Welcome to the Medela University

In some vulnerable populations, such as late preterm, lack of effective breastfeeding may not be recognized, resulting in delayed or impaired milk production. This course will cover the evidence behind appropriate lactation initiation, especially in at-risk populations, and how we can best support parents to meet their lactation goals.   This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, CEP 13692.   Presenter Rebecca Hoban MD, MPH Dr Rebecca Hoban is a staff neonatologist and the Director of Breastfeeding Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children (“SickKids”) in Toronto, and an Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Dr Hoban graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed a paediatric residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at Tufts University, and a MPH at Harvard before joining the Neonatology and Human Milk Research team at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Dr Hoban joined SickKids in 2017 as neonatology staff, with a focus on human milk. Current projects include improving mother’s milk provision in the NICU, milk biomarkers to predict lactation success, inflammatory markers in human milk, and fresh milk as potential stem cell therapy in premature infants with intraventricular haemorrhage. Read more

This short in-service course explains best practices in preparing human milk for feedings, how the Waterless Milk Warmer is designed, its features and benefits and how to properly operate it.  Read more

This course raises the consciousness of clinicians caring for breastfeeding families about the unique benefits of human milk. The benefits human milk provides to mothers, infants and society are discussed. A history of the commercialization of breastmilk substitutes in the United States is presented along with identifying barriers to breastfeeding. The ethical responsibility of health care providers to promote breastfeeding is also presented. This course contains three separate lessons, with a short quiz at the end of each lesson. Quizzes may be taken more than once for an improved score. You will be required to complete an evaluation at the end of this course. A certificate will be available after the completion of the course evaluation   This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, CEP 13692. Read more

In this talk, Professor Geddes will discuss her research which uses the latest technology to investigate breastfeeding patterns, explore why some women feel pain during breastfeeding, and as well, understand how our vulnerable preterm babies feed at the breast. She will discuss what to expect when breastfeeding, ways to overcome pain experienced during breastfeeding by some women, and will outline how milk changes in response to the mums and the baby’s health to protect them both. With this knowledge we can reassure or advise breastfeeding mums with more confidence along their breastfeeding journey. This webinar is hosted by UWA and Medela AG as part of the UWA Research Impact Series.   This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, CEP 13692.   Presenter Professor Donna Geddes (AUS) Professor, School of Molecular Sciences @The University of Western Australia Professor Geddes is internationally renowned for her novel work with ultrasound imaging that has revolutionized the our understanding of the anatomy of the lactating breast, milk ejection and blood flow, as well as the infant’s sucking technique, suck-swallow-breathe co-ordination, gastric emptying and body composition of both the term and preterm infant. She has since expanded her range of research interests to include the synthesis and removal of milk from the breast, the composition of human milk and its impact on the growth and body composition of breastfed infants, the investigation of HM metabolites and the search for biomarkers that are indicative of breast dysfunction. Read more

In this course, we will learn more about the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 on NICU families and explore strategies to provide family-centered care to support families during COVID-19 and beyond.         This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, CEP 13692.   Presenter Kelli D. Kelley Kelli D. Kelley is the Founder and CEO of Hand to Hold, a US non-profit organization dedicated to providing education and support for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and bereaved families. A NICU graduate parent who suffered from psychosocial issues for years after her children’s early births, she now invests her time and talents to raise awareness about the high incidence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among these parents and the long-term implications for the baby and family. Kelli serves as Vice President of board of directors of the US National Coalition for Infant Health. Read more

In this course, Dr. Powell will describe the human milk immune system, focusing on the antibody response after infection or vaccination, and the functions of those antibodies for infants, or as a potential therapeutic for all. Specifically, you will learn about current research on the human milk antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and very recent data on the milk antibody response following vaccination against COVID-19.   This program has been approved for 1.0 contact hours; provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, CEP 13692.   Presenter Assistant Professor Rebecca Powell, PhD CLC Dr Rebecca Powell is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine. She studies the immune properties of human milk. Dr. Powell currently has several active projects aimed to fill knowledge gaps about human milk immunology, exploring: the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination; the antibody response to influenza vaccine; and the design of maternal vaccines to eliminate mother-to-child-transmission of HIV via breastfeeding. Read more