Hazelbaker Lactation Institute offers evidence-based lactation education to organizations, professionals, and individuals seeking to learn and implement best practices related to lactation and breastfeeding for the benefit of children, parents, and communities.

 

Hazelbaker Lactation Institute is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Online Modules

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Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Moral Injury in Members of the Perinatal Team

Breastfeeding the Late Preterm Infant

Ethics in Public Health, Clinical Practice, and Lactation: The ABCs of Doing the Right Thing

Using the Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function™©

Does Breastfeeding Protect Maternal Mental Health?: The Impact of Oxytocin and Stress

Introducing Primitive Reflexes: A Means to Understanding Motor Development

Introducing Primitive Reflexes 2: A Means to Developing 3D Motor Function

Tongue-Tie: A Journey from Past to Future

Classifying Infant Sucking Problems

To Clip or Not to Clip: The Evidence

Faux Tie: When is tongue-tie NOT a tongue-tie?

Assessment and Treatment of Tongue-tie and Lip-tie: Cognitive Errors, Ethics, and Differential Diagnosis

Torticollis: Causes, Impact on Breastfeeding, and Solutions

Plagiocephaly: Causes, Impact on Breastfeeding, and Solutions

Anatomy of Infant Suck

COMING SOON - Physiology of Infant Suck

COMING SOON - The Conscious Baby: How Understanding the Baby's Experience Improves Birth, Helps Parents, and Increases Health Lifelong

COMING SOON - Critical Thinking for the Clinician: Herbs for Lactation and Postpartum Mood

COMING SOON - Pre- and Perinatal Influences on Infant Suck-Swallow-Breathe

COMING SOON - Maxillary lip “tie”: Fact or Fiction?

COMING SOON - Failure to Launch: Working with the Baby who has trouble Latching or who can’t Latch

COMING SOON - 7 Strategies for Resolving Infant Sucking Problems When Bodywork is Inaccessible

Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Moral Injury in Members of the Perinatal Team

Presented by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D., IBCLC, FAPA

Working in perinatal care can be deeply rewarding. It can also lead to job-related burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and moral injury. Secondary traumatic stress (compassion fatigue), or moral injury, can occur when witnessing traumatic events in the workplace.  Fortunately, there is hope for recovery. Participants will learn some specific strategies for integrating self-care into their care for others.

Breastfeeding the Late Preterm Infant

Presented by Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC

Late preterm infants present a challenge to breastfeeding. While they may masquerade as full-term infants, their incomplete maturation affects many of their body systems as well as their breastfeeding efficiency. This module will explore who are these “little imposters,” what are their vulnerabilities, what can we expect to see when they breastfeed, how can we address the numerous impediments to breastfeeding that may crop up, and how can we help the mother with milk production and/or the need to express milk.

Ethics in Public Health, Clinical Practice, and Lactation: The ABCs of Doing the Right Thing

Presented by Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC, FILCA

This session covers the basics of ethics and legal duty as a lactation support provider, offers examples from the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) literature, delves a bit deeper in a few topics that present the most common “potholes” for practitioners, and ponders realistic hypothetical stories that put the learning into practice.

Using the Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function™©

Professionals need reliable tools to support babies regardless of the feeding method. Dr. Hazelbaker created The Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function™© (ATLFF™©) as a result of her work developing, formalizing and codifying the diagnostic criteria for tongue-tie in infants. The ATLFF™© remains the only valid and reliable tongue-tie screening and assessment tool for infants under six months of age regardless of feeding method. This module incorporates step-by-step instructions and video segments that demonstrate the proper use of each component of the ATLFF™© and provides learners a comparison of classification, assessment, and screening tools.

Does Breastfeeding Protect Maternal Mental Health?: The Impact of Oxytocin and Stress

Presented by Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, Ph.D., IBCLC, FAPA

Depressed mothers are less likely to breastfeed and yet breastfeeding protects against depression. Breastfeeding supports the oxytocin system which over-rides the stress response. Conversely, stress suppresses the oxytocin system, making depression and breastfeeding difficulties more likely. This module describes oxytocin vs. stress and then applies this knowledge to recent studies to understand whether breastfeeding actually protects maternal mental health.

Introducing Primitive Reflexes: A Means to Understanding Motor Development

Presented by Maxine Haller, OTR

Primitive reflexes serve as the initial connection between the external world stimuli and the internal response systems within humans that involve muscular contraction. This module explores the basic premises of these connections and how they facilitate the growth and development of the newborn through 3 years of age.

Introducing Primitive Reflexes 2: A Means to Developing 3D Motor Function

Presented by Maxine Haller, OTR

Primitive Reflexes are the initial connection between the external world stimuli and the internal response systems that involve muscular contraction within humans. These 60 minutes will explore the initial ways in which reflexes actually facilitate the growth and development in three planes.

Tongue-Tie: A Journey from Past to Future

Since the time of Aristotle, tongue-tie has been known to create functional oral problems. Dr. Hazelbaker takes the learner through a journey from Aristotle’s time to the present, identifying when the controversy around tongue-tie treatment began. Dr. Hazelbaker covers the present issues of agreement and controversy and suggests strategies for the future tongue-tie journey.

Classifying Infant Sucking Problems

What does “normal” look like when it comes to the suck-swallow-breathe triad? This module presents normal, establishes a baseline, and provides a detailed explanation of the differences between oral-motor sucking issues and sensory-based sucking issues. Dr. Hazelbaker outlines five categories of infant sucking pathology. She proposes a classification system to support professionals with assessment so they can determine the best course of action.

To Clip or Not to Clip: The Evidence

For decades, assessing and treating tongue-tie has been a controversial subject. In this module, Dr. Hazelbaker presents the most up-to-date research on infant tongue-tie definition, impact, assessment, treatment, and treatment outcomes. She examines the on-going tongue-tie controversy in-depth, and she provides learners with evidence-based guidelines for the clinical decision-making process.

Faux Tie: When is tongue-tie NOT a tongue-tie?

NEW VERSION!

In this module, Dr. Hazelbaker describes the differences between actual tongue-tie and sucking issues that can appear to be tongue-tie due to altered tongue posture. She provides learners with a conceptual framework for such an occurrence; learners will view pictures and videos that help illustrate the differences between a true tie and a faux tie, thereby distinguishing between them in infants.

Assessment and Treatment of Tongue-tie and Lip-tie: Cognitive Errors, Ethics, and Differential Diagnosis

Dr. Hazelbaker describes the most common cognitive errors in this groundbreaking presentation using tongue-tie assessment and treatment as illustrative examples. She connects the dots between cognitive errors and unethical behavior rampant in the assessment and treatment of tongue-tie and lip “tie.” A discussion of the impact of bias on the differential diagnosis process concludes the module.

Torticollis: Causes, Impact on Breastfeeding, and Solutions

Over 25% of North American infants are afflicted with torticollis. Torticollis presents unique challenges to breastfeeding, and the incidence of this formerly rare condition is on the rise. In this module, Dr. Hazelbaker reviews the causes of the condition in detail, she outlines an assessment process, and she presents learners with multiple therapeutic strategies for resolving torticollis in infants.

Plagiocephaly: Causes, Impact on Breastfeeding, and Solutions

Acquired and positional plagiocephaly affects as many as 45% of babies born in the United States. Plagiocephaly can cause multiple functional issues in infants, including compromised breastfeeding. In this module, Dr. Hazelbaker reviews the causes of the condition and an assessment process in detail, and she presents learners with multiple therapeutic strategies for resolving plagiocephaly-derived breastfeeding problems in infants.

Anatomy of Infant Suck

This module focuses on the complex anatomy of infant breastfeeding, including structures in the suck-swallow-breathe triad: muscles, fascia, and peripheral nerves. Further, this module provides a detailed look at the roles of the sub-cortical and cortical areas of the brain in the coordination and maturation of suck-swallow-breathe.

COMING SOON - Physiology of Infant Suck

COMING SOON! Understanding the suck-swallow-breathe triad is foundational knowledge that lactation professionals must have to evaluate and treat dysfunctional feeding issues successfully. Anatomical knowledge serves as a base for this module, which details the physiological components of the triad. In this module, Dr. Hazelbaker presents models, animations, and videos to demonstrate the function of the six valves that shuttle milk from the breast into the stomach.

COMING SOON - The Conscious Baby: How Understanding the Baby's Experience Improves Birth, Helps Parents, and Increases Health Lifelong

COMING SOON! Presented by Kate White, MA, BCBMT, RCST®, CEIM, SEP, PPNE

With the advent of epigenetics and advances in fetal medicine, medical practice now supports that the baby’s experience in utero and birth may have lasting effects on health and human development. Research shows how stress and trauma in the previous generations may impact the present and subsequent generations. We also know that the mother’s experience is transferred to the baby during pregnancy. This trauma-informed, evidence-based course presents how understanding the baby’s experience starting in utero, often called prenatal and perinatal somatic psychology, may improve outcomes on many levels.

 

COMING SOON - Critical Thinking for the Clinician: Herbs for Lactation and Postpartum Mood

COMING SOON! Presented by Melissa Cole, MS, IBCLC

Herbal options can have a physiological impact on milk supply and postpartum mood. This presentation discusses several unique herbs and their pharmacodynamic actions, therapeutic properties, and safety considerations. This presentation will help care providers think critically when it comes to a personalized, clinical approach to herbal care.

COMING SOON - Pre- and Perinatal Influences on Infant Suck-Swallow-Breathe

COMING SOON! Infant sucking dysfunction has exponentially increased over the past two decades. This module focuses on the multiple factors responsible for the increased challenges to the gestate and neonate and suggests solutions for prevention.

COMING SOON - Maxillary lip “tie”: Fact or Fiction?

COMING SOON! This module addresses the widespread but non-evidence-based maxillary lip-tie phenomenon. What do we know about lip-tie? Does it affect infant breastfeeding? Can it cause dental issues? This module addresses these questions and more by reviewing the scientific evidence and providing guidance professionals will utilize in making ethical, evidence-based clinical decisions.

COMING SOON - Failure to Launch: Working with the Baby who has trouble Latching or who can’t Latch

COMING SOON! Recently, we have seen an increase in latching problems among neuro-typical babies. In this module, learners will gain an understanding of the various treatment approaches that address this specific form of infant sucking dysfunction. Dr. Hazelbaker suggests criteria for selecting treatment approaches that support the breastfeeding goals for infants who have difficulty latching or who do not latch on to the breast.

COMING SOON - 7 Strategies for Resolving Infant Sucking Problems When Bodywork is Inaccessible

COMING SOON! There is significant anecdotal and research evidence to prove that bodywork can help resolve infant sucking problems. In the absence of readily available bodywork, the professional breastfeeding supporter and lactation consultant/therapist can effectively address infant sucking issues using one, some, or all of the seven strategies presented.