The early days with a baby can be overwhelming. Having someone who understands, especially in your own language, can make all the difference. A recent donation to UC Davis is helping ease financial barriers for bilingual students training to become lactation consultants, so they can bring that care to their communities.

The Maternal and Child Nutrition Master of Advanced Study program within the Department of Nutrition offers a flexible path for graduate students pursuing careers in health sciences, including lactation consultants. Program Director Laurie Nommsen-Rivers said when she took on her role over a year ago, she realized there was a great need for bilingual lactation consultants not only locally, but across the state.

“There is an incredible need for bilingual lactation consultants,” said Nommsen-Rivers, who is also director of the UC Davis Human Lactation Center. “One of the priorities I saw is if we could find a donor to help support bilingual lactation consultants here at UC Davis, we could really contribute to our region’s shortage of lactation consultants who can meet that demand for the increasingly multilingual society we live in, especially here in California.”

Students in the two-year master’s degree program are taught by faculty who are internationally known for their groundbreaking research in maternal and child nutrition. Because most students are working professionals, classes are held in the evenings, two nights a week, over two academic years.

Those pursuing certification as International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants are required to complete 95 hours of lactation-specific coursework and a supervised clinical internship. The internship is typically unpaid, a requirement that can be especially challenging for students who are already balancing jobs or family responsibilities.

“That's tough to do, to work for free,” said Nommsen-Rivers. “People do it out of passion to help mothers and babies.”

Thanks to a generous donation from Davis resident Paula Samuelsen, who is an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant, the program will now be able to offer stipends to help offset that financial burden while students meet their clinical lactation hours over the summer between their first and second year in the program. Samuelsen has worked at health facilities in the region and in Mexico and has seen first-hand the importance of providing care in both English and Spanish.

“This is near and dear to my heart,” Samuelsen said. “It's really great to know that this is making their path a little bit easier. I've been a student, I know how much you have to do, all the studying and the internship, it's a lot. Because I've been in the environment where people are doing this, I know how much it means.”

A scholarship committee has been established to oversee the application process, which is expected to open this winter to everyone in the incoming 17-person cohort, with a focus on students who are bilingual and training to become lactation consultants.

“This stipend can enable students to achieve their goal of working in their community to provide lactation support,” Nommsen-Rivers said. “There's a whole different level of healthcare delivery when you're fluent in the language of the person you're trying to help. Speaking the same language as the person you're working with really helps to build rapport and trust in providing very intimate support.”

Breastfeeding support

The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee marks August as National Breastfeeding Month, and this year’s theme, “Forward Together,” emphasizes unity, solidarity and hope in the collective effort to support breastfeeding families. Lactation consultants play a role in helping families meet their feeding goals, whatever they may be, by offering guidance, reassurance and support. Increasing access to this care can potentially make parents feel more supported, informed and confident in their feeding choices.

Nommsen-Rivers said training more bilingual lactation consultants is an important step toward improving equity in maternal and infant health and helping more families get the support they need to meet their breastfeeding goals.

“Lactation consultants serve such an important role in enabling parents to meet their goals; many new parents very much want to breastfeed, that's their intention,” she said. “And when they're not able to meet that goal, many times it's because the support wasn't there. This program is increasing access to such critical support.”

Breastfeeding offers extensive health benefits for both babies and mothers. The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with continued breastfeeding and the addition of complementary foods to two years or longer as mutually desired by mother and child. Nommsen-Rivers said formula can meet nutritional needs, but human milk offers additional protections that are especially important early in life.

“Babies will grow on formula,” Nommsen-Rivers said. “Human milk provides optimal nutrition for the rapidly growing body and brain of an infant, plus so much more. For example, it's providing protection; human milk provides antibodies and other bioactive components to protect the baby, which is especially important in the newborn period, but continues to be of benefit to the child for as long as they are breastfed.”

The master’s degree program also partners with dietetic internship programs at select California WIC agencies and UC Davis Health that may be of interest to students aspiring to be registered dietitians. Check out the website to learn more.