From Barbara Robertson: Barbara spent some time with Dr. Kathy Kendall-Tackett. She is a health psychologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the Owner and Editor-in-Chief of Praeclarus Press, a small press specializing in women's health. Dr. Kendall-Tackett was the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Lactation and is still the Editor-In-Chief for Psychological Trauma. She …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 100! LactaLearning is 3!
Nancy and Barbara are celebrating that LactaLearning, Inc is now 3 years old! It is hard to believe that what started out as a dream for Barbara has evolved with Nancy into a thriving business. This podcast shares how Barbara and Nancy became colleagues over forming a book group with Breastfeeding Answers, 2nd Edition in 2020 (now offered as a self-study program), then developed a self-study …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 99: Interview with Kimberly Seals Allers
Kimberly Seals Allers words, "I’m a femtech founder, writer, speaker and maternal and infant health strategist with a bold vision to transform the experience of motherhood for all and to eradicate racial disparities in birth and breastfeeding." Kimberly is someone who sees an issue and works on solutions! She gets things done! Barbara was lucky to be able to catch up with Kimberly on All Things …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 98: Relactation and Induced Lactation
In this episode Nancy and Barbara discuss the latest findings on relacation and induced lactation. According to University of Western Australia’s LactaPedia, an online comprehensive glossary of human lactation terms freely available to professionals and parents (https://lactapedia.com/lactapedia-site/homee), relactation is defined as the re-establishment of lactation after the immediate …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 97: Interview with Kay Hoover
Barbara first meet Kay Hoover at her favorite conference, Lactation Consultants in Private Practice about 18 years ago. Kay and her dear friend Chris Mulford, created the conference to help private practice folks improve their skills. Kay has been in the field for years, in many different roles, working in private practice, at the hospital, and in public health. From the introduction to The …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 96: Interview with Dr. Anne Eglash
Wanting to get to know some of her favorite mentors who are the leaders in the field of lactation, Barbara Robertson is creating a series of podcasts to share with all of you! The first is with Dr. Anne Eglash. Barbara did an interview with Dr. English in 2015 about pain that is published here. Since that time Barbara became an advid fan of IABLE, the Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 95: Lipase
What's the deal with lipase? There was a recent paper published called Food-Derived Compounds Extend the Shelf Life of Human Milk. Nancy and Barbara found this very interesting and discuss the merits of the findings from this paper, what we actually know about lipase and human milk, and what should we be doing about lipase, if anything. They had many questions about this paper including the …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 94: How to Become an IBCLC – Common Questions
How to become an IBCLC.... The answer to this is not as simple as we would hope! In this podcast Nancy and Barbara answer some of the most common questions people ask about how to become an IBCLC. Below is a description of the process. You can also join us for our monthly "How to become an IBCLC" Zoom meeting on Monday, August 25 at 7 PM ET. Email barbara@lactalearning.com to join! How …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 93: What’s the Deal with Infant Growth Spurts?
What's the deal with infant growth spurts? The fact is we aren't sure. One theory is that the babies are growing faster so needed more calories. The idea is the babies ate more frequently because they needed more food! However, a recent 2024 systematic lit review shows that this is most likely not true. It is true that there are times when babies do nurse intensely for several days. The problem …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 92: Menopause and Nursing
Nancy and Barbara discuss a new article that came out in 2024. The study was a large study (20,000 women) in Canada and it looked at the length of breastfeeding, overall years/months of breastfeeding and the onset of menopause. Breastfeeding and women are the terms used in the study so we will be using them here and in the podcast to reflect accurately how the authors used these terms. As we …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 91: 15 Years of BFCAA!
The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor (BFCAA) has been operating for more than 15 years!! To celebrate this milestone Jessica and special guest Barb, the original co-host of the podcast, interviewed Barbara on the journey of starting, building, and growing the Center. From Barbara: "I opened the center in 2008 as a place for all of families' nursing needs. We had weekly support groups, …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 90: Parent’s Stories with Jamie and Nikki
Barbara has been honored to work with many families over the past 20 years but Jamie and Nikki were some of her favorites. Barbara worked with Nikki when she had the family's first baby a few years ago. The commitment to nursing was powerful! After a few bumps, things went really well. Fast forward and it was Jamie's turn to carry the new baby for their growing family. There were more hiccups …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 89: ABM 2022 Mastitis Protocol
Barbara and Nancy discuss the ABM 2022 Mastitis Protocol. Both Nancy and Barbara feel this Protocol is a step in the right direction! However, we don't agree with everything and you can see others feel the same way. Listen and find out! The ABM (Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine) Mastitis #36 Protoco replaces Protocols #4, #20, and Engorgement Protocol has been retired. From the Protocol: …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 88: Breastfeeding during Emergencies
Breastfeeding during emergencies used to be a topic about something that was happening somewhere else to someone else. However, now with the rise in tragedies that are happening everywhere in the world, breastfeeding during emergencies affects all of us. We know these emergency situations are increasing and will continue to do so as time goes by. These could be earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 87: Parental Leave
In this episode, Barbara Robertson and Nancy Mohrbacher review recommendations and outcomes of parental leave policies around the world. Paid parental leave varies by country, but the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) has issued a new position statement for maternity leave guidelines, recommending at least 6 months of paid leave. Nancy and Barbara dive into some of the details of when …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 84: Jaundice and Infant Hypoglycemia
Jaundice and Hypoglycemia Did you know there are new guidelines for diagnosing and treating jaundice and infant hypoglycemia? In this episode, Barbara Robertson and Nancy Mohrbacher discuss updates to the clinical practice guidelines for safe bilirubin levels and when babies might need intervention. Nancy and Barbara review why bilirubin levels are important and some of the risk factors, like …
Fathers and Breastfeeding
From Barbara: Happy Father’s Day to anyone who identifies as a father! With breast/chestfeeding the bulk of the focus is on the birthing parent, typically the mother. But what about Dads? Where do they fit into this picture? From research, we know that father support is important to breastfeeding success. In a 2022 study looking at black families, the researchers found, “Participants who …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 78: Liz’s Breastfeeding and Induced Lactation Story
This one is so special! Liz shares her journey of growing her family via a gestational surrogate, and how she induced lactation to bring in her own milk supply! Jessica hosted, and said "beautiful" and "oh my gosh" more times than you can count throughout this amazing story of strength, support, and love for baby Eve and Liz's family. (Apologies that Liz's microphone was a bit crackly during our …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 77: Plugged Ducts and Mastitis New Protocol
New Mastitis protocol? Yes, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine has added a new protocol, #36, the Mastitis Protocol. Actually, it is updated but the ideas in it are so revolutionary, it may as well be new! Dr. Katrina Mitchell was a major force behind these changes. She had noticed in her clinic as a Breastfeeding Medicine Doctor, that parents with recurrent mastitis tended to be …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 76: Sarah’s Breastfeeding Story
Sarah's breastfeeding story Sometimes it is so nice to just hear a positive breastfeeding story! We tend to hear more about the how things went wrong instead of right. Sarah is lucky enough to have a lot of family support and access to lactation help when she needed it, so guess what? She reached her infant feeding goals! This doesn't mean that her journey was easy but she was able to …
All Things Breastfeeding 75: Best Education Principles
Barbara is joined by Nancy Mohrbacher to talk about education, particularly about professional lactation education. In the field of education, the traditional method of lecture and Power Point stills dominates the trainings that are available. Research has show over and over again that this is one of the most non-effective ways to help people learn. The purpose of education is suppose to …
All Things Breastfeeding 74: Our North Stars
My work is extremely important to me and is a perfect fit for all of my beliefs and my personality. To me, what we do here at the Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor is to help families either become more attached to their babies (hopefully through breastfeeding but sometimes this isn't possible) and also help professionals learn how to best help families. Jessica, my colleague, has joined me …
Relactation Basics: For Parents and Professionals
Right now in Michigan we are experiencing a crisis in formula availability. This is leading many families to think about the idea of "relactation" so they can rely on their bodies instead of outside resources. This often comes from a "Desire to have a safe way to feed an infant during uncertain times, such as emergencies from natural disasters or disease outbreaks." Right now families in Michigan …
All Things Breastfeeding 73: Doulas and Breastfeeding?
Yes! Yes! Yes! We say birth and postpartum doulas are the front line defenders of breastfeeding along with nurses and midwives! I believe that the explosion of doulas in Detroit, MI is one of main reasons for this incredibly, too long time in coming change: "According to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data, Detroit's infant mortality rate plunged from 16.7 deaths per 1,000 …