones. Aussies have immortalized Myers in the expression “he has more front than Myers!” (meaning someone is overly forward), perhaps in a nod to the expanse of Myer windows which host novel Christmas displays each year. Buskers are often found in the Bourke St Mall which is closed to car traffic, but beware of the trams passing through!

While ILCA is the BEST reason to come to visit Melbourne in winter, there is certainly no shortage of other things to do and see while you are here. The journey may be long, but the friendly welcome that awaits, the great food, sights and memories will be amazing. Make that once-in-a-lifetime trip, come down under, hang out with your distant IBCLC cousins and go home enriched and refreshed! No worries mate, it’s all good!

Iona Macnab BA(Hons) LLB IBCLC Lactation consultant in private practice, co-founder of the iLactation and iMothering online conferences, and owner of Feed Baby Sleep®, an exclusively skype-based lactation practice. Iona will be presenting on her skype experiences at ILCA 2013 on Friday July 26 th.

Posted in ILCA 2013 Conference | Tagged ILCA 2013 Conference, Iona McNab, Melbourne | Leave a comment

2013 USLCA Conference Wrap-Up!

Posted on May 9, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Mistel de Varona

It’s always good to be home after being away, but even better when I’m still glowing from a wonderful experience! USLCA’s inaugural conference “Gateway to Excellence” was excellent, but it did not feel like a novice was hosting it! The education, speakers, vendors, networking, and all the little details were top notch.

The education was multifaceted, varied in degree of interest and knowledge, as well as exciting and refreshing. Marsha Walker set the foundation for the conference with the first plenary “The State of Breastfeeding in the US: We’ve Come a Long Way with Miles to Go Before We Sleep”. These are notes I will revisit many times. I’ve already shared with my La Leche League group the plethora of information Marsha taught or reminded me of at the conference. To move forward, it is essential to know where we came from. I was surprised to learn it was just in 1999 that the federal law was passed to protect nursing mothers and babies breastfeeding on federal property!

If Dr. Thomas Hale is a lactation rockstar, than I am a groupie! Since I was first introduced to the lactation world, I have admired Dr. Hale’s work (and who wouldn’t!?). He is a phenomenal speaker and was so funny! He gave interesting insight into his Infant Risk program stating “I’ve been asked everything, and everyday I’m asked something new!” Dr. Hale shared his ongoing journey researching Domperidone and the complicated process to FDA approval. It is a gift to be informed by someone you admire and respect on a topic that is up and coming. It also feels cool to be part of a group that is getting information first hand from the researchers and being able to come home and share with your coworkers, mother-to-mother support group, and coalition partners!

In addition to the seven plenaries, there were workshops and concurrent sessions. I enjoyed Barbara Robertson’s “Infant Supplementation: Should We or Should We? And How Much?” Barbara approached this sensitive topic with skill and compassion. Diane Wiessinger had a very appealingly titled session “Everything Else About Breasts”. It was entertaining to learn about the history of breast culture and other variables that can impact breast health. A new favorite speaker of mine came from the no nonsense approach of Linda Smith. She spoke about “Lactation Consultant Time and Effectiveness”. This was a great review of what is necessary and what isn’t when a consultant is crunched for time with a mother and baby. She is a must see! Linda Smith is a featured speaker at the upcoming ILCA conference “Born to Breastfeed: A Global Public Health Imperative” in Australia along with many other fantastic speakers.

Attending events like these are priceless. I walked away feeling educated and reenergized. In addition to the education, the conference provided me with an amazing networking experience. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many familiar faces from my first conference, ILCA 2012 in Orlando. We picked up where we left off, just like old friends. New relationships were formed too. I also found the authors and speakers that I admire easily accesible and friendly. How cool to have a conversation with Diana Wiessinger about normalizing breastfeeding in our culture or to personally thank Nancy Mohrbacher for a great resource book for La Leche League leaders to help mothers!

I’m also very proud that I was a part of helping USLCA raise a significant amount of money to help fund their mission to advance the IBCLC profession. With the essential help of the volunteer coordinator, Annette Leary, conference volunteers, conference participants and generous donors, we raised funds through the silent auction and raffle. Thank you to everyone for being a part of it!

My favorite part of the USLCA conference, hands down, was connecting with another attendee that gave me a lead on a job. Coincidence or not, it was after Denise Altman’s session entitled “Where are the Jobs?” Come for the education, networking, break from everyday life, but attending a conference may have life changing consequences!

How will you benefit from ILCA’s 2013 Conference in Melbourne, Australia? Please attend and find out! There are still a few days left to receive the early bird rate but you must register by May 15th for the discount.

Mistel de Varona found her passion for breastfeeding advocacy shortly after the birth of her daughter. Eager to support and educate fellow new mother friends, one suggested she become a lactation consultant. A light bulb went off with that idea and has only gotten brighter. Mistel holds a CLS, is an aspiring IBCLC, pursuing an RN and is a Le Leche Leader Applicant. She’s a self-professed nerd and enjoys helping her daughter explore the world. Follow @Mistel_dV on Twitter for evidence based information mostly about lactation.

Posted in USLCA | Tagged Conference, Mistel de Varona, St. Louis, USLCA | 1 Comment

Stories from 2013 Exam Hopefuls: De’Chelle Pierson

Posted on May 2, 2013 by lactationmatters

Lactation Matters is proud to begin a new series of blog posts, from now until July when the 2013 exam to certify IBCLCs is given. As we seek to increase access to the services of IBCLCs, cheering on those who are taking up the challenge should be celebrated! If you are a 2013 exam hopeful and would like to share a bit with us what inspired you to become an IBCLC, please email us at lactationmatters@gmail.com.

My name is De’Chelle Pierson and I’m Registered Nurse (RN) from the Houston area. I work for one of the most prominent hospitals in the Houston Medical Center. For more than 6 years, I worked in the NICU level 2 and 3 until I accepted a position at the Grand Opening of our hospitals community extension in the Pediatric EC and General Pediatric Inpatient Unit. For a NICU RN, this was a huge transition for me. To go from caring for premature infants to dealing with the hustle and bustle of the emergency room was a different world.

This transition however was a blessing in disguise. I was exposed to a world of new parents who lacked the support they needed to breastfeed, troubleshoot newborn technicalities and have basic knowledge of newborn care. With all my NICU experience in caring for newborns and assisting mothers breastfeed, I was astounded that more than half the community population lacked the true support they need to be confident at caring for their newborns and breastfeeding. With a desire to implement a change, I launched my own company called Brilliantly Baby to inspire, support and educate expecting parents and infant care providers. June will be my 1 year anniversary and I feel so accomplished to have touched the lives of expecting families by educating them on how to care for their babies on the way. Currently, I provide public and private workshops for parents and even grandparents to be, a night nurse program and newborn RN consultations.

Obtaining my IBCLC® will be a great accomplishment and another great way I will be able to support the mothers in my community. As a mother myself and as a nurse, there is no better feeling to help another mother feel competent in her role. I look forward to this great journey!

Posted in IBCLCs around the globe | Tagged 2013, De'Chelle Pierson, Exam Hopefuls | 6 Comments

Traveling as a Pumping Mother

Posted on May 1, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Nicole Goodman

One of the biggest challenges working mothers face is traveling away from their babies while they’re still breastfeeding. Pumping while on the road – or in the air – can be inconvenient, uncomfortable, and downright unpleasant, but many mothers find that is it worth it so they can continue breastfeeding.

Here are some hints to help you prepare for trips away from your little one. Working mothers going on a business trip or those that stay at home getting away for a weekend can benefit from planning ahead.

Supplies Checklist

Pumping while traveling requires some additional supplies that you may not need when you’re at home:

Batttery pack & fresh batteries – Make sure your battery pack works BEFORE leaving and load your pack with fresh batteries.
Extra batteries – Depending on length of your trip, it’s always a good idea to carry an extra set of batteries. Remember to keep batteries with your carry-on luggage to avoid any problems with checked luggage.
Convertor/adapter – If you are traveling internationally, make sure to pack the appropriate power convertor/adapter plug so that the pump will work at your final destination.
Milk storage bags/containers – If you plan to bring milk home after the trip, make sure to pack plenty of storage bags. I like the Medical-Grade, Pre-Sterilized Plastic Storage Bags. Freeze them flat so you can stack them up on the return trip.
Ice or cold packs – Especially for long or multi-segment flights, ice or cold packs will help keep milk frozen on the return trip. Some thawing may occur, so put the milk into the freezer as soon as possible. Use the milk pumped on a trip as soon as possible after you return.
Cleaning supplies – I LOVE the microwave disinfecting bags. You might not always have access to a place to scrub pump parts while traveling, but most hotel rooms and offices have a microwave. Throw everything into these bags, pop into microwave for 3 minutes, and everything is sterile for their next use.
Power cord, tubing, membranes, breast shields & pump parts – A breast pump won’t do you any good if you don’t have all of the essential parts with you! Pack a few extra pump membranes, just in case.
Hand sanitizer – It’s always a good idea to pack a little (3 oz or less) bottle of hand sanitizer in your carry-on.

Pack Smart

If you can fit a pump into your small rollerboard suitcase, great! Otherwise, you’ll need to check your suitcase and keep your computer bag/purse and pump as carry-on items.

Do NOT check a breast pump in a suitcase or as a stand alone item. Travel delays happen all the time; luggage gets damaged or lost. The last thing you need is to end up at your destination without your pump!

Be Security Savvy

In the United States, pumping mothers are permitted to travel with breast pumps and breast milk, regardless of whether or not they are traveling with their children. If a security agent says otherwise, ask to speak to a supervisor.

To make the security process as smooth as possible, you should alert the security officers so they know you are traveling with a pump:

Pull the pump out of your carry-on bag and place it in a separate bin before it goes through the x-ray machine. Tell the agent that the item is a breast pump.
If returning from a trip and carrying breastmilk, place the milk in a separate bin and alert the agents that the liquid is breastmilk. Breastmilk is NOT subject to the three-ounce limitation.
If a security agent asks to test the milk, ask to speak to a supervisor. They may want to swab the outside of the milk bags or containers, but they cannot make you open your milk and test it.

A mother may be asked to go through additional screening. I’ve had my pump searched and swabbed and I’ve also been subjected to a pat down. Be prepared for either scenario.

Pumping en Route

Sometimes it’s necessary to pump before you reach your final destination. Because I fly in and out of a small airport, I always have to make at least one connection, which can make for a long travel day. Most major airports have family bathrooms with electrical outlets and they are a great place to pump. On longer or international flights, you may need to pump in your seat or in the airplane bathroom. Ask the flight attendants if they can suggest a pumping location.

Well Worth the Effort!

Pumping while traveling presents some unique challenges, but it’s ultimately worth the extra effort. With a little planning, preparation and patience, you can maintain your milk production while you’re away from your little one and they will be ready to welcome you home at your breast.

You can find the TSA official guidelines for traveling with breastmilk HERE.

Nicole Goodman is a full-time working mother who successfully nursed both of her daughters through their first 12 months. She had to go on many business trips while she was still nursing and has lots of funny stories about her experiences pumping & (sometimes) dumping. You can learn more on Nicole’s blog, Work in Sweats Mama.

Posted in Breastfeeding Around the Globe | Tagged Airplane, Breast Pump, pumping, Security, Traveling, TSA | 6 Comments

A Look Inside A Work in Progress

Posted on April 25, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Christine Staricka

How do new ideas spread in the lactation community? How often are there really any NEW ideas? How big does an idea have to be to make a real difference? These are questions I am asking myself as I write and create a new lactation education toolkit based on my middle-of-the-night revelation that we need a better way to motivate and empower mothers.

The idea sprang from working through two very routine cases with patients in the hospital…not an unusual situation but I was frustrated that I couldn’t find the words to teach these mothers effectively. This led to lengthy conversations with my lactation colleagues, then some sleepless nights and, finally, a light bulb moment.

But this is about what happens AFTER the light bulb moment, after you start frantically typing and rifling through piles of research articles and textbooks, the days where you move through all you other activities, waiting for the free moment when you will have time to express your blossoming ideas and capture them, and the glazed-over look of your family member who have long since tired of hearing about your new breastfeeding project.

What does one do with a new idea? My first obstacle was deciding on a format to express the idea. In this case, an article seemed as if it would not do justice to the concept, so a blog post or an entry to a journal seemed like the wrong place to start. The concept lends itself well to a toolkit and a toolkit with a broad audience requires excellent and accurate reference. Proper credit must be given to those whose ideas came before and which form the basis of the founding principles of the new concept. Research articles much be located and cited. Well-accepted textbooks must be consulted and cited. Online searches for similar concepts must be performed diligently. As the research and writing proceed, new thoughts on the direction of this concept are constantly forming and being reshaped.

Considering the direction of the project has revealed several things to me: the lactation community is global, diverse, and highly intelligent. Providing lactation support is an endeavor which requires not only the accumulation of knowledge, but the critical thinking skills and resourcefulness to make judgement calls and navigate tricky situations, both with parents and in healthcare settings. It takes a very unique set of skills to be an effective lactation support provider. Lactation care providers also must be effective educators, sensitive and valuable counselors, and excellent communicators.

The lactation community has learned to embrace all new methods of communication. LactNet has existed as a way of connecting far-flung individuals involved in lactation support for most of the time the internet has been widely available. All of the newer methods of communication have been rapidly assimilated into the culture of our community. This blog is an excellent example of a modern and efficient tool for mass communication used to all of its advantage by our professional organization.

So, with the ease of communication which has been established by the lactation community, the only issue remaining for someone with a new idea is to reflect on how new the idea really is and how to measure its effectiveness. Just as the writer of an essay considers and reconsiders the thesis statement many times during the writing, this idea must be truly probed for its originality. If it is not unique enough, its scope of influence will be small.

But that thought has brought me back to the basic principle of lactation support: if an idea or a tool helps even one mother and baby experience breastfeeding, it is successful. If a lactation care providers helps one mother and baby breastfeed better even one time, the provider has completed his or her objective. If an idea, a tool, or a provider can influence even one mother and her baby, it is meaningful for this world.

Christine Staricka is a hospital-based IBCLC. She became a Certified Lactation Educator through UCSD while facilitating local breastfeeding support groups. She studied independently while accumulating supervised clinical hours and passed the exam in 2009 to become an IBCLC. She holds a BS in Business Management from University of Phoenix. Christine is the co-owner of Bakersfield Breastfeeds, which provides lactation education to professionals and expectant parents. She has contributed to USLCA’s eNews as well as this blog. She enjoys tweeting breastfeeding information as @IBCLCinCA and maintains a blog by the same name. She is a wife and mother of 3 lovely and intelligent daughters and aunt to 4 nephews and 2 nieces, all of who have been or are still breastfeeding. She is partial to alternative rock and grunge music, especially Pearl Jam, and attends as many concerts as financially able with her husband of 18 years.

Posted in Advocacy, Education | Tagged Christine Staricka, Education, ideas | 1 Comment

“World Day of Human Milk Donation” – An International Effort!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by lactationmatters

By Maryanne Perrin, MBA

I spoke with Dr. Danielle Aparecida da Silva of Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (equivalent to the Food and Drug Administration in the USA) to learn more about the upcoming “World Day of Human Milk Donation” which will be celebrated on May 19, 2013. Aparecida da Silva is in charge of processing and quality control for the national reference center which supports milk banks throughout Iberoamerica and Africa.

A Day to Promote Milk Donations

Since 2004, Brazil’s Human Milk Bank network (Bancos de Leite Humano or BLH-BR) has held an annual “National Day of Human Milk Donation” to promote the importance of giving milk. This campaign involves selecting a “godmother of donation” who is usually an actress, singer, or other public figure (a few years ago it was volleyball players on the Olympic team) to bring awareness regarding the importance of donating milk to save the lives of thousands of premature babies. In 2010, Brazil began discussions with their partner countries in the Iberoamerican Program of Human Milk Banks (IberBLH) about hosting a “World Day of Human Milk Donation” which is celebrated on May 19 by Brazil and 23 other countries. This date was chosen because it is the date of the signing of the “First Letter of Brasilia,” a document to form international cooperation in milk banking. On May 19, the IberBLH member countries will promote the idea that when you donate milk, you donate life. This year’s theme is “Give Milk, Life Thanks” and the campaign will use radio, television, posters, and community events to raise awareness of the import role that milk donors play.

About Brazil’s Milk Bank Network

Dr. Danielle Aparecida da Silva

In the 1980s, Brazil created breastfeeding promotion policies that focused on two objectives: providing breastfeeding support to mothers, children, and families and managing the human milk banks to ensure a quality product. The combination of breastfeeding support and donor milk banking is based on the notion of human milk as a functional food that is important for decreasing neonatal morbidity. In 2012 Brazil’s breastfeeding promotion center provided breastfeeding support to almost 1.6 million women, collected approximately 160,000 liters of donor milk throughout their 212 milk banks, and supported 167,000 premature infants. In 2007, Brazil was instrumental in forming the IberoAmerican Program of Human Milk Banks for the exchange of knowledge and technology related to breastfeeding and milk banking with other countries.

The Importance of Donor Milk on a Global Level

According to the World Health Organization over 1,000,000 babies die every year from complications associated with prematurity, and it is the leading cause of death for infants under 4 weeks old. What kind of global impact could we have by making donor milk available to fragile infants worldwide who don’t have access to their mother’s milk? The cooperation of the Iberoamerican network in creating awareness about the need for milk donors is an important first step. Imagine if 50 countries participated in the 2014 “World Day of Human Milk Donations” and 75 countries the following year? Congratulations to Brazil and their Iberoamerican partner countries for highlighting donor milk as an important piece in the overall strategy to improve global infant health!

What efforts are going on in your country to raise awareness about donor milk banking?

Maryanne Perrin loves all things related to food: growing it, cooking it, eating it, and now studying about it at the molecular and cellular level. She has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and enjoyed a variety of career paths (information technology, management consulting, stay-at-home-mom, entrepreneur) before returning to school to obtain a PhD in Nutrition Science. She was quickly captivated by the amazing story of human milk and is focusing her research on understanding the nutritive and immunoprotective value of donor milk beyond one year postpartum. When she’s not studying or helping ILCA with social media, she likes playing in the woods with her husband, three kids, and the family dog.

Posted in Milk Banking | Tagged Brazil, Donation, Maryanne Perrin, Milk Banking | 3 Comments