Calendar

Please join BreastfeedLA for “Holding Space for Lived Experiences: Compassionate and Culturally-Responsive Services” with Jonathan Wicks, LCSW on February 24, 2026 from 10am PT – 12pm PT. Delivering compassionate and culturally-responsive service is essential when supporting individuals and communities from diverse backgrounds. This session will share insight on different lived experiences, societal values and beliefs, and perspectives on liberation psychologies that can help service providers elevate their service delivery and connect with those seeking support and resources.

Objectives – Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Identify various aspects of intersecting identities, and how these layers of a person can be an asset or barrier to providing culturally-response services.
• Describe five different types of trauma, and how they are interconnected in the lived experiences of individuals and communities that receive services.
• Analyze the history of hate and violence in America, and explore how this has influenced systems of care, services providers, and community members.
• Gain insight on liberation psychologies and how this framework can be integrated into supportive services for improve maternal and infant health outcomes.

Continuing Education

For those needing Continuing Education Credits, CEUS will be available for a $19 fee, with certificates accessible on https://breastfeedla.thinkific.com/courses/compassion-and-care.

• 1.0 Contact Hours available
• An application for Continuing Education Recognition Points (CERPS) has been submitted to the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners

Recording
The recording of this event will be sent to those who purchase CEUs approximately 2-3 weeks after the live event, and available for viewing for up to 2 years after the live event.

While evidence regarding racialized disparities among critically ill infants born before 37 weeks gestation is well documented, the ways in which systemic racism impacts lactation among neonates with congenital heart defects (CHD) is limited. This presentation will serve to introduce existing data regarding racial disparities among a cohort of infants with CHD, expand knowledge regarding the unique postpartum experience of mothers who give birth to infants with CHD, and discuss how racism and cardiac care practices interrupt breastfeeding.

Postpartum distress is often treated as a single condition, yet science tells a more nuanced story. This presentation explores the biological differences between postnatal depletion and postpartum depression, highlighting how hormones, inflammation, stress, and brain changes shape recovery after birth—and why recognizing these differences leads to better care.