Tag Archives | IBCLC Day

Join Us in Celebration of IBCLC DAY!

IBCLCDayLogo

Let the celebration begin! Once again, the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) is proud to partner with YOU in singing the praises of all the ways International Board Certified Lactation Consultants® (IBCLC®) impact their communities. We hope you will join us!

We chose the slogan of “Supporting You as You Support Your Baby” to reflect the essential role of the IBCLC in the lives of the families we serve. Very often, while providing skilled lactation care, we provide a “structure” or “scaffolding” to support the family. We provide not only clinical care, but a strong support for parents as they learn to best care for their babies.

We developed a number of shareable images to reflect this theme (available in English, Spanish, and French). They echo the important and supportive statements we make to encourage, to uplift, and to educate. You can find them on our website and on our various social media profiles.

Untitled design

COME JOIN THE PARTY! Our IBCLC Day Facebook Event Page will be hopping with questions, opportunities to give shout-outs to your favorite IBCLCs, and images to share on your own social media profiles. If you haven’t joined yet, make sure you do so you don’t miss any of the excitement!

In addition, we invite you to consider changing your Facebook profile image and cover image with our IBCLC Day downloads here.

Use OurHashtag-

We want to see your IBCLC Day Gear! Many of your purchased items from our IBCLC Day Pop-up Store and we’d love to see how and where you’re using your items. Post on the Facebook Event page, on Twitter, or on Instagram using the hashtag!

What’s happening in your community? We’d love to hear about how you are honoring the role of the IBCLC in your community and how YOU are being honored! Did you receive a note of appreciation? Did your employer plan a celebration? It’s not too late to get in on the party. Check out the downloadable cake art and certificate of appreciation on our website.

Tell us how YOU and YOUR COMMUNITY have been impacted by the incredible work of IBCLCs! We want to hear from you, both here in the comments, and on our various social media profiles, about the positive impact IBCLCs are having, all around the world, to reach ILCA’s vision of “World health transformed through breastfeeding and skilled lactation care.”

All of us at ILCA want to send up a big, huge THANK YOU!

We’re glad to celebrate #happyIBCLCday with you!

 

0

SAVE THE DATE: ILCA is Proud to Celebrate IBCLC Day on 4 March 2015

IBCLCDayLogoWe are just over one month away from this year’s IBCLC® Day Celebration! Once again, the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) is proud to partner with you in singing the praises of all the ways IBCLCs impact their communities.

Get connected to the IBCLC Day celebrations! We’ve planned a number of ways to celebrate so make sure you join us on our IBCLC Day Facebook Event Page by clicking here to stay up-to-date.

Get Your IBCLC Day Gear. Want to show the world exactly what IBCLCs do? Check out our IBCLC Day Pop-up Store for t-shirts, mugs, office supplies, and even mobile phone cases with our IBCLC Day slogan. Items are available in English and Spanish, with additional languages coming soon! Order NOW to assure that all of your items arrive by 4 March 2015.

Screenshot 2015-02-04 14.43.39

Looking for items in YOUR language? We’d love to help to provide them. Send your translation of our slogan to marketing@ilca.org.

Help us share your inspiration with the world. On IBCLC Day, we want to share with others the wisdom and inspiration we know that you share with families every single day. As we create visuals and other content to share online for #happyIBCLCday, we need you! We want to hear the wisdom you share with families. We’re especially looking for the inspiration you share when you know a family needs your most heartfelt support – in sound bite form that is easy to share online. We’ll share some of your brilliance on IBCLC Day! Feel free to leave your phrases, top tips, and inspiration in the comments, or email us at media@ilca.org.

Get ready to share! We’ll have Facebook cover images, profile images, and visuals for you to share on IBCLC Day. Follow along on our Facebook event page or grab your downloads at the ILCA website here.

Don’t forget to share your inspiration and top tips for families in the comments below! #happyIBCLCday!

2

Letter from the ILCA President 2014

Every year, the International Lactation Consultant Association® (ILCA®) board president shares with members the strategic plans and priorities for the year ahead. This year, we’re sharing it at Lactation Matters so that everyone interested in ILCA – not just members – can be up-to-date. Share your feedback at info@ilca.org or in the comments below.

liz_brooksDear ILCA Members,

Happy IBCLC Day (Wednesday, 5 March 2014) from the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) Board of Directors!

Our social media platforms (FacebookLactation Matters blog and Twitter) are front and center this year, to honor and celebrate the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®).  We hope you take a moment to reach out and thank an IBCLC who touched your life . . . perhaps as a clinician; maybe as a mentor. Learn more here.

To our members: thank YOU! Your membership dollars are the engine driving this association, allowing us to produce the top-ranked breastfeeding research publication Journal of Human Lactation (JHL), to host the premier international lactation conference every year, and to be an important voice for IBCLCs who protect  human lactation in international policy-setting bodies. But without YOU, this professional association would not exist.

In return, ILCA offers YOU a place for advocacy, education and professional development that focuses on YOU and your credential. No other group or association looks out for the IBCLC the way ILCA and its Partner Affiliates do. Here is a snapshot of some of ILCA’s important activities in the last year:

Reducing inequities in breastfeeding support; opening the doors of the profession, and the professional association. The demographics of ILCA membership, and the pathways of entry into our profession, show there are significant race- and income-based barriers to sit for the IBCLC exam offered by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®). Accreditation of academic programs in human lactation (by the Lactation Education Accreditation and Approval Review Committee, LEAARC) is expanding . . . but not yet universal. The future viability of our profession is very much at stake. Thus, the three independent organizations (ILCA, IBLCE and LEAARC) are co-hosting a Summit Addressing Inequities within the Lactation Consultant Profession on 27 July 2014, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Watch the ILCA website for details and consider a submission to the JHL issue devoted to the topic of inequity; deadline is 1 August 2014.

Operations and management. Over the past few years, ILCA has been working on a top-to-bottom governance and operational shift, which is critical for long-term association sustainability. Our restructured budgeting, accounting, and auditing processes now include an operational metrics system to better evaluate ILCA’s programs and services. Additionally, ILCA now has highly skilled, experienced staff members who have expertise in conferencing, member-association management, and financial planning and analysis.

Finances and budgeting. The ILCA Board has set several short-term budgeting and long-term financial goals that better reflect our changing member needs. ILCA has commenced an ambitious development goal to raise  membership by expanding into more countries and remote regions where English is not the primary language.

Improved affiliate relations may mean new governance at ILCA! In a matter of weeks, ILCA hopes to provide details of a year-long review and revision of the ILCA Partner Affiliate agreements, designed to better support our affiliate members.

International advocacy. ILCA recently received a three-year renewal of its coveted non-governmental organization (NGO) status with the World Health Organization (WHO), and we retain our NGO status with the United Nations (UNICEF). Additionally, several efforts are underway from our stellar United Nations Breastfeeding Action Team (UNBAT), to insert breastfeeding protection into measures involving maternal/child health, gender equity, food safety and emergency preparedness.

Strategic plan, vision and mission. As part of its on-going work concerning the ILCA Strategic Plan, the Board has begun to look anew at the vision and mission that are our association guideposts. Every breastfeeding family deserves information and support; indeed, breastfeeding and human lactation as the cultural norm is an ideal upon which we can all agree. The IBCLC plays a critical role in making that happen. While not all families need an IBCLC’s care, those that do should know who we are, what we do, and how to access our services quickly. And ILCA and its Partner Affiliates are the ideal place to find IBCLC-centered resources and advocacy.

This is not all that ILCA is doing. These are only the “big picture” efforts that define the overall tone and philosophy of your professional association. The work of our Committees, Task Forces, Liaisons, staff, and our cadre of social media ambassadors, continues, every day. We’d love your help, too.  Let us say it one more time —

Thank you! On behalf of the entire ILCA Board of Directors,

Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC FILCA

ILCA President

0

A Poem to Celebrate IBCLCs Everywhere!

Hopefully, in the days since IBCLC Day, you’ve received expressions of gratitude and gratefulness for the work you do with breastfeeding families. We received the following poem from Lindsay Giroux, a first-time mother to Eric Ryan (6 months) from Cary, North Carolina, USA. Lindsay and Eric attend a wonderful breastfeeding support group weekly, led by two IBCLCs, Bonny Reid Cullom and Bonnie Marcotte Moore. The stories of other mothers’ challenges, and the support from the IBCLCs, inspire the poem’s verses.

imageNipples burning, might be thrush
Cluster feeding and in no rush
Vasospasms, lightning boob
Nipples like a lipstick tube
Milk blisters, mastitis
Random pain, leftboobitis
Swollen nipple, clogged ducts
Shallow latch, reflux
Pedi says slow weight gain
Chomping, teething, nipple pain
Engorgement, leaking through pads
Clueless, confused, baby dads

Frustratingly low pumping yield
Weaning off the nipple shield
Trying hard to boost supply
Green poops, MSPI

Baby prefers a faster flow
Returning to work, don’t wanna go
Forceful letdown in baby’s face
No freezer stash for just in case

Won’t drink from a bottle, or a cup
Feeling like milk is drying up
Low milk transfer, tongue tie
Fussy baby, don’t know why

Baby has teeth and likes to bite
Can’t get the SNS just right
Lipase milk that baby won’t drink
Nursed all night, can’t really think

Nursing is hard; Don’t know what to do,
Here comes an LC to the rescue!

Fenugreek ’til you smell sweet
Heating pads with lots of heat
More Milk Plus, Mother’s Milk tea
Tongue tie clipped by the ENT

Blessed thistle, special blend
Soothie gels ’til your nips mend
APNO magic cream
Recline to lessen the stream

Power pumping for an hour
Try massage in the shower
Epsom salts to soak the breast
Side lying to get some rest

Move the milk to make some more
Dangle feed on all fours
Eat oatmeal and try flaxseed
Mama’s milk is all they need

Nurse and nurse right through a cold
Try the Boppy or a football hold
Scald the milk, don’t let it boil
Try nipple butter or coconut oil

Give probiotics once a day
Paced bottle feeding is the way
Skin to skin snuggle fest
Make a sandwich with your breast

Domperidone and goat’s rue
Visualize while pumping too
For milk storage, the rule of six
Swirl the bottle if hindmilk sticks

Nipple toward the nose, flange the lip
Get support on Joined at the Nip
Need to reduce an oversupply
Block feeding, give it a try

Or cabbage leaves, cold like ice
Peppermint tea might work quite nice
Burp often while feeding
Kellymom is good for reading

Leave the breastaurant open all day
Some babies snack, some like the buffet
Check diapers- dirty and wet
If they’re plenty, you’re all set

Look at the baby, not the scale
Breast compressions, Guinness ale
Your baby is perfect, that is true
Do whatever works for you

It is hard work, but, alas,
Like everything, this too shall pass.

All that rhyming, just to say,
Happy IBCLC Day! 

 

4

What Makes IBCLCs Essential in Their Communities? {Leslie Stern, RN, CNM, IBCLC}

In celebration of IBCLC Day, we’re asking IBCLCs of all sorts to reflect a bit on what makes them essential within their communities. Today, we highlight Leslie Stern, an IBCLC working in private practice in Durham, NC, USA. 

What makes an IBCLC essential in my community?

Leslie-Stern-4679We (the IBCLC’s) are the protectors of breastfeeding. We are who the mothers can turn to when breastfeeding isn’t going as planned…when there’s pain, not enough milk or other reasons why nursing isn’t working out. We troubleshoot, we are the detectives who take the time to try to figure out what’s going on to help the mother meet her goals. We can be found in a variety of settings…in the hospital, in outpatient clinics, and in private practice. I personally love going to a mother’s home and working with her in her own environment, with her own pillows, and on her couch or in her bed. We can’t make any guarantees that breastfeeding will work, but we will try our hardest to do what we can. The IBCLC is the essential credential for lactation support and I’m proud do be one in Durham, NC.

Leslie Stern started her career as an RN working in the Pediatric ICU and quickly learned she wanted to be with moms and babies. She became an IBCLC in 1997 while working in Labor and Delivery in the midst of becoming a Certified Nurse Midwife in 1998. After working as a CNM in Brooklyn, NY, she married and started a new chapter of her life as a mother of 2 (who are now 8 and 5). Leslie started private practice as an IBCLC in Durham, NC and is happily married, living with her hubby, dog, 2 kids, 2 fish, 4 cats, and 10 chickens.

0

Memorable Moments as an IBCLC – Part Five

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as an IBCLC?

Yasmin – The most memorable experience as an IBCLC is when I, as coauthor, conducted first time independent research in which we explored the experiences of women on reasons in initiating and maintaining breastfeeding in the urban area of Karachi, Pakistan. For this, I feel very humble. After attending the ILCA conference in 2008, a spark was ignited in us and we were able to initiate this small scale research project in our country.  To continue that learning and to help mothers continue exclusive and optimum breast feeding practices, I have chosen to complete my master’s thesis on the topic of exploring father’s and health care provider’s perceptions for breast feeding practices in Karachi, Pakistan.

Yasmin Mithani, IBCLC, BScN, RN, RM

Senior Instructor, AKUSONAM

Robin -A few months ago, I met a mother at one of my weekly breastfeeding support groups.  She had a 3 week old baby boy, who was having some major challenges latching on.  When I went to her home for a private consultation, her story began to unfold.  Her son’s tight frenulum had been clipped in the hospital and, since then, had refused to latch for more than a few minutes.  She was exclusively pumping, to preserve her milk supply, and her son was receiving bottles of breast milk in place of breastfeeding.  This sweet mother was so determined, yet was at a loss for how to bring her baby back to breast.

Within about 15 minutes, I removed the mother’s breastfeeding pillow, elevated her feet, and asked her to recline.  Next, I rested her son on her chest and waited for him to root around.  Her son bobbed around until he found her nipple and began to suckle.  The mother was in disbelief that her son could latch on his own and tears filled her eyes as she heard gulp after gulp.

Well, after I left, her son went back to his fussy ways and would only latch and breastfeed intermittently.  The mother was devastated.  I recommended that she wear him skin to skin and to spend a day in bed with her son, nursing whenever he showed signs of hunger.  I felt so badly for this mother and baby, as I knew her son was capable, yet they weren’t in sync at the moment.

Two weeks later, the mother walked through the door of my support group and gave me an enormous hug.  After having spent an entire Saturday cuddling with her son, gently refusing to give him a bottle, he finally figured out that he could get all that he needed directly from the breast.  They had been exclusively breastfeeding for 4 days now and they couldn’t have been happier.  I was so incredibly proud of this mother…for her perseverance and her willpower.  She continues to inspire me to this day.

Robin Kaplan, M.Ed., IBCLC

Co-Editor, Lactation Matters Owner,

San Diego Breastfeeding Center www.sdbfc.com

2

Memorable Moments as an IBCLC – Part Four

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as an IBCLC?

Meena Sobsamai  – My most memorable experiences I have had working with a mother and her child in the hospital, in the support group or even on the phone, are the ones where we can see that the easiest cases, and the most difficult ones, are made to feel ‘normal.’  Our responsibility is to keep normal as norm and to help difficult situations to become much easier and make it back to ‘normal.’ Two of these important responsibilities are caring about birth and breastfeeding.  I always say ‘relax, you can do it and we’re here to help you’.

One of those moments that has been very rewarding and made me feel proud to be an IBCLC, and a parent educator, is when I see the breastfed baby’s eyes after he/she gets a good LATCH and his/her mother smiles while her baby is breastfeeding.  For me, my heart feels big and I feel high like the endorphins have elevated my mind with achievement. It’s more than words can say.  I’m sure you love it as well and would love to make it happen again and again. For IBCLC, it’s my honor to have this and I’m so glad to hear the  young nurses  run to me after my talk or lecture saying that ‘You’re my idol.’ Thank you, my dear, you’re also my drive to make it happen.

Meena Sobsamai Nurse-Midwife,IBCLC , Grad.dip in Childbirth Education Lactation

Clinic Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital

Childbirth&Breastfeeding Foundation of

Thailand IBLCE Co-ordinator for THAILAND

 

Tomoko Seo -Recently I was invited to speak on breastfeeding at a meeting for pediatricians in a city 750 km (460 miles) away from my hospital. I talked on breastfeeding basics that pediatricians should know. When I was answering questions, a young female pediatrician raised her hand and told her story. Although I did not remember her, she had, in fact, given birth in my hospital and I had checked her son at the well baby clinic. When she asked me at my clinic about how she could continue breastfeeding after she returned to work, I informed her that she could express her milk and ask the nurse to give it at daycare. Soon after that, she moved to the city where I was invited. It was a coincidence to meet her again. She told the audience that she was very happy that she could breastfeed her son for more than one year while she was working. I was very pleased to hear her story because not only had I been able to encourage a first time mother, but I also helped create a pediatrician who experienced happy breastfeeding. I believe it is useful to make breastfeeding-friendly physicians to help mothers to continue breastfeeding. This is one of my strategies.

Tomoko Seo, MD, IBCLC, FABM, is a pediatrician, who is working in a private maternity hospital and a pediatric clinic in Japan. She certified as IBCLC in 1999 and served as the president of Japanese Association of Lactation Consultants (JALC) from 2001 to 2003. She is a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. She has translated various documents and books on breastfeeding into Japanese. She has served as Conference Chair of the annual breastfeeding seminar for physicians sponsored by JALC since 2005. She works as a lecturer at breastfeeding conferences as well as a clinician caring for mothers and babies.

0

Memorable Moments as an IBCLC – Part Three

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as an IBCLC?

Bryna – When I was still interning- I had the experience that would change me deeply- I was working at the lactation clinic and it was a busy day. Sometimes we accepted walk-ins. We had three women on the couch in the front waiting for help, and a woman in the appointment room already. So I went out to the front and led a three woman latching session- it was pretty funny! “Okay- get your positions, aim your nipple to the roofsof their mouths, one, two,  three…latch!”

Alright, it wasn’t quite that well orchestrated, but it was close! Only one of the women still had trouble- her son refused to latch. He just laid there with his mouth wide open! I worked with her weekly at first, and then almost daily, for six months. At the end of six months, one day during a home visit, her baby latched right on!! We both had to stifle our screams of joy and relief- we didn’t want to scare the baby! Best moment of my career so far!

Bryna Sampey became board certified in October, 2010. She began her career path in much the same way many women come to the profession- by having a baby. She went to Sonja Massey, RN, BSN, IBCLC’s free breastfeeding support group in Monterey, CA to get help with her four day old’s nursing- and fell in love with what Sonja was doing for families. Her first question (and it’s still her question today) was: “Why don’t more women do this?” Sonja took Bryna under her wing, and guided her through the process, step by step, first aiding her to become a Certified Lactation Counselor in 2007, and throughout many whirlwind weeks of internship full-time, finally to the IBLCE exam. Bryna has a special passion for helping alternative families, and families with children who have special needs. Also a doula, her private practice, Doula My Soul,  focuses on lactation home visits, support, education, classes, and care from birth through weaning.

Denise – My most memorable experience is one that was vicariously enjoyed. As an educator I love to hear from students about how they applied what they’ve recently learned to a consultation.

This particular ‘vicarious experience’ was a story from a community midwife who was studying towards being an LC while working as a volunteer in a 3rd World country. Mary had recently completed a course with us on the premature infant. In a small village she found a mother with week-old twins trying to squeeze milk from her breast into one twin’s mouth, saying they couldn’t suck.  Mary wrote “My heart was frozen” when she saw the twins. Their gestation was unknown but birth-weights were 1600g and 1700g (3.25 – 3.5 lb) and weight now at 1 week of age was 1000g and 1100g (2.2 – 2.4 lb). Also, she reported the infants were so cold she was surprised they were still alive.

Mary sprang into action with the knowledge she’d just acquired. She helped the mother hand express her breastmilk and cup-feed her infants, who took the milk well. She put the infants into kangaroo care with their mother for many hours until their temperatures became normal. Mary had not heard of either cup-feeding or kangaroo care before her studies. These two actions saved the lives of these infants. With lots more support for the young mother from Mary the twins thrived.

I felt so proud to be a part of this wonderful story, both helping the student gain knowledge she’ll use all her professional career,  and ultimately being a part of saving two lives.

(Note: student’s name changed to protect her privacy. All details available on request.)

Denise Fisher, BN, MMP, IBCLC
Director, Health e-Learning
denise@health-e-learning.com

0

Memorable Moments as an IBCLC – Part Two

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as an IBCLC?

Judy: One of my most memorable experiences as an IBCLC was providing Lactation support in Addis Ababa while working as a volunteer with SIM Ethiopia.

A poor Ethiopian mother with high blood pressure, an under-grown baby and a third world setting spells perhaps, a poor outcome and maybe even death for someone in this family.

This was not this mother’s first high risk pregnancy as she’d had twins 8 years previously down south in Ethiopia (one twin weighed .8 kilos and the other 1 kilo) and successfully breastfed them both without supplements.  However, the new baby, without need for breathing help, was being kept in the NICU at a big referral public hospital in Addis Ababa and separated from the mother until there was a space in the kangaroo care ward. So the family decided that it was time for them to come home with some support.

They came home when the baby was 1.4 kilos and the mother was able to self-express breast milk into the baby’s mouth when the baby tired of breastfeeding.  She fed the baby every 2 hours day and night and practiced kangaroo care in their very poor, modest but clean home with 3 other children.  We weighed the baby weekly on my dining room table and both baby and mother thrived (all free of supplemental formula.)

I have worked with SIM Ethiopia (an evangelical mission group that’s been here for almost 100 years) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for 6 years. I have had a number of positions here including helping manage an obstetrical unit at a Korean Mission Hospital and helped open a neonatal intensive care unit there that focused on kangaroo care. I also worked for 2 1/2 years as lactation and feeding specialist with Cure Ethiopian Children’s Hospital with cleft lip and palate babies managing the nutrition and feeding issues of over 200 babies through their palate surgeries; all of these families were required to use breast milk as medicine. Now I’m doing private lactation support and back to work issues for Ethiopian and expatriate women living in this country. It’s a privilege to be here.

Judy Norman, RN, MN, MPH, IBCLC, SIM Ethiopia

2

Memorable Moments as an IBCLC – Part One

What has been one of your most memorable experiences as an IBCLC?

Maya and Theresa in Moscow

Maya: At the 2008 ILCA conference, I sat at the same table as Kathy Parkes one day for lunch. I was reading a book about breastfeeding in Russian. We started to talk and Kathy encouraged me to get more information about breastfeeding support in my former home. I started looking for information on forums and talking to different people. We exchanged information. That was how the idea was born for me to take a trip to my home-town of Minsk.

Theresa: We make quite a pair, Maya and I. She was raised in Belarus, but lived most of her adult life in Ohio. I was raised in Michigan, but lived most of my adult life in Moscow, Minsk and Kiev. It took just a few letters and one brief meeting for us to realize our shared vision – to foster the exchange of information and resources with Russian-speakers who are passionate about breastfeeding. Maya’s first visit to Minsk and Moscow in 2009 brought together a few dozen like-minded women.

Maya: I saw how many breastfeeding supporters had experience and knowledge breastfeeding their own babies, but how limited was their access to evidence-based information. The information provided by many doctors and nurses was very poor.

Theresa: After Maya’s presentation, for the first time I really understood what ‘IBCLC’ meant. I was amazed to discover that I’d accumulated enough hours as a peer counselor to sit for the 2010 exam. With Maya’s encouragement, I sent in my application. We shared a room at the ILCA conference in San Antonio. I applauded as she received two awards – Each One Reach One, and Above and Beyond. A few days later, she stood outside the room as I sat the exam.

Maya: That first year, I was the IBLCE Coordinator for 4 countries where the Russian-speaking potential candidates lived. Only Theresa and Sandra Lase (Latvia) took the exam. I was so proud that they both passed. I visited Moscow a second time in October 2010. That time, there were more than 100 participants from 43 cities, representing five countries.

Moscow Lactation Library

Theresa: The next step was to work on how to bring the exam to the Russian-speaking consultants. We worked hard to establish an exam site in Moscow and get the Russian-speaking candidates ready to take the exam in English. You can’t imagine the Skype sessions! Maya was tirelessly answering questions for the dozen women preparing for the exam. The consultants in Moscow met regularly for “lactation English” lessons, using lactation textbooks donated by MILCC, book publishers and private donations.

As the results were being posted, we all gathered around our computers – scattered across multiple time zones and continents – to hear the results. In the end, we had quite Skype celebration: 12 new IBCLCs! A total of 8 in Russia, 1 in Belarus, 1 in Ukraine and 2 in Latvia. Some had scored in the 80-90 percentiles. Even the complaints of naysayers, who opposed the introduction of the exam in Russia, could not dampen their sense of accomplishment.

Maya in Moscow

Maya: This time I get to see Moscow in the spring. For the 2012 conference in Russia, Jack Newman will speak to an expected crowd of 170 this April. It’s so nice to see that the local associations of consultants are growing and dreaming bigger every year.

Theresa: Now that my family has moved to New Zealand, I don’t know when I’ll be able to visit my dear friends and colleagues next. But, this experience has taught me that distance really isn’t an issue with modern technology. Maya and I will continue to offer our support and encouragement – now on three continents!

Maya Bolman lives in Cleveland, Ohio. She was born and raised in Minsk, Belarus.
Maya has been an IBCLC since 2001. Currently she works at Cleveland Clinic
Hillcrest Hospital as the lactation consultant as well as in a private
pediatric practice. Maya started working with breastfeeding supporters in the
Former Soviet Union countries back in 2008. She made two trips to Moscow, Russia
and Minsk, Belarus to conduct seminars about breastfeeding in 2009 and to
present at the First Conference of NFCA (Natural Feeding Consultants
Association) of Russia in 2010. The highlight of both trips was meeting many wonderful and talented women who are very passionate about breastfeeding. Maya has three wonderful children and a very supportive husband. 

Theresa Yaroshevich  first came to Russia in 1994 to teach English for “just one year” and left 17 years later with a Russian husband and three bi-lingual children. Her experience giving birth in a Moscow ‘birth-house’ inspired her to become a peer counselor and eventually an IBCLC. Theresa founded the 200-member Moscow Mommy Milk Meet-up (Russia) & a smaller group in Minsk, Belarus — both of which later became the first LLL groups in those countries. Her favorite part of working in a multicultural context is savoring how motherhood can be at the same time unique and universal. As a trailing spouse, she has organised 5 relocations in 4 countries in 6 years. Her children are currently learning to run barefoot in New Zealand, and hope to master the Kiwi accent.

2

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes

Translate »
Privacy Policy