For Professionals looking to upskill:

I have a variety of lectures and workshops available online:

• At Breast Supplementation: Practical Tips for Using a Variety of Supplemental Feeding Tube Devices

  • Abstract: Using an at-breast supplementer is often thought to be annoying, complicated and unsustainable — but it doesn’t have to be! While many lactation consultants are aware of the benefits of supplementing directly at the breast, many admit to feeling overwhelmed, and few actually use it with their clients. With this presentation, you will learn the specific benefits and barriers to this form of supplementation, view demonstrations of a variety of these devices, and learn some tips and tricks to make this at-breast supplementation feasible and sustainable for families. We all need to feel comfortable recommending and teaching the use of these tools, enabling us to foster the best overall health for the families we support.

• When Evidence and Empathy Aren’t Enough: Changing Your Lactation Practice to Boost Client Success

  • Abstract: Lactation professionals often accompany clients through the process of making difficult decisions: The client who wants to exclusively breast/chestfeed but loves that their partner gives infant formula each evening; The client who wants to and doesn’t want to stop pumping simultaneously; The parents who feel unsure about a potential frenotomy procedure; The client with breastfeeding aversion, desperately struggling with their 18 month old. Lactation professionals aim to provide empathetic care and to give the evidence needed to make informed decisions, and yet there are times where this is not enough and where clients continue to struggle to choose what works best for them. Here, learners will explore some Motivational Interviewing strategies that will actively empower clients, resulting in a significant shift in lactation practice overall. Discover how the strong desire to inform, advise and fix client problems can significantly reduce positive outcomes, and how a focus on the client’s own ‘change talk’ and ‘sustain talk’ can actively mobilize them towards their goal. Learn specific tools to immediately apply in consultations so parents feel deeply supported, feel motivated towards change, feel ownership of their plan, and to ultimately increase the likelihood of their success.

• Seeing the Bigger Picture: Finding Clues in Our Breastfeeding Clients’ Surroundings

  • Abstract: Home visits play an integral role in the practice of many Lactation Consultants around the world. There are undoubtedly many benefits to meeting our clients in their own space, and one of these is that we can immediately garner a wealth of valuable information within a very short period of time. Along with learning a variety of quick and easy ways to stealthily, respectfully gather vital information about important feeding practicalities, this presentation will explore mental health, cultural humility and personal safety. We will explore the array of clues and red flags that may unknowingly surround you with regard to the clients’ mental health and their overall safety. Additionally, as someone who works with clientele from over 75 different countries, Johanna shares what she has learned regarding the variations and commonalities between cultures when it comes to performing home visits, and which behaviours we can adopt to ensure continued humility and respect.

• Mastering Lactation Conversations: Creating Successful and Achievable Care Plans.

  • Abstract: Our work with clients involves so much more than simply an in-depth knowledge of lactation. Higher level counselling skills are imperative in allowing our clients to move forward with confidence. We may know exactly what is needed in order for them to achieve ‘lactation success’, but they don’t follow through in the way they had originally committed, or in the way we expect. Additionally, knowing what is needed for them to reach their goal might be entirely contradictory to what they actually feel capable of managing in their daily life – and this can be a very frustrating place for us to navigate as their lactation consultant. This presentation is for anyone who has ever felt frustration at their client’s unwillingness to simply ‘follow the plan’, and for those who feel stuck for the right words during tricky conversations regarding a client’s lactation goals. Uncover ways to create space for vulnerability, to anticipate and confront possible barriers, and to straddle the very complex and ever-moving line of a client’s perception of success or of failure.

• Critical Details You Might Be Missing in Your Oral Assessments

  • Abstract: While oral assessments have become a routine part of lactation consultations to identify potential oral restrictions, their value extends far beyond this. By incorporating comprehensive oral assessments into our practice, we create numerous opportunities to deepen our connection with clients and assess a broad range of issues that impact feeding success. This presentation will go beyond the common focus on identifying ties, delving into the full spectrum of factors that should be examined during an oral assessment. Attendees will gain insight into the early indicators to observe before even touching the infant, and how subtle findings during the assessment can reveal a variety of feeding challenges. Additionally, we will explore how integrating oral assessments into consultations can serve as an unexpectedly powerful counseling tool, enhancing our ability to support families through each step of the feeding journey.