A Master Class for the IBCLC: Oral Habilitation of the Breastfeeding Dyad

Jennifer has practiced holistic lactation and guided parents in raising their children holistically for over 25 years. A fascination with the physiology of wellness has led her on a 30-year journey exploring the influences on infant well-being that come to define longterm human well-being. She has come to focus her interest in the areas of epigenetics and the microbiome, gut-brain health, airway function and oral functional competency, exploring the profoundly far-reaching implications of this work for breastfeeding dyads.

While residing between the USA & France, Jennifer established an international client base and now sees most of her clients on-line, specialising in helping dyads with complex breastfeeding issues. Her reputation for guiding parents through these issues stems from her ability to integrate holistic modalities and an expanded skill-set, such as metabolic assessment and myofunctional therapy, into her practice.

She is a writer and lecturer, offering workshops internationally and via webinar on breastfeeding & epigenetics, gut health & healing, tongue-tie & airway development and holistic breastfeeding practices. After a decade in development, she now offers a year-long advanced course in Integrative and Holistic Lactation. She is a founding member of IATP (the International Affiliation of Tongue-tie Professionals) and is the Breastfeeding Section Leader of the AAPMD (American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry) and founder of the Holistic Lactation Institute. Jennifer is the mother of three children born at home in 1988, 1992 and 1998 and a granddaughter born at home in 2009.

Bryna Sampey became IBCLC-certified in 2010 after a 4500+ hour internship with Sonja Massey, BSN, RN, IBCLC at BabyMoon in Monterey, CA, USA. Prior to her certification as an IBCLC and Doula, she worked in Marine Chemistry in the Monterey Bay. Bryna owns a private practice in the Portland, Oregon metro area, offering home-visiting birth and lactation care, postpartum care, and education for parents and professionals. Bryna has specialized in her birth work focus on high-risk and surgical birth and the subsequent lactation issues that can arise from interventive birth. In her lactation work, she has additional areas of expertise in ankyloglossia assessment and recovery for the breastfeeding dyad, working with LGBTQIA+ families, and Rhythmic Movement Training for babies and parents with birth and surgical trauma as well as breastfeeding difficulties.

Bryna has worked as an adjunct professor at Birthingway College of Midwifery, teaching students about complex parental situations in lactation, breast assessment and evaluation, hand expression and breast massage. She also teaches parents in prenatal breastfeeding education and newborn care at Oregon Health & Sciences University. When not teaching, working with clients, or learning more about breastfeeding and early parenting care, she can be found at home with her family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Sharon Vallone, DC, FICCP (Fellow in Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics)’s clinical practice is in a multi-discipline environment and brings 25+ years of pediatric experience with a primary interest in pregnancy, birth trauma, breastfeeding and problems with infant /toddler neurodevelopment. She finds her role frequently to be a member of a support team for infants and children providing assessment, treatment and healthcare advocacy, as well as individualised treatment for children with functional challenges. She is the editor of the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics and teaches internationally in the International Chiropractor’s Association’s postgraduate program in pediatric chiropractic.

Lisa Lahey is a dedicated holistic family nurse practitioner with 28 years of experience specializing in maternal child health and myofunctional therapy. With 17 years in hospital settings focusing in the areas of neuroscience, labour and delivery, postpartum, NICU, and perinatal services. Lisa opened her own clinic 10 years ago which is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her expertise includes functional medicine, feeding therapy, infant massage, craniosacral therapy, myofascial release, and myofunctional therapy, allowing her to support her patients' babies to adults. Lisa is a contributing author to the book Tongue Tied and shares her knowledge through lectures in the US and internationally on topics related to lactation, feeding, and oral myofunctional therapy. Passionate about healthy families, Lisa continually enhances her skills through ongoing education and training.