On mission to become an extraordinary lactation consultant. Join me?

I want to improve my ability to read and interpret lactation research. I want to shadow and learn from great lactation consultants around the world. I want a better understanding of what concepts in the field of lactation are evidence based with hard research to back it up vs. expert opinion vs. age old wisdom that have been passed down from generation to generation.

A little bit about me.

In 2018 I started off as a breastfeeding technician at a breastfeeding center. There were multiple lactation consultants working at the same office at the same time which proved for a phenomenal learning opportunity. While working there, I earned my IBCLC while shadowing LC’s with different perspectives and different backgrounds. I also shadowed the pediatricians who had their IBCLCs. I had a couple years of working as a lactation consultant at an outpatient pediatric office and a couple years working inpatient at a hospital. Prior to all of this, I had a degree in elementary education and worked a myriad of different jobs in my 20’s while I searched for a career that I loved. Turns out, being a lactation consultant is my dream job.

I am currently in the throws of young motherhood, with a toddler permanently fixed to my side and a baby on the way. I decided it was best for me to step away from seeing patients to focus on caring for these babies during this season of life. While at home, I want to continue learning and growing in my profession. Which is why I started two endeavors:

1. An instagram account called Why Breastfeed to encourage any parents who offer any amount of milk to their little one. And, to discuss the benefits of human milk. I’m hoping by discussing the benefits of human milk and offering encouragement to those on their breastfeeding journey, parents will feel uplifted and energized to continue their breastfeeding journey, even if they are working with a low supply. (Side note: Yes, I’ve heard the argument for research to switch from talking about the benefits of human milk to discussing the risks of formula. Why Breastfeed is for parents, and the last thing I want to do is demonize formula or shame parents, so for this account I will continue talking about the ‘benefits’ of breast milk. However, you may see different verbiage on my blog For Lactation Professionals.)

2. This blog called For Lactation Professionals. Here I want to read and share about research articles that expand beyond simply the topic of “benefits” of human milk. I want to continue learning about the field of lactation. I do realize the best way to become an extraordinary lactation consultant is to actually work with patients, but this season of life I will be focusing on the academia side of things. Outside of my statistics class in college, I have very little education about how to read and interpret research. So, I’m going to learn as I go. I figured the best way to improve is to start by simply reading research articles.

I would love your comments and feedback on my blog posts. To help me learn and our other readers learn, please include your credentials or experience with your comments. I want to hear your thoughts whether you’ve been interpreting research for 20 years or whether this is the very first time you’ve ever read something from a medical journal.

Let’s learn together.

Suzanne Sanders, IBCLC