New Horizons 2026 – Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County

New Horizons in Lactation - 2026

Rethinking Infant Feeding:
A Whole-Body Perspective for Supporting Lactation

Brightwater Center, Woodinville, WA

Thursday, October 15, 2026

Presented by The Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County

With support from: Pacific Wellness and Lactation, Nourished Lactation, Nurture New Life, Birth and Parenthood Connection, Tiny and Mighty, Tongue to Toes Clinic, and Sisterly Care Lactation.

Schedule

Schedule is subject to change.

9:30 - 10:00 Registration, Networking and Continental Breakfast

10:00 - 10:15 Welcome

Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County

10:15 - 11:45 Latch and Motion: Infant Mobility and Its Effect on Breastfeeding

Presenter: Holly Johnson, IBCLC

Infant movements play a pivotal role in both breastfeeding success and developmental milestones. However, societal and cultural norms often inadvertently impede infant mobility. Infants who exhibit fluid and coordinated movements are often more adept at latching maintaining a suck, swallow, breathe pattern, and achieving optimal milk transfer.

This presentation explores the relationship between infant mobility and breastfeeding, while shedding light on how societal and cultural factors contribute to the limitations of infant mobility. The attendees will gain an understanding of the importance of movement and how it relates to infant feeding, as well as information on how to gain the skills to implement movement into clinical practice.

11:45 - 12:00 Sponsor Recognition

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

Bring your own lunch, or pre-purchase

1:00 - 2:30 Breastfeeding Beyond the Latch: A Developmental Framework for Posture, Reflexes, Airway and Function

Presenter: Carissa Guiley M.S., CCC-SLP, IBCLC

Breastfeeding challenges are often approached as isolated issues of latch, positioning, or milk transfer. However, effective feeding is a complex developmental process that emerges from the integration of the nervous system, posture, reflexes, airway, and oral motor function. When these foundational systems are immature, disorganized, or compensating, breastfeeding difficulties can persist despite skilled lactation support.

This presentation reframes breastfeeding as a developmental milestone — and breastfeeding challenges as a signal of deeper whole-body dysfunction. Attendees will explore how early reflex patterns, postural stability, and airway function directly influence oral motor skills and feeding efficiency. Particular attention will be given to how tethered oral tissues exist within this broader developmental context and why a release alone may not resolve feeding dysfunction without appropriate whole-body neuromuscular support.

Through a developmental lens, participants will learn to recognize red flags that signal underlying dysfunction beyond the latch, understand how compensatory patterns develop, and identify when referral to an interdisciplinary team is indicated. Clinical case examples will illustrate how addressing posture, reflex integration, airway, and tongue function together leads to more sustainable feeding outcomes. This session expands the clinical lens of lactation professionals, strengthening assessment, collaboration, and counseling skills to better serve families navigating complex breastfeeding challenges.

2:30 - 2:45 Break

2:45 - 4:00 Facilitated Breakout Sessions with the Speakers

Case Study Review and Skills Workshops.

4:00 - 4:15 Wrap Up and Evaluations

Wrap up, survey, CERP info

Our Presenters

Holly Johnson, MPH, IBCLC

Holly Johnson, MPH, IBCLC is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant committed to expanding equitable access to lactation support, particularly for rural and military families. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Maternal Child Health and Human Lactation and a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a focus on Maternal and Child Health. She is a mother of 4, and military spouse, balancing her work and family life on a small family farm. She is dedicated to improving maternal and infant health outcomes.

Recognizing geographical barriers to lactation support, Holly created and launched a mobile lactation clinic, named Lady Leche, to bring professional lactation care directly to underserved communities. Her practice started in Southern Colorado, continued in Central Missouri, and now in Western Washington. Holly provides evidence-based lactation support both in person and virtually, with a holistic approach to breastfeeding challenges.

Holly has had the privilege of speaking and educating others on many lactation related topics, to include mobile clinics, access to lactation care and more. She has had the privilege of working with nonprofit organizations as well as developing provider training to expand the knowledge of breastfeeding basics for MCH professionals. She contributes to the development of future IBCLCs, lactation professionals and birth doulas. She enjoys teaching and inspiring others to think outside the box when meeting the needs of the families they work with.

Carissa Guiley, M.S., CCC-SLP, IBCLC

Carissa Guiley, M.S., CCC-SLP, IBCLC is the founder of Nourish Therapy, a private infant feeding therapy practice in Poulsbo, Washington, specializing in complex feeding challenges, tethered oral tissues, and whole-body developmental care. With dual credentials as a Speech-Language Pathologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Carissa brings an integrated clinical perspective to infant feeding — one that bridges the gap between lactation support, oral motor therapy, and neurodevelopmental intervention.

Her clinical approach is grounded in the belief that feeding is a whole-body developmental skill, shaped by regulation, postural stability, primitive reflex activation, sensory processing, and airway function. She works closely with IBCLCs, bodyworkers, and medical providers as part of an interdisciplinary team — recognizing that the most sustainable feeding outcomes emerge when providers collaborate. In addition to her clinical practice, Carissa is the founder of the Nourish + Grow Collective, a professional community for infant feeding therapists, and leads a mentorship program offering advanced clinical training for SLPs and OTs specializing in infant feeding.

Location

The conference will be held in person at the Brightwater Center in Woodinville.

Brightwater Center
22505 State Route 9 SE, Woodinville, WA 98072-6010
Directions

Note that parking is extremely limited. Attendees are STRONGLY encouraged to carpool.

Registration

Registration is open to breastfeeding/chestfeeding supporters of all kinds: health care professionals, community support providers, and community members with an interest in supporting breastfeeding and lactating families.

The conference is free to attendees, thanks to the generous support of this year's sponsors. Snacks will be provided during breaks. You may pre-purchase a box lunch or bring your own - note that there are no restaurants or stores in a convenient location for purchasing lunch during the break.

Registration

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Continuing Education

We have been approved for 4 L-CERPs for IBCLCs. Certificates of attendance will be available for other providers.

The Lactation Coalition of Snohomish County (LCSC) has been accepted by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners® (IBLCE®) as a Preferred Provider for the listed Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPs) programme. Determination of CERPs eligibility or CERPs Provider status does not imply IBLCE’s endorsement or assessment of education quality. As a Preferred Provider, LCSC attests that it complies with the WHO Code and subsequent WHA resolutions.