9:00 - 9:15  Welcome and Introduction

Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County

9:15 - 10:45 Hot Topics in Ethics and Lactation: For Doctors, Nurses, and IBCLCs

Presenter: Elizabeth Brooks, JD, IBCLC, FILCA

Ethics is just another way to examine: How can I protect myself and my patient/client when I provide skilled lactation care? What do I do given news of NEC litigation about formula recommendations in the NICU, my concerns about provider liability when patients drink and use cannabis, and the negative impacts of “commercial determinants of health” (private sector activities that affect people’s health) like the multi-billion dollar marketing efforts of infant formula companies in my everyday practice? In the USA where new parents are back-to-work within weeks of birth, accurate lactation support from all sectors is lacking, leading to premature weaning. The significant Lancet Breastfeeding Series (Jan 2023) found that healthcare providers and parents alike do not understand what normal, healthy newborns require and behave like ... pathologizing the human mammalian norm, and suggesting “fixes” that are not needed, and undermine breastfeeding. Yet **every** expert recommendation from public health and pediatric organizations is to help new parents exclusively breastfeed for six months, and continue until the child is at least 2 years of age. How did we get to a place where an inherently normal, uncomplicated human survival behavior, accomplished for thousands of years, is so rapidly declining? We’ll start off by looking at: supplementation of the newborn (when, and how much), those NEC lawsuits, lactation when parents are partying, our role when a baby has tongue-tie, and conflicts-of-interest skewing our clinical thinking.

10:45 - 11:00  Q&A with Liz Brooks

11:00 - 11:15  Break

11:15 - 11:30  Coalition Updates, Sponsor Recognition

Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County

11:30 - 12:30 Performing Frenectomy: A Unique Perspective from a Non-Dental Provider and IBCLC

Presenter: Elizabeth Jones, ARNP, IBCLC

Does it really matter who is performing tongue tie release? Many professionals would agree, no, as long as the release provider is skilled in their technique. However is skill in the surgical procedure alone enough? In this lecture I will discuss performing frenectomy from the perspective of a Lactation Consultant/Nurse Practitioner in Snohomish County, Washington. As more and more providers start performing this outpatient surgical procedure it is important to take a critical look at what goes into the decision making process for a release. Especially when considering infant/ neonatal surgical intervention.This includes discussing the components of evaluation, assessment and method that make up the decision making processes leading to intervention. As an IBCLC and a Nurse Practitioner, I am in a unique role providing lactation support and care to the dyad as well as infant surgical intervention with my team in Snohomish County, WA. Using this lens, I will discuss subtle nuances that may not be considered by release providers without knowledge or training in lactation and infant feeding and shed light on the complexities of timing, method and follow up for frenectomy. This lecture will include photos of pre and post frenectomy, varied presentation of lingual and maxillary frenulum and variations in healing post frenectomy.

12:30 - 12:45  Q&A with Liz Jones

12:45 - 1:00  Sponsor Recognition, Wrap Up, and Conclusion

Wrap up, survey, CERP info