Mike Brady, BSc, MEng

Mike Brady is Campaigns and Networking Coordinator at Baby Milk Action in the UK. Originally an engineer, Mike joined Baby Milk Action in 1996 after working for four years in Malawi, Africa. Baby Milk Action is the UK member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and Mike works with partner organisations in the UK and around the world to stop aggressive marketing practices and bring in laws implementing international marketing standards.

How baby food companies compete with health care systems and mother support groups as sources of information on infant care

Baby food companies invest large sums of money in targeting pregnant women and the mothers of infants and young children. This presentation will consider the strategies used in baby food marketing, which is regulated by international marketing standards adopted by the World Health Assembly. We will look at what companies can and cannot do, and how different countries are regulating the baby food industry and discuss the challenges faced by policy makers. What action can be taken by individuals to hold baby food companies to account?

Adelina Garcia, RN, IBCLC

Adelina Garcia is a nurse specializing in Primary Care Public Health. She currently works in the Basque Health Service, Osakidetza, Spain. Since 2007 she has been the president of La Leche League of Euskadi (Spain) and is active in the promotion and protection of breastfeeding at both community and state level. Adelina became an IBCLC in 2003 and has been the IBLCE Coordinator in Spain since 2004. She works vigorously to promote the role of the certified Lactation Consultant in Spain. She has spoken at various national conferences and has taught in numerous training courses on breastfeeding for health professionals as part of BFHI training. She is part of the Technical Committee of the Strategy for Pregnancy Care, Birth and the Neonatal Period organized by the Spanish Ministry of Health team and a research project for the development of recommendations for breastfeeding, a step towards the development of a clinical practice guideline on breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding, ethics and legality

Our work as lactation consultants must abide by ethical principles that facilitate the mother-baby relationship and are based on respect for the laws and in compliance with the Code of Professional Conduct of the IBCLC. This presentation will define the responsibilities of the IBCLC in relation to ethical issues such as conflicts of interest, professional and client autonomy, confidentiality, accountability, evidence-based practice and intellectual property rights. It will also offer participants information on the ethical principles that govern our clinical practice, so as to facilitate the understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Code of Professional Conduct of the IBCLC and the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

Henci Goer, BA

Henci Goer, award-winning medical writer and internationally known speaker, is an acknowledged expert on evidence-based maternity care. Her first book, Obstetric Myths Versus Research Realities, was a valued resource for childbirth professionals. Its successor, Optimal Care in Childbirth: The Case for a Physiologic Approach, has won the American College of Nurse-Midwives “Best Book of the Year” award. Henci has also written a book giving pregnant women access to the research evidence: The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth. In addition, she has written consumer education pamphlets and articles for trade, consumer, and academic periodicals. Henci is in the process of developing Childbirth U, a website where pregnant women and others will be able to purchase narrated slide presentations at modest cost that will lay out what practices and policies constitute optimal care in childbirth according to the research, thereby enabling women to make truly informed decisions about care.

Cruelty in maternity wards – the dark side of institutionalizing care

“Cruelty in Maternity Wards” entitled a shocking article published in 1959 in Ladies Home Journal in which women told stories of their inhumane treatment in U.S. labor and delivery wards during childbirth. Henci will make the case that despite efforts to humanize maternity care in the U.S. and abroad over the ensuing decades, nothing substantial has changed — not for American women and certainly not for women worldwide. Henci will document the scope of that failure and its impact on childbearing women, argue that inhumane treatment is an inevitable result of elements integral to the institutional culture of conventional hospital maternity units, and explain what perpetuates what can only be called systemic violence against women. Takeaway for attendees will be advice on how to help breastfeeding mothers who have experienced traumatic birth and access to relevant resources.

Amy Peterson, BS, IBCLC and Mindy Harmer, MA, CCC-SLP

Mindy Harmer has practiced in the field of speech-language pathology for 17 years as a private practitioner, specializing in pediatrics. Mindy is co-owner of a free standing clinic in Twin Falls, Idaho, USA, where she treats clients with a variety of speech-language and feeding disorders. Some of her tiniest clients are breastfeeding babies who require her knowledge of oral-motor intervention to help them breastfeed successfully. Mindy became interested in breastfeeding when she was encouraged to pump breastmilk for her son who was born with a congenital heart defect. Mindy is also the mother of two breast and bottle-fed children. Mindy often works side by side with her co-author Amy Peterson.

Amy Peterson has been working with breastfeeding mothers for 17 years, and has been an IBCLC in private practice since 2001. She also contracts at a local hospital and periodically teaches the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative to staff. Amy is a retired La Leche League Leader, and breastfed her four children for many years! Amy enjoys being an advocate for mothers who need encouragement to reach their breastfeeding goals. She is the co-author of Balancing Breast and Bottle: Reaching Your Breastfeeding Goals, as well as two tear-off sheets.

Mythbusters lactation style: debunking infant feeding assumptions

When a breastfeeding mother plans to introduce a bottle, are we using evidence-based practice, or misinformation and old wives’ tales, in answering the mother’s questions? In a fun, game-style approach, the presenters highlighted common infant feeding assumptions. Based on evaluation, assumptions were verified as “confirmed, plausible, or busted.” Armed with this new information, professionals are now able to answer mothers’ questions accurately while adhering to the WHO Code.

Bridget Roache, RN, RM, IBCLC

Bridget has been providing professional lactation and child birth education for the past two decades. During her thirty years of clinical experience in delivering maternity care as a midwife, lactation consultant and child birth educator, she has worked in a variety of settings including hospitals, private practice and in multicultural environments.

Bridget has been conducting comprehensive professional education programs in Australia and the Middle East. These programs have including addressing ethical issues that affect IBCLCs in practice, in both private and public clinic settings. She has been a Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) Educator and Assessor and is a trainer for the Word Health Organisation Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child feeding. Additionally, she has consulted to various hospitals on BFHI preparation, development and delivery of education programs. As a result, many hospitals have successfully achieved formal BFHI accreditation.

What’s the big deal about ethics?

This presentation takes a look at how some basic principles of ethics impacts on issues that IBCLCs face on a regular basis. Scenario case studies will enable IBCLCs to identify their attitudes and beliefs about ethical principles; deconstruct ethical decision-making and review online counselling. It will also seek to explore confidentiality, rights and responsibilities of clients and IBCLCs. This presentation aims to determine how the transference of standards and codes can govern everyday practice with relative ease.