Centering Lactation in Pandemics: Towards an Integrated, Equitable Response During COVID-19 and in All Emergencies

Centering Lactation in Pandemics: Towards an Integrated, Equitable Response During COVID-19 and in All Emergencies

This talk will address key lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we will explore the fragmented and siloed pandemic response across settings that has consistently overlooked maternal child health and perinatal health with devastating disruptions to lactation. Second, we will investigate the underlying historical and cultural roots of this fragmentation in colonial and neocolonial systems. Finally, we will embark on a new path for achieving an integrated and equitable response for this and future emergencies that places lactation at the center.

Credit: 1 E-CERP

Source: ILCA Virtual Conference August, 2022 - Raleigh, North Carolina, US

Presented by: Cecilia Tomori, PhD, MA (Johns Hopkins School of Nursing & Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

Upon completion, the learner will be able to:

1. Identify key threats to lactation during COVID-19 and their unequal impacts
2. Describe the root causes of the fragmented pandemic response
3. Collaborate with others to implement a more integrated, equitable emergency response that centers lactation

Disclosures: ILCA accepts no commercial support for continuing education activities. The activity planners have no conflicts of interest to declare. The presenter has no significant financial interest or other relationship with the manufacturer(s) of any product(s) or provider(s) of any services relating to the subject matter of this presentation unless otherwise stated in the presentation.

CERPs: ILCA is an approved provider of Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPs) with the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE). (CLT-108-7).