Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars
Michigan Breastfeeding Network presents FREE Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars that launch on the third Tuesday of the month at 8am EST. Webinars are available to watch whenever and wherever for up to 1 year after the initial air date. If you have any questions, please email hello@mibreastfeeding.org.
Available Webinars
Note: The Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) recognizes ACCME accredited self-studies (that offer CME contact hours) for CPEUs for registered dietitians.
Registration opens May 20 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Perinatal Emergency Preparedness” – register here
- Define infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCFE).
- Explain how perinatal health workers/organizations can support families before, during, and after emergencies.
- List 2 recommendations for improving perinatal emergency preparedness.
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until May 19, 2026.
Registration opens April 15 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Birth Intervention Bias and Breastfeeding” – register here
- Understand the current state of the maternal health crisis in the United States and how bias impacts birth outcomes
- Discuss the educational tools, such as the BRAIN acronym to return the power to families to advocate for themselves
- Identify which birth interventions impact lactogenesis II
- Describe how doulas reduce the occurrence of unnecessary medical interventions
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until April 14, 2026.
Registration opens March 18 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Beyond the Golden: How Nurses Can Support the Lactating Family” – register here
- Discuss the benefits of breastfeeding and identify how they align with nurses education on disease prevention and promotion
- Recognize the importance of the first few days of lactation
- Provide the necessary education, skills, and practices that nurses need in the first few days to better serve families
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until March 17, 2026.
Registration opens February 18 to watch whenever and wherever.
“How to Support Breastfeeding for Community Health Workers: Reframing Breastfeeding as a Public Health Imperative” – register here
- Understand role of hormones in milk production and successful lactation
- Identify two risks of artificial feedings for both members of the dyad
- Recognize accessible resources for management of breastfeeding challenges
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until February 17, 2026.
Registration opens January 21 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Climate Change and Reproductive Justice: Impacts on Pregnancy and Pathways to Resilient Maternity Care” – register here
- Define reproductive justice (RJ) and explain its relevance in the context of climate change and environmental justice.
- Describe the impact of climate change on pregnancy, maternal health, and breastfeeding, with a focus on marginalized communities.
- Highlight current projects and initiatives, including the Infant Ready program by Birthmark Doulas, that support breastfeeding and reproductive health in the face of environmental challenges.
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until January 20, 2026.
Registration opens December 26 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Skin to Skin is Not Universal: Teaching Equity” – register here
- Recognize three benefits of skin to skin contact.
- Relate the ways in which diverse community and cultural contexts impact the perception of skin to skin.
- Identify three equity-based teaching strategies on the topic of skin to skin.
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until December 24, 2025.
Registration opens November 29 to watch whenever and wherever.
Extended Release! “Father Empowerment: Beneficial for Everyone” – register here
- Explore practical ways to engage fathers.
- Learn how father involvement benefits the birthing person and baby.
- Discover how father involvement can actually strengthen healthcare outcomes and reduce cost.
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until November 28, 2025.
Registration opens November 19 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Beyond the Red Tape: Assessment in Private Practice” – register here
- Identify 3 key differences between employed/contracted lactation professionals and private practice lactation professionals.
- List 3 tools to support their assessment in the private practice setting.
- Identify the difference between something that is policy compared to evidence-based.
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until November 18, 2025.
Registration opens October 29 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Mind, Mood, and Milk Feeding: Addressing the Challenges of Feeding When Maternal Mental Health Needs Are Present” – register here
- Define maternal mental health
- Examine misconceptions and facts
- Provide evidence-based non-medical and medical treatment modalities and therapeutic intervention resources
- Empower birth workers with tools to support birthing persons who breastfeed while building their capacity to prioritize their maternal mental health needs
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until October 28, 2025.
Registration opens August 29 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Supporting Families with Low Milk Supply” – register here
Description: This presentation discusses how to support parents when they have concerns about low milk production. Participants will be provided information to determine the potential cause of low milk supply and how to support families, while being mindful of their potential barriers. Resources and techniques will be provided to help support lactation supporters in creating care plans to support families.
- Understand the potential causes of low milk supply
- Understand the techniques to assist with increasing milk production
- Describe what resources, techniques, and care plans would be used to provide support
- Understand the barriers that are faced with milk production for black and brown families
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until May 28, 2025.
Registration opens July 29 to watch whenever and wherever.
“A Community-Driven Solution: Mama’s Mobile Milk, Breaking Down Barriers to Human Milk Consumption” – register here
Description: Mama’s Mobile Milk is the first human milk transport service in Michigan. During this presentation you will learn about the innovative and revolutionary program that is, Mama’s Mobile Milk. A program designed to eliminate barriers and uplift the voice and needs of the communities in which it serve, utilizing the strength and power of the community. This session will also share about a new partnership with MDOC, that will provide the first service like this to incarcerated families in the State of Michigan.
- During this presentation participants will learn about the disproportionate rates BIPOC families face when it comes to having a child in the NICU or separated due to CPS involvement
- During this presentation participants will learn more about the importance and necessity of Human Milk for children separated from their families due to NICU and CPS involvement
- During this presentation participants will learn the importance of human milk for children born to incarcerated families. The rights of the child as well as the long-term positive effects for the incarcerated person
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until May 30, 2025.
Registration opens June 27 to watch whenever and wherever.
“Optimizing the Breastfeeding Experience and Preventing Common Challenges for the Infant (through physical manual therapy) with Chiropractic Care” – register here
Description: This presentation discusses the relationship between various factors during pregnancy, the birth process and postpartum that contribute to infant breastfeeding dysfunction and how chiropractic care can help improve breastfeeding success. We will explore the benefits of breastfeeding, the neuro-biomechanical origins of feeding dysfunction and the role of chiropractic care in optimizing and preventing challenges for the newborn and mother.
- Understand the connection between the birth process and breastfeeding difficulty
- Understand the various factors contributing to feeding dysfunction
- Understand how chiropractic care can optimize feeding and address causes of dysfunction
- Review anatomy of latch, suck, swallow function
Approved for 1 L-CERP, 1 nurse’s contact hour, 1 social work CE hour, 1 community health worker CEU, 1 certified health education specialist CECH, and 1 CME until May 21, 2025.
Grounding Our Efforts
Human milk is recognized as essential to improving infant and maternal health. Unfortunately racial disparities exist in lactation experiences, across the duration of reproductive years (and beyond).
Racial equity in lactation is ensuring that Black, Indigenous, and other Families of Color live in communities with supportive policies and equitable access to lactation support that prevent and eliminate unjust differences in outcomes. When it is achieved, it recognizes and addresses systemic disparities and barriers that Black, Indigenous, and other Families of Color face in accessing support, policies, resources, and positive outcomes. Achieving racial equity in breastfeeding involves understanding and disrupting underlying factors that contribute to disparities. Current barriers include – but are not limited to – lack of compensated lactation support, lack of state and federal policy to support breastfeeding outcomes, bias and lack of cultural representation in the health care and public health systems, predatory human milk substitutes/formula marketing practices, and colonialistic norms that disproportionately harm Black and Indigenous families.
Our webinars seek to center education that recommends strategies to address and overcome these barriers while providing solutions to drive systemic change while cultivating relationships with grass-root lactation supporters. The webinars amplify the voices of Black and Indigenous lactation supporters addressing clinical, individual, and systemic factors that are experienced by families. By actively working together, we can increase awareness surrounding racial disparities and promote equitable access in human milk feeding.
These webinars are designed to support practice change among peer counselors, maternity care nurses, and home visitors. In providing these webinars, we are committed to 4 core values access, evidence, equity, and relevance.
- Access: alignment with ongoing efforts to equitably establish breastfeeding support in every community by providing free, web-based, and regularly occurring continuing education opportunities that equip trusted leaders to provide breastfeeding support in their communities
- Evidence: collaborating with presenters who share respectfully gathered data to inform practical, successful approaches to increase the feasibility of breastfeeding success
- Equity: collaborating with presenters who center the individuals, families, and communities they serve in the approaches they share and whose work is centered outside of the dominant culture
- Relevance: providing pertinent information on dismantling roadblocks to success that are timely and necessary to increase the feasibility of breastfeeding today
Webinar Reports
It is such an honor to learn alongside the webinar participants. We appreciate folx taking time to complete the post-webinar evaluations and sharing their feedback on the presentations as well as overall experience with the Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars.
- 2022 Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars Annual Report
- 2021 Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinars Annual Report
- February 2021: Queer Like Radical: Affirming Abundance with Newborn/Infant Feeding presented by Etecia Brown, BA, CD
- March 2021: Serving Indigenous Families in Lactation presented by Meredith Kennedy
- April 2021: Dismantling Racism and Implicit Bias in Breastfeeding and Human Lactation presented by TaNefer Camara, MS-HCA, IBCLC
- May 2021: Beyond the Birth Suite: The Importance of Black Doulas in pursuit of Maternal Infant Health Equity presented by Kiara Baskin, CD, CLC
- June 2021: Bmadzewen yawen I Mbish Water is Life presented by Bethany Earl, RN, CNM, MSN
- July 2021: Breastfeeding Fundamentals and the Workplace presented by Tameka White, CLS
- August 2021: Bodyfeeding is a Political and Cultural Act presented by Mariposa
- September 2021: Expanding Expectations and Building Resiliency: Empowering Parents for Successful Breastfeeding presented by Lindsey McGahey, IBC, IFSD, BE
- October 2021: Cultivating a New Culture presented by Lindsey McGahey, IFSD, IBC, BE and Kiara Baskin, CD, CLC
- November 2021: Lactation Behind Bars presented by Elon Geffrard, BS, CLC, ICCE, CD(DONA)
- December 2021: How to Navigate Lactation Support with Partners presented by Natosha Sage-EL Bylsma, BA, IBCLC
- Bonus December 2021: Meeting Families Where They Are: Embracing, Respecting, Supporting, and Listening presented by Rickeshia Williams, CLS, CLC, BD, CBE
- February 2022: Human Lactation and Mental Health: Best Practices presented by Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, Rosa Gardiner, RN, IBCLC, Mistel de Varona, IBCLC, and Kara Smith, BSN, RN, CLC, PMH-C
- March 2022: Geographies of Breastfeeding: How The Nooni Project Helps Reclaim Breastfeeding in Indigenous Communities presented by Angie Sanchez, MBA, IBC
- April 2022: Honoring Indigenous Parenthood from Conception through Postpartum presented by Lindsey McGahey, IFSD, IBC, BE
- May 2022: Human Milk and Immunizations presented by Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW and Shonte’ Terhune-Smith, BS, IBCLC, CLS, BD
- June 2022: Lactation and Grief after Perinatal, Neonatal, or Infant Loss presented by Anesha Stanley, CD, BD, PCD, CCE
- July 2022: Barriers in Birth: The Fight for Community Based Doulas and Black Birth Equity presented by Kiara Baskin, CD, CLC
- August 2022: Immunizations Guidance for Lactation Families presented by Shonte’ Terhune-Smith, BS, IBCLC, CLS, BD
- September 2022: Navigating New Motherhood as a Birth/Breastfeeding Worker presented by Tameka White, CLS
- October 2022: Feed the Baby: Lactation, Contamination, and the American Formula Crisis presented by Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW
- November 2022: The Importance of Lactation Counseling through an Equity Lens presented by Lindsey McGahey, IFSD, IBC, BE
- December 2022: Birth Workers Serving Birth Workers: An Abundance of Self-love, Community, and Grace presented by Jennifer Day, IBCLC
- January 2023: Adverse Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on the Breastfeeding Dyad: A Journey Towards Collective Healing presented by April Stoutamire, CPS
- February 2023: 10 Steps is Just the Beginning: Infusing Equity into Baby-Friendly presented by Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW
- March 2023: Young Parents and the Importance of Breastfeeding presented by Marketia White, MPA
- April 2023: Helping Parents Be Pros at Storing and Removing Breast Milk by Keva Ziegler, CLS
- May 2023: The Michigan Prison Doula Initiative’s Approach to Lactation Support by Michigan Prison Doula Initiative
- June 2023: Human Milk and Cannabis Series: Interpreting Hale’s Guidance on Lactation and Marijuana, CBD Oils, and Other Non-Inhaled Marijuana Sources by Anita Esquerra-Zwiers, BSN, MS, PhD
- July 2023: Father Empowerment: Beneficial for Everyone by Reginald Day, CLC, CHW
- August 2023: Human Milk and Cannabis Series: Support Not Stigma: Supporting Families who have Relationship to Cannabis by Raeanne Madison, MPH
- September 2023: Improving the Circle of Care in Lactation: Who’s Really to Blame? by Shonte’ Terhune-Smith, BS, IBCLC, CLS, BD
- October 2023: Community, Equity, and Breastfeeding: The Parental View on Lactation and Community Support by Ashley Strozier
- November 2023: Special Panel Discussion: Restorative Justice in the Birth and Breastfeeding Spaces with panelists Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, CLE/S/C; Raeanne Madison, MPH; Shannon McKenney Shubert, MPH, CLC; and Tameka White, CLS
- February 2024: Safety in Supplementation – Does It Exist? Informed and Fully Supported Is Best by Samirah Muhsin, IBCLC, Doula
- April 2024: Safe Sleep: Educating Lactating Families featuring panelists by Tameka Jackson-Dyer, BASc, IBCLC, CHW, CLE/S/C; Angelene Love, CLC, BD; Raeanne Madison, MPH; and Shannon McKenney Shubert, MPH, CLC
- April 2024: Pump it Up and Avoid Supplementation: Supporting Exclusively Breastfeeding Families in the Home Birth and Hospital Setting by Nichelle Clark, IBCLC, CBS
Partners
We are grateful to offer this series FREE of charge to participants as part of our partnership with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health and Wellness with support provided by:
- Connecticut Department of Health WIC Program
- Illinois Department of Public Health
- Indiana Department of Public Health
- Minnesota Department of Health
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services
- Tyler Rigg Foundation
The views expressed by speakers or third parties in MIBFN webinars, events, and conferences are solely those of the speaker or third party; they do not necessarily reflect the views or official policies of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services or other supporting entities.