Speakers
Ana M. Parrilla Rodríguez
Dr. Ana M. Parrilla Rodríguez is a Public Health physician specialising in breastfeeding medicine. She is an Associate Professor at ...
Ana M. Parrilla Rodríguez
Dr. Ana M. Parrilla Rodríguez is a Public Health physician specialising in breastfeeding medicine. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s Graduate School of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health Program where she coordinates the Division of Community Outreach and Education, and the Project for the Promotion of Breastfeeding. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding and member of its Board of Directors as well as the National Coordinator for Puerto Rico of the International Breastfeeding Action Network (IBFAN). Dr Parrilla has been widely published in peer reviewed journals, web pages and blogs on her field of expertise.
Andre Nikiema
André Nikiéma is the Regional Coordinator of IBFAN for French speaking African countries...
Andre Nikiema
André Nikiéma is the Regional Coordinator of IBFAN for French speaking African countries. André’s original background is Linguistics that he still uses regularly as a professional conference interpreter and translator. Earlier on in his career, he taught languages in secondary schools in Burkina Faso and was a lecturer at the Education Sciences Institute (INSE) of the University of Ouagadougou. He has specific interest in ethnographic and sociological aspects of breastfeeding, advocacy work, Code implementation as well as HIV and infant feeding.
Angela Smith
Angela Smith works as a Nursing Unit Manager at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital...
Angela Smith
Angela Smith works as a Nursing Unit Manager at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. RPA is a tertiary referral hospital with over 5000 births a year. Angela has been working with mothers and babies since 1978 and was a partner in the Australian Professional Lactation Educational Services (APLES) 1991-2002 providing lactation education to many across Australia.
Angela was the Director of External Affairs for the International Lactation Consultant Association from 2004-2008, and is the Immediate Past President from 2008-2010.
Anne Schaerer-Batterjee
Anne Schaerer-Batterjee is one of the founders of the first Cancer Society in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where she worked on women’s health issues. She is an active advocator for BFHI ...
Anne Schaerer-Batterjee
Anne Schaerer-Batterjee is one of the founders of the first Cancer Society in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where she worked on women’s health issues. She is an active advocator for BFHI, whose primary goal is to train hundreds of doctors, nurses, and patient educators every year in the skills needed to support mothers through the implementation of BFHI in both the government and private sector. As a LLLI Leader and LLLI PCP Administrator, she continues to look for means of improving mother support networks. In 2000, she opened and now operates the first and only Women’s Health Awareness and Breastfeeding Resource Center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She maintains close ties with international organisations such as WABA and IBFAN Arab World by providing important tools to stimulate significant changes in the region.
Annelies Allain
Annelies Allain graduated in languages and holds a Master in development studies. She worked with development NGOs in Europe and Africa ...
Annelies Allain
Annelies Allain graduated in languages and holds a Master in development studies. She worked with development NGOs in Europe and Africa in the early 70s. She was one of the founders of IBFAN, the International Baby Food Network, in 1979 which works for better child health and nutrition through the promotion of breastfeeding and the elimination of irresponsible marketing of infant foods, bottles and teats. For the past 30 years, Annelies has been a leader in the IBFAN network. IBFAN is the winner of the 1998 Right Livelihood Award.
She was closely involved with the drafting of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1980. She started the IBFAN Geneva office and helped to organise others. She is one of the co-founders of WABA. In 1991, she also set up the International Code Documentation Centre (ICDC) in Penang, Malaysia. IBFAN-ICDC focuses on the implementation of the International Code and coordinates Code monitoring worldwide. Annelies is the Coordinator of the WABA’s Code Compliance Task Force.
Anwar Fazal
Anwar Fazal is the Chairperson Emeritus of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), and has been a driving force in the founding and growth of WABA and also various international NGOs...
Anwar Fazal
Anwar Fazal is the Chairperson Emeritus of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), and has been a driving force in the founding and growth of WABA and also various international NGOs, such as the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), Health Action International (HAI), Pesticide Action Network (PAN) and Citizens International. Anwar’s contributions in the areas of consumer health, environment, human rights and peace issues have brought him local and global recognition, among them the Right Livelihood Award, popularly known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” the Global 500 Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mother Earth News Hall of Fame, The Gandhi-King-Ikeda Community Builders Peace Award, and Honorary Doctorates in Law and Philosophy. He also serves as Chairperson of the Malaysian Interfaith Network and the Taiping Peace Initiative. He was a co-founder of Transparency International Malaysia, the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and a former President of the International Organisation of Consumers Unions (IOCU) and the Environmental Liaison Centre International (ELCI).
Anwar was trained in Economics and Education and has worked in teaching, local and state governments and for 12 years with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on urban governance issues in Asia and the Pacific. He is currently, a Professor and Director of the Right Livelihood College (RLC) based at the University Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, Malaysia.
Arun Gupta
Dr Arun Gupta is a senior pediatrician with more than 35 years of experience and has written extensively on infant health in the Economic and Political Weekly, Times of India, and Civil Society...
Arun Gupta
Dr Arun Gupta is a senior pediatrician with more than 35 years of experience and has written extensively on infant health in the Economic and Political Weekly, Times of India, and Civil Society. Dr. Gupta founded the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and has served as its central coordinator since 1991. In addition, he created the innovative World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) which is now being implemented in 73 countries along with the One Million Campaign. In 2002, He was elected as the regional coordinator of IBFAN Asia and currently chairs the Core group of the joint IBFAN/WABA “Global Breastfeeding Initiative for Child Survival” (gBICS) in partnership with Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). Most recently, he was elected as a member of the WABA Steering Committee and serves as a WABA Regional Focal Point in South Asia.
Asha D. Benakappa
Dr. Asha D. Benakappa is currently working as Professor of Pediatrics at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and has been promoting breastfeeding...
Asha D. Benakappa
Dr. Asha D. Benakappa is currently working as Professor of Pediatrics at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and has been promoting breastfeeding for the past 25 years in various capacities. She joined the WABA Health Care Practices Task Force in 2009.
Asha is the Bangalore city co-coordinator for the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and has succeeded in certifying all Corporation Maternity Homes UNICEF Baby-Friendly. She is a National trainer for the infant and young child feeding consultant course, trainer for gender issues in breastfeeding and has conducted thousands of workshops for health workers and communities on breastfeeding. She has also written a book titled Breastfeeding, the basic instinct, published a paper in the May 2003 issue of Indian Pediatrics - New-Lactation technique to breastfeed asphyxiated babies, and has developed a flipchart in both English and the local language to reach community members. She has won several awards from BPNI and is a founder trustee of the NGO Lactation Helpline.
Audrey Naylor
Audrey Naylor, President and CEO of Wellstart International, is a board certified pediatrician with additional training in infant development, maternal and child health and epidemiology...
Audrey Naylor
Audrey Naylor, President and CEO of Wellstart International, is a board certified pediatrician with additional training in infant development, maternal and child health and epidemiology. In addition to receiving a degree in Medicine from the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, she also holds a DrPH in Epidemiology (with a major focus on perinatal care) from UCLA School of Public Health. She has a lifetime professional interest in maternal, infant, and family health promotion, preferring to prevent rather than treat disease. In 1985, she co-founded Wellstart International, a nonprofit organisation established to educate health care providers (medical and nursing students as well as perinatal specialty residents), in the “why and hows” of optimal infant and young child feeding. She has been instrumental in both international efforts to promote breastfeeding as the normal and optimal way to feed infants and young children and is a founding member of the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action. She is currently a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics (Voluntary, part-time) at The University of Vermont College of Medicine.
Elaine Petitat-Côté
Elaine Petitat-Côté is both Canadian and Swiss; she is bilingual English-French. After studying Spanish in Barcelona, she studied history at the University of Geneva, majoring on...
Elaine Petitat-Côté
Elaine Petitat-Côté is both Canadian and Swiss; she is bilingual English-French. After studying Spanish in Barcelona, she studied history at the University of Geneva, majoring on issues centering on women and work at the turn of the 20th century. She also conducted research on the history of nursing and medical institutions in Canada. A large part of her professional experience has been acquired working for NGOs and associations in the areas of women and development, regional development, development studies and health. She joined IBFAN-GIFA at the end of 2000 and since then has been focusing onhuman rights, more specifically child rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child review process, presenting IBFAN alternative reports to the Treaty Body, and obtaining recommendations for better policies and practices on infant and young child nutrition.. She also trains breastfeeding advocates in maternity protection at the workplace, centering on ILO conventions and national legislation. She has been part of the WABA Women and Work Task-force for some years and works closely with various WABA core members to develop campaign and advocacy tools. She has also been instrumental in developing training modules on this topic, including in 2010 for ILO.
Elisabet Helsing
Elisabet Helsing has been active in the breastfeeding movement for the last 45 years. In 1968 she wrote a pamphlet on breastfeeding...
Elisabet Helsing
Elisabet Helsing has been active in the breastfeeding movement for the last 45 years. In 1968 she wrote a pamphlet on breastfeeding which has existed up to this day, printed in 1.5 million copies. Also 1968 she started a mother-to-mother support group, Ammehjelpen, and 1970 she published a small book on breastfeeding which has been printed in 70 000 copies. She has since written and spoken extensively on the subject and recently has taken up an interest in breastfeeding as a human right of the mother and the baby. Elisabet is the Co-Chair of the WABA International Advisory Council.
Elise van Rooyen
Dr Elise van Rooyen was born in Durban, South Africa. After completing her MBChB studies at the University of Pretoria and working at HF Verwoerd hospital...
Elise van Rooyen
Dr Elise van Rooyen was born in Durban, South Africa. After completing her MBChB studies at the University of Pretoria and working at HF Verwoerd hospital, Sebokeng hospital and Kalafong hospital, she spent 3 years (1993-1995) working in the United Kingdom at Cheltenham General hospital in the SCBU. In 1996 she became a consultant in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Pretoria, at Kalafong hospital. She opened the first Kangaroo mother care unit in Gauteng Province at Kalafong hospital in 1999. She has been involved in KMC training and implementation research since then. She was involved in the implementation of KMC in all the hospitals of Gauteng, and Mpumalanga as well as several hospitals in the Limopopo and North West Provinces. She was also part of a team from the University of Pretoria which was involved in a KMC implementation project in 4 regions of Ghana. The project was done in partnership with UNICEF and Ghana National Health Department.
Felicity Savage
Felicity Savage lived and worked as a pediatrician in developing countries for a total of 18 years...
Felicity Savage
Felicity Savage lived and worked as a pediatrician in developing countries for a total of 18 years, in Zambia (1966-72), Indonesia (1972-78) and Kenya (1979-84). During that time she worked in community paediatrics with a particular interest in nutrition; and has written books, developed courses and other training materials, and taught health workers about breastfeeding.
From 1993 – 2001 Dr. Savage worked as a Medical Officer with WHO in Geneva, in the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development where she was responsible for the promotion of breastfeeding, policy development and training, including the area of HIV and infant feeding. She continues to promote breastfeeding with particular concern for education and training of health professionals. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London, where she is founding Director of the annual Breastfeeding: Practice and Policy Course. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (FHPHM), Fellow of the Royal College of Paeditrics and Child Health (FRCPCH), Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and Fellow of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. She was a pioneer in the development of the breastfeeding movement in the 1980s, leading up to the formulation of the Innocenti Declaration in 1991 and the inception of WABA, and she continues to undertake consultancies in all regions, for NGO’s as well as for UNICEF and WHO, mostly relating to health worker training in breastfeeding and related subjects. She is currently Chairperson of the WABA Steering Committee.
Ines Fernandez
Ines Fernandez is the Co-coordinator of WABA’s Women and Work Task Force. She is also the Executive Director and pioneering founder of ARUGAAN...
Ines Fernandez
Ines Fernandez is the Co-coordinator of WABA’s Women and Work Task Force. She is also the Executive Director and pioneering founder of ARUGAAN in Philippines and a Board Director, Education for Life Foundation in the Philippines and E-Net/ Civil Society for Educational Reform.
Ines runs a crèche for babies and toddlers of working parents and uses indigenous foods and breastfeeding. She also teaches Food & Culture at the Education For Life, a Filipino-Danish folk school. She represents the ECCD sector of E-Net/Civil Society for Educational Reform.She also rehabilitated babies and toddlers who were abused and abandoned, placed under the care of Childwatch Centre in the Philippines. She has applied breastfeeding through wet nursing and indigenous healing food in their rehabilitation and found that these babies and toddlers, recovered well.Lately, Ines led a UNICEF funded project in Arugaan on relactation and wet nursing titled The Amazing Battle from Bottle to Breasts", collaborating with 55 Lactation Experts to transform 3,000 mother-baby pairs who were the survivors of the typhoon-floods.
J Solomon
Mr. J Solomon is the General Secretary of the National Union of Bank Employees, Peninsular Malaysia since year 2001 and a General Council member of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC)...
J Solomon
Mr. J Solomon is the General Secretary of the National Union of Bank Employees, Peninsular Malaysia since year 2001 and a General Council member of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC). His commitment and determination in the trade union movement has earned him international recognition and he is the Vice- President of the Asian Regional Organisation of Bank, Insurance & Financial Union (ARO BIFU) and President of the Asian Bank Union Council. A tough negotiator, Solomon broke the barriers and won female workers in the banking industry the 90 days paid maternity leave and is continuing the 90 Days for Moms – 1 Million Signature Campaign for Malaysian women.
James Achanyi-Fontem
James Achanyi-Fontem is a Senior Health Journalist and Communication Consultant of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada and Farm Radio International, Ottawa...
James Achanyi-Fontem
James Achanyi-Fontem is a Senior Health Journalist and Communication Consultant of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, Canada and Farm Radio International, Ottawa, Canada. He served as a health journalist and broadcaster for 30 years with Radio Cameroon and Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, before retiring in 2005 to assume the appointment as Executive Director of Cameroon Link, a registered Charity and Not-for-Profit Organisation involved in the promotion of community health development, mother and child health human rights advocacy. Cameroon Link is the National Focal Point for IBFAN Africa and WABA in Cameroon. James has served as WABA Men’s Initiative Coordinator since March 2008.
Johanna Bergerman
Johanna Bergerman works as a Public Health Nutritionist in Saskatchewan Canada...
Johanna Bergerman
Johanna Bergerman works as a Public Health Nutritionist in Saskatchewan Canada. Presently she is employed by the Health Promotion Department of the Saskatoon Health Region. Early on in her career, an involvement in a research project on infant feeding practices sparked an interest in breastfeeding as a public health issue. It also sparked a specific interest in gender issues as they relate to breastfeeding. It led her to becoming a certified lactation consultant and to furthering her education in women and gender studies. As a breastfeeding advocate and educator, she is involved in breastfeeding projects locally, provincially and nationally. Johanna was also the second WABA/ILCA Fellow.
Joyce Chanetsa
After graduating from Queensland University, Australia with a double major in Biochemistry and Microbiology, Joyce Chanetsa joined the Ministry of Health in...
Joyce Chanetsa
After graduating from Queensland University, Australia with a double major in Biochemistry and Microbiology, Joyce Chanetsa joined the Ministry of Health in the then newly independent Zimbabwe in 1981. She became a founding member of the National Nutrition Department and played an important role in defining nutrition programming in the country during the post war period. In the same year, she directed and supervised a study on the activities of infant food manufactures in health institutions. This work was documented in a report: “Baby Feeding, Behind and Towards a Health Model for Zimbabwe, Feb 1981.” The report revealed serious and unacceptable marketing practices by the baby food industry in health facilities. This information together with the newly endorsed International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (May 1981) led to a government circular in 1982 which forbade health workers to receive free samples, gratuities and other marketing materials from companies. In 1985 Zimbabwe enacted a national on the Code.
Joyce then proceeded to undertake her post grad studies in Human Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1985. She then held various portfolios in the Nutrition Department and then became part of a small team that set up a Food and Nutrition Council in Zimbabwe in 2003. In 2008 she joined the regional office of IBFAN Africa as the Coordinator to continue her work of protecting infant health started almost 30 years ago.
JP Dadhich
Dr. JP Dadhich is a senior Paediatrician based in Delhi, who has been trained in neonatology, developmental neurology, infant and ...
JP Dadhich
Dr. JP Dadhich is a senior Paediatrician based in Delhi, who has been trained in neonatology, developmental neurology, infant and young child feeding and research methods. He is the National Coordinator of the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and the consultant for HIV and breastfeeding programmes for International Baby food Action Network (IBFAN) – Asia. He is the South Asia Regional Focal Point Coordinator for WABA. He has been a consultant and resource person to various state, national and international organizations including Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Women and Child Development, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), WHO, UNICEF, NIHFW, SNL, ICMR, IAP, NNF, State AIDS control societies, FAOPS, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), International Baby Food Action Network, DFID, UNAIDS, UNFPA, Care India etc.
Khalid Iqbal
Khalid Iqbal is a clinician currently working as a Neonatologist in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Dubai Hospital...
Khalid Iqbal
Khalid Iqbal is a clinician currently working as a Neonatologist in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Dubai Hospital, United Arab Emirates. He has extensive experience in the management of child health and infant nutrition issues. He is a Lactation Consultant, BFHI assessor and BFHI trainer as well as the recipient of the Regional Award for Excellent Services in Promoting, Protecting and Supporting breastfeeding. He is affiliated with many regional and international organisations and contributes significantly in breastfeeding promotional activities and advocacy campaigns. He is a member of the Advisory Committee IBFAN Arab World, Co-Coordinator Research Task Force World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), Executive Coordinator of Gulf Alliance of Breastfeeding Advocates (GABA), Code Coordinator UAE Lactation Consultants Association.
Khalid is the author of many scientific papers either published in international journals or circulated online and has written two books, "Our Children are at Risk” and "The Basics of Human Lactation". He is a well-known speaker and has presented many topics at international platforms in the USA, Germany, Australia and Middle East.
Lenore Goldfarb
Lenore Goldfarb, B. Comm., B. Sc., Dip. C., IBCLC, is a lactation consultant/researcher at the Goldfarb Breastfeeding Clinic and Program at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada..
Lenore Goldfarb
Lenore Goldfarb, Ph.D., IBCLC, is a lactation consultant/researcher at the Goldfarb Breastfeeding Clinic and Program at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is President of the Canadian Breastfeeding Foundation and Co-Author with Dr. Jack Newman of The Protocols for Induced Lactation: A Guide for Maximizing Breastmilk Production. Lenore is the founder/moderator of www.asklenore.info, an information resource for couples pursuing adoption or surrogacy and includes a message board with forums dedicated to induced lactation and adoptive breastfeeding. Lenore has just completed her Ph.D. in Human Lactation and Reproductive Counseling at the Union Institute & University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Lenore is married with two sons born via gestational surrogacy and breastfed via The Newman - Goldfarb Protocols for Induced Lactation.
Louise James
Louise James is the Acting Coordinator of IBFAN Oceania and Coordinator of the Infant Feeding Association of New Zealand...
Louise James
Louise James is the Acting Coordinator of IBFAN Oceania and Coordinator of the Infant Feeding Association of New Zealand. She is also one of the reviewers of the WABA World Breastfeeding Week action folders. She previously worked for the feminist organisation Women’s Health Action in New Zealand as Breastfeeding Advocate where she established ‘The Big Latch On’, a national breastfeeding event for WBW. She has extensive experiences in working to help mothers successfully combine breastfeeding and paid employment, including a published research paper. She was a La Leche League Leader in the 1980s for seven years and holds a Diploma in Childbirth Education and has facilitated classes to pregnant women for over 25 years. She has a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Teacher) and works part-time as a Kindergarten Teacher.
Lourdes Fidalgo
Lourdes Fidalgo is a nutritionist specialising in public health and food security...
Lourdes Fidalgo
Lourdes Fidalgo is a nutritionist specialising in public health and food security. She is Mozambican by nationality and has worked in the field of nutrition and food security in Mozambique and the Southern African region. She is an active promoter of breastfeeding and adequate infant feeding practices and she is a member of IBFAN Africa and also a member of the WABA Steering Committee. In Mozambique she has been working to strengthen IBFAN activities and facilitated the establishment of IBFAN Mozambique.
Marina Ferreira Rea
Marina Ferreira Rea is a Medical Doctor and a specialist in Human Lactation with Wellstart International...
Marina Ferreira Rea
Marina Ferreira Rea is a Medical Doctor and a specialist in Human Lactation with Wellstart International. She has a Master and Doctorate Degree in Preventive Medicine, with research studies on breastfeeding. She is currently working at the Institute of Health, S.Paulo, Brazil, and is a member of the Brazilian National Breastfeeding Committee within the Ministry of Health. She was a former Medical Officer at WHO in Geneva, responsible for breastfeeding activities and is a member of scientific societies such as ISRHML and Pediatric Association, and a member of IBFAN and WABA, where she is the Coordinator of the WABA Task Force on Health Care Practices.
Marta Trejos
Marta Trejos is the Founder and Executive Director of CEFEMINA, Feminist Center for Information and Action...
Marta Trejos
Marta Trejos is the Founder and Executive Director of CEFEMINA, Feminist Center for Information and Action, a world-known women’s rights organisation dealing with violence against women and one of the first organisation that organised women to women support groups. It is also known for its development and housing projects as more than 10.000 homes and various innovative communities have been built in Costa Rica. CEFEMINA trains community leaders and young professionals in health, gender, human rights, income generating and development themes.
She is also a WABA Steering Committee member, IBFAN LAC Regional Coordinator for Latin America and Caribbean, a breastfeeding advocate for 30 years and serves as a WABA Regional Focal Point.
Marta was trained as a Sociologist, specialising in developing countries with studies in law and administration. She was the Founder of various civil society organisations in Central and South America and the Caribbean: along with RUMBA, a youth network for breastfeeding, human birthing practices, gender sensitisation and support, and other related issues.
Mary J Renfrew
Professor Mary J Renfrew is Director of the Mother and Infant Research Unit in the University of York, England, and a Senior Investigator with the UK National Institute for Health Research....
Mary J Renfrew
Professor Mary J Renfrew is Director of the Mother and Infant Research Unit in the University of York, England, and a Senior Investigator with the UK National Institute for Health Research. A midwife and nurse by clinical background, she has been involved in the practice, research and education in breastfeeding, midwifery and maternity care for over 30 years, in Edinburgh, Oxford, Leeds, and York in the UK, and in Alberta, Canada. As well as breastfeeding, her research programme includes ways of reducing interventions in childbirth and addressing inequalities in health. She has co-authored over 95 peer-reviewed publications and seven books. She has been Chair of the WHO Strategic Committee for Maternal and Newborn Health, Co-Chair of the Research Standing Committee of the International Confederation of Midwives, Chair of the Steering Group of the UK Breastfeeding Manifesto Coalition, and is a member of the International Advisory Council of WABA.
Michael Latham
Michael Latham is an emeritus professor of international nutrition at Cornell University and pioneer in the field of global health...
Michael Latham
Michael Latham is an emeritus professor of international nutrition at Cornell University and pioneer in the field of global health. His expertise in the major nutritional problems of developing countries has led him around the globe as a teacher, researcher, and human rights advocate, and has earned him international recognition (most recently, the Lifetime Achievement Award-APHA in 2005 and Living Legend Award–International Conference on Nutrition in 2009). He holds degrees in medicine (Dublin University), tropical medicine (London University) and public health (Harvard University) and worked for the Tanzanian Ministry of Health’s Nutrition Unit as its director and physician for 10 years before serving as the Director of the International Nutrition Program at Cornell University for 25 years. Michael’s current research focuses on micronutrient deficiencies and public policy. In the past he has been a key player in the realm of breastfeeding, infant and child health, parasitic infections, public health, and tropical medicine. Michael is also the Co-Chair of the WABA International Advisory Council.
Mimi de Maza
Mimi de Maza is a Breastfeeding Educator from the University of San Diego...
Mimi de Maza
Mimi de Maza is a Breastfeeding Educator from the University of San Diego, works as a Public Health Breastfeeding expert in Guatemala. Presently she is employed by the Nutrition Program Department of the Guatemala. She’s been a LLL Leader for more than 26 years. Mimi was the executive director of LLLG Breastfeeding Child survival project from 1996 to 2003. Six years ago, she started to work for the Ministry of Health, in charge of the breastfeeding component, being responsible of the National Commission for Breastfeeding, the BFHI and the training of health personnel. Mimi sat for the IBLCE exam this year. She is a mother of four children and a grandmother of seven.
Miriam H Labbok
Miriam H Labbok is a professor and director of the Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) at the University of North Carolina...
Miriam H Labbok
Miriam H Labbok, MD, MMS, MPH, IBCLC, FABM, is a professor of Maternal and Child Health and director of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) at the University of North Carolina. Previously, Dr Labbok served as Sr Advisor for Infant and Young Child Feeding at UNICEF and Chief of Nutrition and Maternal Health at USAID, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins and Associate Professor at Georgetown University where she was Director of the WHO Center of Excellence on Breastfeeding. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and Tulane University. She was a resident in pediatrics at Georgetown and a post-doc in epidemiology and preventative medicine residency at Johns Hopkins. She has >35 years of research, technical assistance, training, program and policy development experience related to maternal/child dyad health, reproductive health and nutrition in >50 countries, is known for her contributions to the development and testing of the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM). She has published more than 300 chapters, articles, monographs, and abstracts, has presented hundreds of invited lectures and seminars, and has received many honors academia and professional organizations. She is a founder of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Nand Wadhwani
Nand Wadhwani is the Founding Trustee of The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust...
Nand Wadhwani
Nand Wadhwani is the Founding Trustee of The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust motherchildtrust.org. Partnered with development organisations, national and state governments, he has worked towards educating mothers and children, teachers and students, doctors and village health workers, and a variety of community leaders, in the targeted areas of nutrition, health, water, hygiene, sanitation, and disease management. He firmly believes that the most efficient and effective way now to advance health education is by employing a mix of the newer and established communication technologies to deliver and broadcast messages directly to the people who need it most. Nand is a member of the WABA International Advisory Council.
Paige Hall Smith
Paige Hall Smith is the Associate Professor of Public Health Education and Director of the Center for Women's Health and Wellness at the University of North Carolina...
Paige Hall Smith
Paige Hall Smith is the Associate Professor of Public Health Education and Director of the Center for Women's Health and Wellness at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). She is founder and co-director of the Breastfeeding and Feminism Symposium and is the principal investigator of a study funded by the Center's for Disease Control and Prevention designed to develop and evaluate a breastfeeding education program for low-income pregnant teenagers. For 2004-2006 she was the Linda Arnold Carlisle Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at UNCG which funded her research to understand women's experiences with mothering, breastfeeding and work. She is currently working with Drs. Miriam Labbok and Bernice Hausman on an edited book entitled Breastfeeding and Feminism: New way forward for Public Health.
Patti Rundall
Trained as an artist and teacher, Patti has worked with IBFAN since 1980...
Patti Rundall
Trained as an artist and teacher, Patti has worked with IBFAN since 1980. She is co -coordinator of IBFAN’s campaign to bring EU legislation into line with the International Code and has played a key role in strengthening EU Commission rules on transparency and marketing through her participation in World Health Assemblies and Codex Alimentarius meetings. In 1997 she convened and is the secretariat of the 23 member Baby Feeding Law Group and represents IBFAN on the European Commission’s Platform for Action on Diet and Physical Activity. One of her key concerns is sponsorship, corporate partnerships and public relations and its impact on policies and health and education services, and developed Baby Milk Action’s education pack, Seeing Through the Spin. She continues to play a key role in company campaigns such as the Nestle boycott.
Paulina Smith
Paulina Smith was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as has been living in Mexico City for 37 years...
Paulina Smith
Paulina Smith was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as has been living in Mexico City for 37 years.
As a strong advocate for mother support during pregnancy, birthing, and breastfeeding, Paulina joined the WABA Mother Support Task Force in 2007 and currently serves as its coordinator. She has also led mother support groups in rural and marginalized areas, trainings for physicians and nurses, and phone and face-to-face consultations through La Leche League International.
Pushpa Panadam
Pushpa Panadam graduated with a B. Sc. Hons in Chemistry and Diploma Education from the University of Malaya and an LLB Hons from the University of London...
Pushpa Panadam
Pushpa Panadam graduated with a B. Sc. Hons in Chemistry and Diploma Education from the University of Malaya and an LLB Hons from the University of London. She lives with her family in Asuncion, Paraguay where she is a La Leche League (LLL) Leader, LLL Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Administrator, founding member of Parhupar (Parto Humanizado Paraguay) and Training Specialist. She is one of WABA’s Mother Support E-Newsletter editors and is a member of the WABA Mother Support Task Force. Most of Pushpa’s volunteer work is with mothers at the hospitals and marginal communities in Asuncion, Paraguay.
Rae Davies
Rae Davies, BSH, CD (DONA), LCCE, IBCLC, is the WABA Health Care Practices Task Force Co-coordinator...
Rae Davies
Rae Davies, BSH, CD (DONA), LCCE, IBCLC, is the WABA Health Care Practices Task Force Co-coordinator. For over thirty years, Rae's professional career has been dedicated to childbirth and breastfeeding education. Along with providing training programs for doulas, childbirth educators, midwives and nurses, Rae serves as the Administrative Director for the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organisation, an NGO whose purpose is to promote 10 Steps to Optimal Maternity Care in order to save lives, prevent illness and harm from the overuse of obstetric technologies, and to promote health for mothers and babies. Rae also serves on the Board of Directors for the Florida School of Traditional Midwifery.
Ray Maseko
Ray Maseko holds qualifications in Business Administration and Human Resources Management...
Ray Maseko
Ray Maseko holds qualifications in Business Administration and Human Resources Management. Before joining IBFAN Africa he ran his own training company responsible for Language, Cultural and Technical Training for US Peace Corps Volunteers. He then worked as the administrator for the USAID funded Primary Health Care Project and after that for another USAID Funded Educational Policy Management and Training Project. He has been with IBFAN Africa as an administrator since December 1993. He is the IBFAN Africa Focal Person for Code and CODEX issues and has attended several workshops on the Code and has conducted Code monitoring workshops in the region.
Rebecca Magalhães
Rebecca Magalhães has worked in breastfeeding promotion, protection, and support since she went to her first mother-to mother support meeting in 1973...
Rebecca Magalhães
Rebecca Magalhães has worked in breastfeeding promotion, protection, and support since she went to her first mother-to mother support meeting in 1973 with her 6 month old daughter. She was accredited as a La Leche League Leader in 1977 and traveled to various countries as director of the LLLI external relations and advocacy department from 1993 to 2009.
Rebecca has been actively involved with WABA since 1992 and is the LLLI designate for the WABA Regional Focal Point for North America, as well as the Co-coordinator of the Mother Support Task Force (MSTF) and co-editor of the MSTF e-Newsletter. She was a member of the group that created the Global Initiative for Mother Support (GIMS) for Breastfeeding, an activity of the WABA Mother Support Task Force.
Renu Khanna
Renu Khanna is a feminist women’s health and rights activist...
Renu Khanna
Renu Khanna is a feminist women’s health and rights activist. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University. She is a founding trustee of SAHAJ-Society for Health Alternatives based in Vadodara. Renu and some friends started the Women’s Health Advocacy Cell, in the WSRC, MS University in Vadodara in 1992. This evolved into a vibrant interdisciplinary centre called WOHTRAC - Women’s Health Training, Research and Advocacy Centre. Renu was a part of Shodhini a feminist women’s network who wrote Touch Me, Touch Me Not: Women, Plants and Healing published by Kali for Women. She has co-edited Towards Comprehensive women’s Health Policies and Programmes. Renu was an Erasmus Mundus scholar and taught in KIT Amsterdam and QMU Edinburgh in 2008. She has been part of a pioneering group in India to design and conduct a 2 week Gender and Health Course as well as a Gendered Research in Health Course in two locations in the country. She is a member of several pro-peoples’ networks, including:
- Jan Swasthya Abhiyan,
- Medico Friends Circle
- People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Vadodara,
- CommonHealth – Coalition for Maternal-Neonatal Health and Safe Abortion.
Rukhsana Haider
Rukhsana Haider works as a Public Health Specialist, and is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh...
Rukhsana Haider
Rukhsana Haider works as a Public Health Specialist, and is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Earlier she was the Regional Adviser, Nutritionist for the South-East Region of the World Health Organisation. She is the Founder and Chairperson of the Training and Assistance for Health & Nutrition (TAHN) Foundation. At present she is also the Senior Technical Adviser for the Alive & Thrive Initiative of the Academy for Educational Development (AED) in Bangladesh. A physician, nutritionist and certified international lactation consultant, Rukhsana has been actively involved with all aspects of breastfeeding for over two decade, both nationally and internationally, which includes advocacy, training, research, breastfeeding counseling, program implementation and mentoring junior colleagues. Her continued efforts to promote and support community-based peer counseling for infant and young child feeding and nutrition are recognised globally.
Sabrina Sunderraj & Ahmad Taiff bin Isahak
Ahmad Taiff is an electronics engineer teaching at Disted College Penang; Sabrina Sunderraj is a member of Penang's Mother-to-Mother-Peer-Support (MMPS) group...
Sabrina Sunderraj & Ahmad Taiff bin Isahak
Ahmad Taiff is an electronics engineer teaching at Disted College Penang. He is a firm believer in the benefits of breastfeeding and encourages fathers to support their wives in this key endeavor to secure the health of the baby and the mother.
Sabrina Sunderraj is a member of Penang's Mother-to-Mother-Peer-Support (MMPS) group; she is an anthropologist by training and works with women in peace-building and conflict resolution. Her short stint at WABA exposed her to the larger issues that impact breastfeeding adversely and she has since become a firm advocate for breastfeeding rights.
Timmi Tillmann & Maruja A. Salas
Maria A. Salas is a Peruvian anthropologist...
Timmi Tillmann & Maruja A. Salas
Maria A. Salas is a Peruvian anthropologist. She stimulates processes of experiential learning among groups using a broad repertoire of participatory tools. Her most rewarding experiences have been with groups of Andean highland peasants, indigenous peoples from Panama and Guatemala, German agronomy students, development workers, researchers, and ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia and China, who have been able to improve their attitudes and skills towards collaborative social action with humanist values. Dr Salas has been teaching theory and methods in knowledge systems, indigenous knowledge, and intercultural dialogue in Andalusia, Spain; Lima, Peru; Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Beijing, Chengdu and Kunming, China. She is currently advisor to the Right Livelihood College, at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
Timmi Tillmann is a German anthropologist specializing in agricultural indigenous knowledge systems. He is also a trainer on participatory methods in rural development. His engagement is promoting debate on alternatives to Western Development based on creating spaces for peoples’ voices. He has been serving since October 2007 as the methodological coach for IIED’s programme on democratising the governance of food systems and agricultural research in Peru and Bolivia. He is also advisor to the Right Livelihood College in Penang, Malaysia. He is co-author of the VIPP-Manual published by Southbound and UNICEF and organises Training of Trainers and Facilitators worldwide.
Virginia Thorley
Virginia Thorley has been involved in mother support in Australia for over four decades...
Virginia Thorley
Virginia Thorley has been involved in mother support in Australia for over four decades. She qualified as a group leader with both La Leche League and the Nursing Mothers’ Association (now the Australian Breastfeeding Association) in 1966 and has been honoured with Honorary Membership in ABA. In 1985 she was one of the first International Board Certified Lactation Consultants in the world and in 2008 was one of the first to be inducted as a Fellow of ILCA. She has numerous publications on breastfeeding and related topics. Virginia writes, “Mother support is what I do, and shall always do. Mothers are very special people and I am always amazed at their resilience, and how much they are actually doing well, even well they think they aren’t. It is a privilege to build on that and work with them to resolve particular issues.”
Wendy H Oddy
Associate Professor Oddy leads the program of nutrition research on the West Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) ...
Wendy H Oddy
Associate Professor Oddy leads the program of nutrition research on the West Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia. Associate Professor Oddy completed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nutrition, a MPH in Epidemiology and a PhD in nutritional epidemiology. Her thesis was based on a longitudinal study of infants and children investigating the health effects of infant feeding. She is Chief Investigator of a National Heart Foundation/ Beyond Blue grant investigating associations between dietary factors, metabolic syndrome and child mental health (2009-2011). To date, Dr Oddy has over 75 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and is on the Review Board of 16 scientific journals.
