Eline Tommelein, PharmD, PhD, LC

Prof Eline Tommelein obtained her master’s degree in Drug Development in 2011. She subsquently started her PhD research at the Pharmaceutical Care Unit (UGent), focusing on the one hand on continued pharmaceutical care for patients with COPD and on the other hand on older patients with polypharmacy. She obtained her PhD in September 2016. In 2019, after an academic break of 3 years, during which she started her own continuous education company ‘Medicourse’ she returned to academia, taking up a professorship at the ‘Vrije Universiteit Brussel’. She oversees the courses ‘Line project III: introduction to the pharmaceutical practice’, ‘Integrated pharmacology and pharmacotherapy I and II’ and ‘Internship in the community pharmacy and serious gaming’. She also teaches the elective course ‘Nutrition in the first two years of life’ and provides several guest classes considering food supplements.
In the meantime, she followed additional training in clinical chemistry in Utrecht (The Netherlands) in 2012 and obtained certification of medication reviewer (PIAF pharmacist) in November 2015. In 2018 she graduated as a smoking cessation specialist. In 2020 she completed the postgraduate as a lactation consultant.
Prof Tommelein is the author of multiple handbooks including Bottle feeding: breast milk or formula via the bottle; Breastfeeding: a practical guide for healthcare professionals and Transitioning from milk to solids: a practical guide, all of which appeared in 2019 and 2020. In 2022, she published a book for the public, titled Eat like an expert, mini with co-author Dr Rolinde Demeyer.
Since obtaining her pharmacy degree in 2011, Prof Tommelein continuously worked in various public pharmacies in Belgium. This way, her work remains related to practice, and she can respond well to the needs and questions of the healthcare landscape. She carries out teaching assignments for professional organisations and continuous education organisations. She currently teaches pharmacology in the midwifery schools of VIVES (Kortrijk, Belgium), Karel de Grote College, Antwerp, Belgium, Artevelde University college, Ghent, Belgium and Erasmus Hogeschool ,Brussels, Belgium. In addition, she provides classes regarding clinical chemistry in the Master of Pharmaceutical Care program at Ghent University and is a guest teacher at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

The use of galactagogues and health products during lactation

This presentation explores the use of health products by breastfeeding women, offering healthcare providers a structured overview and practical strategies to support safe and informed use. In the first part, we will discuss common patterns in health product use during lactation—including prescribed medications, over-the-
counter products, supplements, and herbal remedies—and share tips and tricks to help professionals accurately assess what lactating women are using, including products they may not spontaneously mention. The second part of the session will focus on galactagogues, both pharmacological and herbal, with a critical look at their evidence base, safety profiles, and common usage in practice.

1.25 L (I, IV, V, VII) CERP

Cheryl Godcharles, MD, NABBLM-C, IBCLC

Dr Cheryl Godcharles is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. She is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Complex Family Planning, and Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine. She directs postpartum education for both residents and medical students at USF and is actively engaged in clinical research and quality improvement initiatives focused on improving postpartum care and breastfeeding outcomes. Her work centers on health equity, education, and expanding access to evidence-based lactation support.

Contraception and lactation

This presentation will explore the intersection of lactation and contraception, with a focus on evidence-based guidance for supporting breastfeeding while meeting patients’ contraceptive needs. Topics will include hormonal and non-hormonal options, timing of initiation, and strategies for shared decision-making in diverse clinical settings. Attendees will leave with practical tools to optimize postpartum care and minimize disruption to lactation.

0.75 L (II, IV, VII) CERP

Katherine Standish, MD, MSc

Dr Katherine Standish a fellowship-trained breastfeeding medicine specialist and health services researcher in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University, USA. She is co-founder of the Breastfeeding Equity Center at Boston Medical Center, which aims to increase equity in breastfeeding support and outcomes. Her research addresses breastfeeding services and interventions in socially marginalized and medically high-risk populations. She currently serves as Chair of the Protocol Committee of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. Dr Standish studied medicine at Yale University, completed residency training and a primary care academic fellowship at Boston Medical Center, earned her masters in Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, and completed a fellowship in breastfeeding and lactation medicine through the University of Rochester.

Supporting breastfeeding in substance use disorder: a patient-centered approach

This presentation will review the epidemiology of breastfeeding among people with substance use disorder (SUD) with a focus on opioid use, and discuss the risk of formula/benefits of human milk specific to dyads with SUD. It will discuss social, medical and pathophwiologic mechanisms behind breastfeeding difficulties in people with SUD, and discuss strategies clinicians, hospitals and community services can take to best support people with SUD who are breastfeeding. Finally, it will briefly the new ABM clinical protocol on breastfeeding and SUD.

1.00 L (IV,V,VII) CERP

Karolina Morze, MPharm

Karolina Morze is a pharmacist and specializes in pharmacotherapy in lactation. She works as a consulting pharmacist in a private practice in Poland. In her clinical practice she works with lactating individuals with various health issues, helping mothers with both common problems, chronic or rare diseases to reconcile the therapy and breastfeeding with as little intervention as possible, respecting mothers’ wishes and needs.
She conducts training for IBCLCs, midwives, doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals as well as non-medical lactation supporters in the field of medication and breastfeeding, attempting to explain complex pharmacological problems in an easy to understand way. She conducts research on the Drug Related Problems and outcomes of maternal medication on the breastfed children.
She is a member of the Polish Society of Clinical Pharmacy and Polish Society of Pharmacovigilance. She is also an author of several books and publications.

A balancing act. How to assess risk vs benefit ratio when it comes to  depressive spectrum disorders medications in lactation.

This presentation explores the complexities of assessing medication safety for depression in lactating women. It delves into the challenges of weighing risks and benefits, common obstacles faced in this evaluation, and various scenarios to consider. Risks associated with medication, infant exposure via breastmilk, formula feeding, not breastfeeding at all, and the consequences of untreated depression will be discussed. Additionally, the presentation will explore how patient autonomy laws impact decision-making in this context.

1.00 E (IV, VII) CERP

Minding the gap. What do we know of the choices mothers make regarding medication use and breastfeeding?

This presentation is about our perspective as lactation specialists on the challenges mothers face regarding medications and breastfeeding, and compare it with Karolina’s own observations from a nearly year-long study. It will explain the motivations behind her research on drug-related problems in breastfeeding women and discuss whether the results confirmed the initial hypotheses. What was most surprising, and what was foreseeable? And most of all, is there anything we can do to improve?

1.00 L (IV, VII) CERP