Reflections on NYLCA Winter 2022 Virtual Workshop

I recently received travel grant support from the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health to attend the New York Lactation Consultant Association (NYLCA) Winter 2022 Virtual Workshop. As a newly certified International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), I was eager to attend this workshop to learn more about important topics in the lactation field and how they might be relevant to public health. This live workshop included presentations by two speakers plus one panel discussion. The two presentations were “Trust Your Gut: Infant Allergies During Lactation” by Marie Keogh, MPH, RD, CDN, IBCLC, BSN and “Beyond Baby Brain: Embracing Neurodiverse Families and Removing Barriers to Access in Your Lactation Practice” by Bryna Sampey, IBCLC. The panel discussion, entitled “Mentoring Future IBCLCs During This Pandemic Age” featured perspectives from Dr. Nastassia Davis, DNP, MSN, RN, IBCLC of Perinatal Health Equity Foundation, Trine Bradshaw, IBCLC of Breast for Baby, and Allison Walsh, IBCLC of Lactation Learning Collective.

The panel discussion was one of my favorite parts of the NYLCA Winter 2022 Virtual Workshop. The panelists discussed the importance of addressing the oversaturation of white lactation consultants, especially IBCLCs, within the lactation field. Increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of practicing lactation specialists will better represent patient populations, and can lead to a reduction in breastfeeding disparities. Dr. Nastassia Davis, Trine Bradshaw, and Allison Walsh all offer affordable mentorship experiences to aspiring IBCLCs in order to help eliminate barriers to lactation training. During the panel discussion, they gave advice on how to mentor lactation students in an equitable way that best represents the needs of the community. Breastfeeding families should be able to choose the right lactation consultant for them, which may be someone who shares the same culture or speaks the same native language as the family. 

I am especially interested in Dr. Davis’s work at the Perinatal Health Equity Foundation. Dr. Davis founded the Perinatal Health Equity Foundation to help change the inequities in perinatal health outcomes among Black women in New Jersey. Part of the Foundation’s work is operating Sistahs Who Breastfeed, a breastfeeding group offering free support to Black women by Black women. Sistahs Who Breastfeed prioritizes bonding and relationship-building among its participants, allowing Black breastfeeding mothers to build a supportive peer network. The Perinatal Health Equity Foundation further supports breastfeeding outcomes for Black mothers by mentoring aspiring Black IBCLCs. Mentees can acquire some of their required hours of lactation clinic practice by running virtual or in-person Sistahs Who Breastfeed support groups, as paid part-time employees. I appreciate that the Perinatal Health Equity Foundation offers their mentees paid opportunities to obtain lactation clinic practice hours. This helps remove a financial barrier to pursuing the IBCLC credential, which is important for eliminating inequities in IBCLC representation. One of my long-term goals is to be involved in breastfeeding equity work, and I am glad to have learned about some of the current programs addressing these issues during the NYLCA Winter 2022 Virtual Workshop. I am grateful to have been able to attend this conference and to gather with fellow IBCLCs to talk about ways to provide more equitable care and support to breastfeeding families, now and in the future.