Welcome Programme About Uppsala Travel to Uppsala POST CONFERENCE/WORKSHOPS Workshop programme BFHI Initiative in Neonatal Units
Contact General Information Accommodation Registration Call for abstracts Venue Invited speakers and topics

Invited speakers

Dr. Paula Meier is the Director for Clinical Research and Lactation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Rush University Medical Center, where she is also a Professor of Pediatrics and a Professor of Women, Children and Family Nursing.  She has conducted 18 externally-funded studies focused on human milk, breastfeeding, and lactation for NICU infants and their families, and has authored over 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts on these topics.  In 1996, Dr. Meier established the Rush Mothers' Milk Club program of evidence-based lactation interventions, and this program is currently the recipient of a 5-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study health outcomes and cost of human milk feedings for very low birthweight infants.  Dr. Meier is the President-Elect of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation, and serves as a member of the Health Advisory Board for La Leche League, International. 

Renée Flacking is a Senior Lecturer at School of Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University and a researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Sweden. Her main research areas are breastfeeding and parenting in families with preterm infants, focusing on emotional, relational and socio-cultural aspects. Her research have included large epidemiological studies on breastfeeding, interventions to support mothers and fathers when their infants are admitted to neonatal units, and qualitative studies on issues related to breastfeeding and to health. In 2009-2010, Renée conducted a cross-cultural ethnographic study in Sweden and England on breastfeeding and relationality in mothers of preterm infants at neonatal units. At the time, she is the PI of the SCENE (Separation and Closeness Experiences in the Neonatal Environment) study, a comparative cross cultural study in Europe.

Randa Jarudi Saadeh is the Coordinator of the Nutrition in the Life Course Unit (NLU) and a senior scientist in the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Randa is the focal point for activities in the Department related to infant and young child feeding, maternal health and foetal development, malnutrition in all its forms and nutrition in emergencies. Randa is a nutritionist and registered dietitian by profession.
Responsibilities include:
* Implementation and monitoring the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding /IYCF) and its 9 Operational targets including work related to breastfeeding, complementary feeding
* Working closely with Ministries of Health and decision-makers for development of policies and strategies in IYCN
* Development of norms and standards in IYCF and Nutrition/Infection areas of work 
* Focal point for all activities related to the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (assessment, reassessment, monitoring) and the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes and nutrition in emergencies
* Maintaining a WHO Global Data Bank on Infant and Young Child Feeding and monitoring/analysing global trends and prevalence
* Designated Technical Officer for many NGOs as LLLI, ILCA and others
* All reporting on the above listed areas to the World Health Assembly and Executive Board of WHO
* Development and preparation of many courses/tools/counselling materials related to above areas and is an expert trainer and counsellor

Sue Ashmore, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative
Sue Ashmore has worked for the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative since 1997. She is currently the Programme Director and is responsible for the management and development of the Initiative as well as providing support for health-care facilities to implement and maintain the Baby Friendly best practice standards. Her background is in midwifery and she was the infant feeding adviser at one of the first hospitals to achieve Baby Friendly accreditation in the UK.

Staffan Polberger, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, consulting neonatologist at the neonatal intensive care unit, Department of Neonatology, Skåne University Hospital in Lund, Sweden.
" I had my medical education and training in Lund, Sweden 1970-75. I became a specialist in pediatrics in 1981 and in neonatology 1993. My thesis (professor Niels Räihä) with the title "Fortified human milk for very low birth weight infants: Effects on growth and metabolism" was presented in 1990 (Medical Faculty, University of Lund), and 1990-91 I spent a post-doc year with professor Bo Lönnerdal at the Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, USA. I became an associate professor at the University of Lund in 1993 and have published papers, particularly in nutrition in preterm infants."

Topics

Examples of topics related to 10 steps for Neo-BFHI

  • Prenatal education

  • Perinatal policies and practices

  • Lactation support, breast milk expression   

  • Breastfeeding observation

  • Kangaroo Mother Care

  • Support of the maternal role

  • Support of the father’s/partner’s role

  • Enteral and oral feeding methods

  • Nutrition and feeding policies

  • Donor milk, milk banking                                       

  • Pre- and postdischarge breast milk enrichment

  • Family centered care, NIDCAP                             

  • NICU physical environment                       

  • Pre-discharge education

  • Models for early discharge and home care

  • Post-discharge support, peer counsellors, premie parent groups