The field of Human Lactation is a new profession.  Much of what we use comes from apprenticeship programs and hard learned lessons from a mother’s own personal experience.  The lactation profession needs to investigate several of their practices and policies to discover what is evidence based and what is anecdotal evidence.  This presentation explores the practices commonly employed in breastfeeding (growth monitoring, infant positioning, the use of assisted feeding devices, and counseling skills) to determine which are evidence based and which will require further study if they are to be used in clinical practice.

40 years of public health messaging has worked tremendously.  We have met the HP2020 goals of >80% breastfeeding initiation, you are to be congratulated.  Unfortunately, what we have missed is providing clinical skills training to our health care providers.  We now have a majority of new families initiating breastfeeding and very few people prepared to care for them when there is trouble.  Research shows that 80% of new families experience clinically significant breastfeeding problems in the first two months of lactation, and physicians and nurses are woefully unprepared to help.  This leaves the families without care and unprepared for what may be a difficult and painful struggle.  This presentation discusses the research regarding health care provider education and reports on studies that may demonstrate and effective way to encourage provider self-efficacy in breastfeeding support.

There is much to learn about the perinatal microbiome, What is it? What can it do? What do we do about it? How do our practices in the birth arena affect the long term health of women and their children? This presentation will scratch the surface of this exciting new area of research.

Did you know that a mother who breastfeeds her child is more likely to “match” as an organ donor than a mother who does not breastfeed her child? How does that happen?  The answer may lie in the Maternal-Newborn Microbiome, AKA “The Oro-boobular” axis.  The scientific world is exploding with excitement over the discovery of the microbiome. While it appears clear that suckling infant’s intestinal microbiome communicates with the mother’s lactocyte and perhaps beyond, little is known about the effects of this communication in practical terms.  This presentation will review what is known and attempt to explain what it means, both now and in the future.

Despite the known risk factors, Cesarean Delivery rates continue to climb in much of the western world.  Yet, the risk of cesarean delivery varies as much as 10 fold from hospital to hospital in America.  It seems clear that individual provider and hospital practices has more to do with cesarean rates than maternal-fetal wellness.  This presentation will discuss practices shown to decrease the risk of cesarean section and will discuss what the Labor and Delivery nurse can do to help prevent cesarean section within their facilities.

“I didn’t make enough milk!” We hear it on a regular basis from heartbroken new mothers.  In fact, this is the number one factor contributing to breastfeeding failure after two weeks of age is a perception of inadequate milk production.  This phenomenon of sudden onset lactation failure is widely accepted as a common occurrence among breastfeeding mothers.  This topic has been the subject of a number of quality studies that have yielded a conflicting mix of responses from primary health care providers and lactation consultants alike. This discussion will attempt to shed light on the very different concepts of “Milk Production” vs. “Milk Synthesis” and will demonstrate how confusion between those two concepts have clouded the study of milk production, promote the fallacy of “insufficient milk production syndrome”, and contribute to the failure of breastfeeding.  This presentation will also attempt to provide a preliminary course of action to begin anew in milk production research and perhaps even provide a framework for helping the new mothers facing the milk supply challenge.

In 1995 Chris Mulford published a timely article on the difficulties faced by breastfeeding mothers in a formula feeding culture.  That article was as accurate then as it is today.  This discussion will focus on continued difficulties faced by breastfeeding mothers in a society that is still decidedly focused on the formula feeding.  We will discuss the concept of “culture” and how it impacts breastfeeding, discuss the routine actions in the hospital that contribute to the formula feeding culture, and identify the prejudices of both society in general and the average American mother-baby unit against breastfeeding.

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 colleagues that they see represented in the stories I tell.  This presentation focuses primarily on nurses.

Fathers are an undervalued resource in breastfeeding, often ignored or treated with indifference. This presentation highlights the unique role of fathers as both the Co-Parent of the child and the mother’s primary care giver upon discharge from the hospital.  We will discuss the literature regarding the impact that fathers have on breastfeeding and how they can be used more effectively to support breastfeeding.  The presenter will also provide an insight into the male mind and how to effectively communicate with fathers. It also covers effective teaching strategies to bring fathers into the breastfeeding relationship.  Newly updated for 2020