 This week’s CHAMPion is Maggie Allen, IBCLC, who will be the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) at the new CHAMPS Delta Hills Baby Café opening April 27, 2016! Maggie is a Lactation Consultant for the Washington Department WIC office at the Mississippi Department of Health, and has worked for the MS Department of Health for 16 years. She is the only IBCLC in the 5 counties surrounding Washington County. Originally, Maggie came to WIC as a breastfeeding class participant. The information WIC taught helped her to have a good breastfeeding experience with both of her children. She told all her friends about what she had learned and they all breastfed. Kendall Cox, BA, IBCLC, RLC, the then WIC lactation consultant (who also helps with CHAMPS trainings as part of Every Mother, Inc.!) was especially encouraging to her. Maggie says, “She was the only person I knew who I could go to for help.” When Maggie began working for WIC, Kendall was her supervisor. Maggie worked her way up and became an IBCLC. Maggie believes pursuing further breastfeeding education has given her a strong scientific basis for her practice. “The more I know, the better I can help people,” Maggie says. Maggie teaches classes for moms who have never breastfed before at the MS Department of Health, and teaches classes at local hospital Delta Regional Medical Center. She also helps moms individually with breastfeeding at both locations on a daily basis. The CHAMPS Delta Hills Baby Café will be open Wednesdays from 11 am – 2 pm at the Washington County Health Department in Greenville, MS. Maggie’s role there will be to assist mothers with any breastfeeding questions, provide instruction on various topics, and assess and diagnose more complicated breastfeeding concerns. “I’m really excited about [the Baby Café],” Maggie says. “I feel like it’s going to be a really good thing for our community and for the counties around that we service.” She adds that her dream for the Baby Café is that “all moms have the opportunity to learn how to breastfeed and have a good experience when it comes to breastfeeding…I want other moms to have same enjoyment that I had when I breastfed my children.” To read more about the CHAMPS Delta Hills Baby Café, check out our press release and flyer! Know pregnant, new, or breastfeeding moms in the Washington County area? Send them our flyer! Note: This post has been transferred from CHAMPSbreastfeed.org. There was originally 1 comment. You can view it in this document.  CAPT Sue Murphy CAPT Suzan “Sue” Murphy, RD, MPH, IBCLC passed away on March 14, 2016. She was known and beloved by the breastfeeding community across the USA, and was long identified as the ultimate breastfeeding champion and mentor at the Indian Health Service (IHS), where she served for much of her life in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Sue was a Captain and Public Health Nutritionist for the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She served in the Commissioned Corps for 22 years at Phoenix Indian Medical Center (PIMC), 17 of those years in the area of breastfeeding support. Most recently at PIMC, she was the Breastfeeding Support Program Coordinator for the Women & Infant Service Line and ran the only IHS breastfeeding hotline in the nation. Sue was the Baby-Friendly lead at PIMC until her death. In 2013, PIMC was the first multi-bed hospital in Arizona to be Baby-Friendly designated, and Sue worked tirelessly not only for PIMC to become Baby-Friendly, but to serve as a mentor and supporter across the system, as all of IHS’ obstetrics facilities became Baby-Friendly by November 2014. CHAMPS Director Anne Merewood, PhD, MPH, IBCLC, who served as Baby-Friendly consultant to the IHS and knew Sue well, asked her not long before her death about some of her favorite moments during the IHS’ Baby-Friendly journey. Sue confided, “All those things I have been saying for years – suddenly, it was on the screen in a training course [for IHS nurses] and it became gospel! No one quite said you were right all along, but I was internally grateful. I thanked IHS HQ and Mrs. Obama for prioritizing this. It was great professional validation.” When asked about her favorite part of Baby-Friendly, Sue cited her patients. “The best part was seeing moms come back successful – saying to them, don’t I know you from somewhere? And they say, yes, you helped me with this guy, and I breastfed for 15 months!” Anne adds, “Sue was the stalwart and original protector and supporter of breastfeeding at IHS long before any of the rest of us jumped in, and we were all honored to help Sue realize her dream when all of IHS became Baby-Friendly.”  From left: CAPT Kimberly Couch, DNP, CNM, FNP, PIMC Women & Infants Service Line Director; CAPT Sue Murphy Sue’s other professional contributions include her work with the Office on Women’s Health to create An Easy Guide to Breastfeeding for American Indian and Alaska Native Families; her speaking appearances in Washington, DC and at Arizona State University on breastfeeding and its impact on diabetes and obesity; and her work as a dietician at the IHS Diabetes Center of Excellence and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Those who knew and worked with Sue remember her positivity, humor, kindness, integrity, and selfless compassion. Friend and colleague Kimberly Moore-Salas, IBCLC says she made the moms who were struggling with breastfeeding, in life or with drug use feel just as good as the mom who was doing well in life and with breastfeeding. She was a cheerleader at heart and celebrated any accomplishment, no matter how small. She allowed mothers to make their own breastfeeding decisions and goals and supported them in those decisions and goals. “You’re on your way!” she would often say, and “Any breastfeeding is good breastfeeding” and “You’re doing a great job, Mom.” Those who are interested in making a donation in memory of Sue, can do so at the PIMC Auxiliary fund. Sue’s obituary can be read here. CHAMPS will present a tribute to Sue Murphy, with the opportunity for individual memories to be shared, at the Indian Country Breastfeeds conference in Albuquerque on May 9 and 10, 2016. Note: This post has been transferred from CHAMPSbreastfeed.org. There were originally 2 comments. You can view them in this document. More about Sue can be found on this tribute page.  If you live near Meridian, Mississippi, you may have seen these eye-catching billboard images showing a mother and infant doing skin-to-skin with the slogan "Being close is best." They are part of a unique and exciting campaign by CHAMPS hospital Anderson Regional Medical Center to raise public awareness about breastfeeding and skin-to-skin! Currently, the images are rotating on 2 digital billboards on major highways in Meridian (Hwy 19 across from Meridian Community College and Hwy 39). Anderson Regional has also taped a "Medical Minute" (see April 5 post on their Facebook page) in which one of their nurses, Judy Guasco RN, spoke about the benefits of skin-to-skin for both mother and baby. This video aired March 31, 2016 on their local Fox channel. In addition, they have taped several short videos using their nursing staff focusing on topics such as the benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding cues, skin-to-skin contact, and rooming-in. Their plan is to post one video or message per month about breastfeeding/skin-to-skin, etc. to provide ongoing education and awareness.  Members of Anderson Regional's Obstetrics Staff at a CHAMPS Training Anderson Regional, with approximately 1,348 births per year, serves communities in East Mississippi and West Alabama. They have a level II neonatal intensive care unit, and 75% of their maternity population receives public health insurance. They enrolled with CHAMPS on May 6, 2015 with the following goals in mind: to perform skin-to-skin for all vaginal births that meet the criteria; to improve their exclusive breastfeeding rates through education with staff and patients; and to offer education and encouragement to increase the number of hours and days of rooming-in. Christi Jones MSN, RNC is the Maternal Child Clinical Director and CHAMPS Team Lead at Anderson Regional. She and Marketing Director Elizabeth Wiggins were involved in the decision to create and display the skin-to-skin billboards. By displaying the billboards, they are hoping to achieve "public interest in the concept of skin-to-skin contact," says Christi. As they continue to work on improving their breastfeeding and maternity practices, they may look into another area of focus to raise public awareness. CHAMPS applauds Anderson Regional for this innovative initiative! Note: This post has been transferred from CHAMPSbreastfeed.org. There were originally 2 comments. You can view it in this document.  CHAMPS Hospital Ochsner Baptist Medical Center in New Orleans, LA has opened the Mother’s Milk Bank of Louisiana (MMBL) at Ochsner Baptist! Currently, MMBL serves as a depot site, collecting donated human milk to send to the Milk Bank of Austin. Since opening in December 2015, MMBL has shipped over 5,000 oz. of donated milk to Austin. Currently, the Milk Bank of Austin screens donors, and once approved, the donors deliver milk to MMBL, which then ships the milk to Austin for processing and pasteurizing. MMBL states: “We are excited to make donating milk easier for local moms with a drop off option rather than them having to coordinate shipping their milk to Austin, but what we are most proud of is that we are increasing the pool of donor milk supply by educating moms in the area and bringing in new donors to the milk banking world.” As a Human Milk Banking Association of North America Developing Milk Bank, MMBL plans on becoming a fully operational independent milk bank in the near future. At that point, they will screen donors, and collect, process, and distribute milk from the state of LA to LA babies in need. They are working to raise the funds to purchase the necessary equipment and cover the start-up costs to get the milk bank up and running. They are hoping to receive enough milk donations to meet the demands of all the NICUs and outpatients in LA. If they exceed that amount, they can also provide for NICUs outside the state. To learn more or to become a donor or supporter, visit MMBL’s website. |
CHEER Champion of the weekEach Monday (besides public holidays), we will recognize a CHEER Champion for all the support they have provided for CHEER, CHAMPS, or the general public. Archives
April 2021
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