Specialists and advocates for maternal, family and clinical health from across the country came together for the third year to restore and revolutionize support for lactation education during the Uplifting Black and Brown Lactation Success Conference, hosted by N.C. A&T’s Pathway 2 Human Lactation Training Program.

The conference, held Aug. 6 and 7 at the University Farm Pavilion with the theme "From Restoration to Revolution," zeroed in on efforts to bridge policy, practice, and partnerships to improve infant feeding goals and support communities of color experiencing disparities in medical health.

“This is a conference full of networking, research, and community advocates who have come together to uplift and support families who are marginalized in the Southeast United States in terms of young child and infant feeding,” said Janiya Mitnaul Williams, program director. “We are here to support families in continuing to diversity the field of maternal and child health, specifically international board lactation consulting.”

According to Williams, the number of Black or brown IBCLCs – International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants – has risen from less than 1% nationally to 3%, and as high as 5% in North Carolina, as a result of the college’s lactation program - a part of its "revolutionizing" work.

“The idea of restoration is something that we all can relate to; it’s definitely something that we need and have practiced in the past,” said Leatrice Priest, project and accreditation coordinator for the program. “But in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘We’ve been restored, now let’s do some work. Once we’ve relaxed, we’ve stepped back, we’ve taken care of ourselves, each other and our villages, I thought, what a revolution it would be for us to all take action and be a movement forward.' ”

Through panel discussion and seminars with guest speakers, attendees listened and interacted on topics that included prenatal care, infant health and ways to support mothers' physical and mental well-being.

“Large racial disparities exist in maternal and infant health outcomes,” said keynote speaker Janice Brewington, Ph.D., lead consultant for the National League for Nursing. “Pregnancy related mortality rates among Black women are over three times higher than the rate for white women: 49.4% versus 14.9% per 100,000.”

Attending guests, like Crystal Scarborough, a licensed clinical health counselor who came from Wilmington to attend the conference, found encouragement through the open dialogue.

“I’m studying Black mental and maternal health, and I think the work that this organization is doing is very important,” said Scarborough. “The knowledge that has been shared in this space has been phenomenal.”

In addition to maternal needs, the conference also emphasized the need to support new and expectant fathers. Dads have their own postpartum struggles, including mental health crises and public stigmatization.

“The conversation isn’t about shifting the attention away from mothers,” said panel lead Jayvon Johnson, owner and founder of Greensboro-based community organization The Peculiar Dad Network. “It’s about expanding the circle, because healthy families require healthy partnerships.”

The two-day conference was preceded by a reception and white coat ceremony for the lactation program’s seventh cohort, marking eight students’ entrance into a clinical profession.

“Lactation consulting has always been a dream of mine,” student Tyanne Chavis said. “I was a doula before I became a nurse, and I only heard good things about North Carolina A&T’s lactation program.”