Announcing the first class of Breastfeeding-Friendly Pediatricians!
The Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Georgia Breastfeeding Coalition want to equip pediatricians to better support their patient families to meet AAP breastfeeding recommendations and more importantly, their own breastfeeding goals. While breastfeeding is an important public health issue, pediatricians provide care to individual families each day who need clinical guidance on breastfeeding and lactation issues. Hospitals in Georgia have been working hard to improve their practices, but especially during the pandemic, most stays are short and new parents are even more reliant on their pediatrician for support. Launched last year, the program received a robust response from Georgia’s pediatricians and now counts 50 applicants.
Rebecca Kolesky, MD, Dekalb Pediatric Center, Decatur. “I chose to be a part of the Breastfeeding-Friendly Pediatrician Certification Program to emphasize my commitment to helping my patients and families successfully breastfeed. I had multiple struggles breastfeeding my first child but stuck with it and ended up being successful.”
Hiral Lavania, MD, IBCLC, One Family Pediatrics, Cumming. “Breastfeeding is natural and safe; however, there are many times where barriers prevent women from initiating or continuing to feed their babies without supplementation. The pediatrician’s role is to provide holistic care to each child. By providing lactation support, pediatricians can help increase breastfeeding duration and exclusivity.”
Monica Moore, MD, of Premier Wellness, serves patients across the state in her virtual pediatric practice. “Staying relevant and up to date on current evidence-based medicine is extremely important to me and motivates me to constantly explore ways to grow personally and professionally. The breastfeeding certification program is an excellent opportunity to expand my fund of knowledge and provide the necessary tools to continue providing exceptional care to my patients,” said Moore.
Donna Yeiser, MD, Columbus Pediatric Associates. “The Breastfeeding-Friendly Pediatrician Certification Program has allowed me to learn more and has provided me with valuable information and further resources for families in our practice. For me, a very important part of breastfeeding is the empowerment it gives a mother. It is a beautiful aspect of breastfeeding that is universal. As pediatricians, we are uniquely able to develop trusting relationships and have close contact and frequent visits when families are most vulnerable. They may encounter problems and not know where or how to find resolutions. It is during this time that we can provide encouragement and support to help families develop strong breastfeeding foundations for long term outcomes,” said Yeiser.
Read the full press release here.