Breastfeeding and Public Health (online non-credit, 55 hrs)

In this course, students will learn the basics and importance of infant and young child feeding from a public health perspective. Some of the topics that are covered in this course include the public health considerations of breastfeeding and formula feeding in the US and globally, breastfeeding initiation and infant behavior, lifestyle practices and infant feeding, family challenges related to infant feeding, infant feeding research and global impacts, health care provider leadership skills, and collaboration with healthcare professionals.

Learn more: check out the Breastfeeding and Public Health Expanded Course Description for a full course outline, syllabus, materials list, and sample lesson.

Course Overview:
Topic 1: The Importance of Exclusive Breastfeeding
Topic 2: Breast Anatomy and Physiology
Topic 3: Biochemistry of Human Milk
Topic 4: Donor Milk Banking
Topic 5: Informal Milk Sharing
Topic 6: Breastfeeding During Emergencies
Topic 7: Family Centered Care
Topic 8: Infant Sleep
Topic 10: Positive Breastfeeding Practices
Topic 11: Newborn Feeding
Topic 12: Breastfeeding and Cultural Humility
Topic 13: Breastfeeding During Maternal/Infant Separation
Topic 14: Medications, Lifestyle, and Mother's Milk
Topic 15: Contraception and Breastfeeding
Topic 16: Supplementation
Topic 17: Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy
Topic 18: Perinatal Mood Disorders
Topic 20: Complementary Feeding

Course materials:
Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Care, Editors Becky Spencer, Suzanne Hetzel Campbell, Kristina Chamberlain, 2nd Edition, 2023, ISBN 9781284255515, ~$100

What’s in a typical lesson?
Each topic encompasses many ways of learning: presentations, readings, participatory assignments, and quizzes.

Here’s an example of Topic 5: Informal Milk Sharing:
Required Reading:
Original research article: Palmquist, A. and Doehler, K. Human milk sharing practices in the U.S. Maternal and Child Nutrition. (2016), 12, pp. 278–290. (full-text article provided)
Position Statement: Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's 2017 Position Statement on Informal Breast Milk Sharing for the Term Healthy Infant

Lecture:
Speakers: Dr. April Fogleman, PhD, RD, IBCLC and Montana Wagner Gillespie, IBCLC
In this sixty-minute recorded lecture, two experts on donor milk and milk sharing discuss what we know about the characteristics of those who share milk, define and describe private arrangement milk sharing (PAMS), and the reasons families may opt to share milk instead of donating to a milk bank as well as the reasons families seek human milk for their babies. They discuss public health concerns expressed about milk sharing, compare and contrast policy statements on the sharing of human milk, and discuss how lactation professionals might approach questions about milk sharing.

Assignment:
Informal Milk Sharing Assignment:
You are a lactation consultant working with a family with an 8-week old baby who was born full term. The mother is making about half the amount of milk the baby needs per day and the family asks you about a local Facebook milk sharing group. They have seen that they are able to get human milk from this page. Describe what information you would provide about community milk sharing? Complete and submit for instructor feedback.

Quiz:
Short quiz to check your understanding of the new terms and ideas introduced in this lesson.

Optional Material:
Review the website of the Human Milk Banking Association of North America

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