On March 13th 2012 Nutrition First hosted the Advanced Topics in Breastfeeding Support Conference. Registration for this event maxed out our conference facilities so great was the enthusiasm for these topics and our guest speakers; Suanne Colson, Elizabeth Yakes, Ginna Wall and Michelle Kinne. Participants clamored for more of Biological Nurturing: Laidback Breastfeeding and Suzanne Colson, who unfortunately was only able to commit to speaking for 90 minutes given a post event speaking engagement. Based on feedback Nutrition First will try and plan on bringing Suzanne back for an extended session on this informative topic and ways to encourage moms to lie back and breastfeed.
Elizabeth Yakes, a Dietitian and faculty member at the University of New Mexico spoke on Dietary needs during pregnancy and allergies in childhood along with a second session on postpartum weight management – her sessions included a wealth of current research in these areas and encouraged fish meals 2 times a week, a minimum of 600 IU/day for Vitamin D, increased intakes of colorful, antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables, along with regular scheduled physical activity.
Ginna Wall from the University of Washington spoke on breastfeeding challenges for the late preterm mother and how to support mothers and infants to establish a good milk supply until the infant is physiologically able to stimulate breast milk through compression and suction. She spoke on the importance of skin to skin contact and gave tips on hand expression of breastmilk after pumping to improve milk production.
Lastly Michelle Kinne introduced the topic of Connecting with the Connected Mother, utilizing technology to promote and support breastfeeding for this next generation of moms. She included social media strategies, smart phone apps and websites such as Kellymom.com that contain a wealth of information for these millennial mothers. We’re so pleased to be able to bring these speakers to Washington and host trainings to aid healthcare providers in their care of breastfeeding moms. We hope you enjoyed this conference and appreciate all the evaluation feedback to continue to provide high quality trainings geared towards providers needs and interests.