Breastfeeding Advocates Honored By Medela

MCHENRY, Ill., Aug. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela today announced the induction of three honorees to the Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence. The inductees, Sherry Payne, MSN, RN, CNE, IBCLC, David Duresky and V. Kuroji Patrick, will each be awarded a $5,000 grant to fund research, sponsor continuing education, purchase equipment for use in their practice or donate to the breastfeeding charity of their choice. In honor of National Breastfeeding Month, Medela also announced that it will be providing free access for the first 1,000 enrollees to their online Breastfeeding University during the month of August to directly support moms-to-be, moms who are committed to breastfeeding and others who would like to learn tips for success to become a breastfeeding advocate.

For parents of a newborn, the baby's care can at times be overwhelming. While rewarding and beneficial for mother and baby, nursing can pose challenges, but a supportive network of family, friends and professionals can make the difference in the breastfeeding journey. Passion and compassion are at the core of Medela's philosophy. Medela takes pride in honoring the hard work, dedication and best practices that U.S.-based lactation consultants and breastfeeding advocates show every day through their work in the community.

"It is so exciting to see the representation by our inductees of the many different roles family, friends and professionals can play in a mom's breastfeeding journey," said Carolin Archibald, president of Medela. "We have added another new category in our Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence to recognize community leaders. This demonstrates the growing and increasingly passionate commitment breastfeeding advocates play in both traditional and non-traditional roles. The CDC's Breastfeeding Report Cards show an upward trend in U.S. breastfeeding initiation, which increased from 73.8 percent in 2004 to 76.5 percent in 2010. At Medela, we know this trend has a lot to do with breastfeeding advocates like the ones we honor today. We look forward to helping to meet national goals for breastfeeding duration so babies and moms may obtain the full health benefits of breastfeeding."

2013 Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence Inductees
Lactation Consultant Inductee: Sherry Payne, MSN, RN, CNE, IBCLC,
Overland Park, Kansas
Payne, a nurse and lactation consultant, is dedicated to raising breastfeeding rates within all communities and particularly among women of color. To provide support, education and intervention, she founded Uzazi Village in 2012. The organization serves women free of charge with volunteer lactation consultants and breastfeeding peer educators. Chocolate Milk Cafe, geared toward African-American women, is one of two breastfeeding support groups Uzazi Village runs.

"Six of my nine children were born at home and successfully breastfed. I want other women to know the power that comes from breastfeeding." –Sherry Payne

Professional Inductee: David Duresky, Lighthouse, Florida
As a former research analyst for a children's organization looking for scalable solutions to obesity, Duresky discovered that breastfeeding had a positive impact on efforts to address child obesity, as well as on other health and emotional issues. In his current role as quality assurance and training manager at Broward Healthy Start Coalition, a non-profit supporting pregnant women, mothers and babies, Duresky launched a training program for breastfeeding. The program has trained breastfeeding educators in Broward County and now incorporates a workbook for use in the field and will be shared across the state at the Florida Department of Health conference.

"While I know that there are women who cannot breastfeed for medical and other reasons, I refuse to accept the reality that millions of children could be healthier and happier through breastfeeding, but are not." –David Duresky

Community Inductee: V. Kuroji Patrick, Silver Spring, Maryland
Father of four, Patrick recalls his mother breaking from cultural norms in the 1970s to breastfeed him and his brothers. Through a series of polling he conducted within his own family and network prior to becoming a father, Patrick soon realized that breastfeeding was an integral part of his children's health and quickly became his wife's biggest breastfeeding advocate. Through his own experience, Patrick understood the important role that fathers can play in increasing breastfeeding rates and developed a breastfeeding children's book with a father depicted as actively involved with his breastfed child. He is also dedicated to providing education to the underserved communities in, and around, Washington, DC, where exclusive breastfeeding at three months is only 32.1 percent, according to the CDC's 2013 Breastfeeding Report Card.

"Fathers are parents too and we simply do not see enough imagery supporting the critical role they play in a breastfed child's life. I want to help change that." –V. Kuroji Patrick

Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence
Since the program began in 2006 (known then as the Lactation Consultant Hall of Excellence), Medela has recognized professionals who exemplify best practices and outstanding dedication to their profession and/or cause. Medela has expanded the program to honor other healthcare professionals, and this year, the company added a community breastfeeding advocate category.

Inductees were chosen by an independent judging panel comprised of respected lactation consultants, health professionals and community breastfeeding advocates including: Lori Wood, a neonatal clinical nurse specialist whose primary focus is promoting use of human milk in the NICU; Carol Chamblin, who has a doctor of nursing practice and a focus on lactation support by nurses in the pediatrician's office; and Julie Hamilton, CLC and 2010 Mrs. Nashville, whose platform is breastfeeding preparedness.

Nominations were accepted in three categories: Lactation Consultant (LC), Professional Breastfeeding Advocate and Community Breastfeeding Advocate. Those nominated in the LC category must be a practicing International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in the United States and be nominated by a peer and breastfeeding mother for their role as an exceptional professional. For more information on the program, visit BreastfeedingHallofExcellence.com.

In addition to recognizing breastfeeding advocates in communities across the country, Medela is doing its part to support breastfeeding moms at home. Launched earlier this year, Medela's Breastfeeding University is an online education tool that helps new moms, and moms-to-be, understand and tackle the challenges of breastfeeding, so that they can meet their own breastfeeding goals. Free access is available throughout National Breastfeeding Month to the first 1,000 registrants, with code RELjN5GmY for the English Breastfeeding University and code RELSPqT6XAK to register in Spanish. To learn more on this program, visit: MedelaBreastfeedingU.com.

About Medela
Medela provides the most technologically advanced, superior-quality breast pumps and breastfeeding accessories to nursing mothers around the world. A longtime champion of breastfeeding and a Healthy People 2020 Consortium member, Medela is the only company to develop products based on research by the world's leading lactation experts. As a result, Medela's breastpumps are the number one choice of healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities worldwide, including more than 80 percent of U.S. hospitals.

Medela has developed an extensive line of products to meet the diverse needs of nursing mothers. These products include hospital-grade, double and single electric and manual breastpumps; breastfeeding accessories such as pump cleaning products, breast care products and specialty feeding devices; and maternity and nursing intimate apparel.

Founded in 1961 by Olle Larsson in Zug, Switzerland, Medela continues to grow under the ownership of the Larsson family. Medela serves customers through a worldwide network of distribution partners in more than 90 countries and its 15 subsidiaries in the United States, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Poland, China and Spain. The company entered the United States more than 30 years ago; its U.S. headquarters are located in McHenry, Illinois.

Media Contact:
Claudette Yasell
815-578-2452
[email protected] 

SOURCE Medela