Jarold (Tom) Johnston, MSN, CNM, IBCLC

about Jarold (Tom) Johnston

Tom is a dynamic and powerful speaker who is fond of speaking last after a long day. His energetic and fun loving style has wow'ed audiences in Europe and America for more than 10 years. Tom speaks to professional and lay audiences on a variety of topics in the Maternal Child and Parenting Arena. His wide range of educational offerings include seminars in perinatal bereavement, labor and delivery and newborn nursery, well infant care, and of course a wide range of breastfeeding topics. Tom brings a unique perspective to the world of human lactation as one of the few male lactation consultants, and perhaps the only Male Certified Nurse Midwife and Lactatation Consultant in America. Tom travels extensively throughout the year while maintaining a thriving midwifery practice in Up State New York.

official bio

Tom Johnston is a midwife and lactation consultant. Tom obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee and his Masters Degree in Midwifery at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. Tom is uniquely placed as a man in both Midwifery and Human Lactation and the father of seven breastfed children. He has spent his career advocating for the rights of fathers in the perinatal arena and has spoken on a variety of topics at conferences around the world, most recently for the Association of Woman’s Health and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the International Lactation Consultant's Association (ILCA). In his written work he has advocated for better science in the field of bedsharing and has authored a chapter on the role of the father in breastfeeding for "Breastfeeding in Combat Boots: A survival guide to breastfeeding in the military".

presentations

Jarold (Tom) Johnston is pleased to provide presentations on the following topics to professional and parenting conferences. Presentations on other topics may be available upon request and subject to sufficient development lead-time. (For CERP topics, required paperwork will be provided promptly to meet CERP deadlines)

The Role of the Father in Breastfeeding
60 - 90 minutes
CERP

Fathers are an undervalued resource in breastfeeding, often ignored or treated with indifference. This presentation highlights the unique role of fathers are the primary breastfeeding coach and the mother's primary care giver upon discharge from the hospital. It provides an insight into the male mind and how to
talk to fathers. It also covers effective teaching strategies to bring fathers into the breastfeeding relationship.

Iatrogenic Breastfeeding Complications
60 - 90 minutes
CERP

This presentation discusses the common nursing role types in the hospital and how these character traits (which most nurses recognize either in themselves or their colleagues) lead to many of the most common breastfeeding complications seen in the first months of life.Note: This session is a humorous look at ourselves and those we work with. Most who see this presentation laugh at their own weaknesses and point at collegues that they see represented in the stories I tell.

Promoting Maternal Efficacy in Breastfeeding
60 - 75 minutes
CERP

Most experts will agree that breastfeeding success is based, primarily on the level of maternal confidence in her abilities to provide care for the baby. This talk outlines the basic theory of Self Efficacy as it relates to breastfeeding and the basic steps that all health care providers can take to promote self efficacy in the breastfeeding couplet.

Be Nice to Me, I'm new here; Delivery room care of the well newborn
60 - 90 minutes

This is not a Breastfeeding presentation. This presentation is aimed at delivery room nursing care. The goal is to encourage nurses to explore what they do to newborns in the name of "safety" and asks them to reflect on how much of that practice is evidence based vs. tribal lore. It attempts to highlight the difference between NRP as it is written and how it is taught and practiced. It presents a brief review of the physiology of transition from 10 weeks gestation to the first days of extrauterine life. It goes on to explore the current state of the evidence regarding well newborn transition. Note: This presentation made its debut at the 2009 AWHONN national convention and has since been requested at several levels. it is not a breastfeeding presentation, but rather a presentation for Delivery room and Newborn Nursery Nurses.