North American Board Of Breastfeeding And Lactation Medicine

The North American Board of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine sets the standard in physician training, knowledge, skills, and certification in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine for Canada and the USA

Our Mission

Create board-certified Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine physicians.

  • Set standards for training that prepares physicians for board certification in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
  • Create a process for certification and maintenance of certification in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
  • Certify physicians who have met the educational, clinical training, and examination requirements to practice Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
  • Provide and endorse resources for physicians to maintain high professional standards through professional development and lifelong learning in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.
  • Serve the public by ensuring that all physicians practicing Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine meet the highest standards of excellence in clinical care.

Educate other professions and the public about the field of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.

  • Maintain a public registry of physicians who are certified by the NABBLM.
  • Create public and professional awareness of the field of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine and its importance in promoting, protecting and supporting lactating families in a manner that is inclusive and equitable.
  • Facilitate the integration of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine as required education for all physicians-in-training.

Advance the field of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.

  • Establish Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine as a clinical medical specialty in academic centers and other healthcare settings.
  • Cultivate leaders in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine to expand the specialty’s impact on clinical medicine, public health, medical education, human rights, policy, research, and advocacy.

Board Of Directors

Anne Eglash MD, IBCLC, FABM, NABBLM-C

President

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health,
Department of Family and Community Medicine, USA

I have been practicing breastfeeding and lactation medicine alongside family medicine for 30 years. My dedication to Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine education has been a career-long journey, and board certification has been my north star. Breastfeeding and lactation support and management by physicians is a primary means of providing health equity and social justice for all people via nutritional support, medical care, and sociopolitical advocacy. Infants have the right to begin life with optimal nutritional support that affords immune protection, organ maturity, and natural metabolic programming.


Parents and families have the right to be supported in lactation to optimize their mental and physical health, and to prevent chronic disease later in life. I am energized by the growth of interest in the field of breastfeeding and lactation medicine among younger physicians, medical researchers, and physicians in training, and am thrilled to join others in paving the way to board certification. 

Kristina Lehman, MD, FABM, IBCLC, PMH-C, NABBLM-C

Vice President

Columbus, OH, USA

I am an Internist and Pediatrician practicing primary care medicine in Columbus, OH.  I formed my own private concierge-style practice in March 2023 after 15 years in academic medicine.

My passion for Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine started when I was breastfeeding my first son and realized how little I knew about actually feeding a baby!  Reading more led me to find Laurie Jones MD, IBCLC and Dr. MILK and my life and career trajectory was forever changed. I obtained my CLC followed by the advanced course.  I certified as an IBCLC in 2017 and was recognized as a fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine in 2018.

I am the Executive Director of Dr. MILK and founder of the Facebook group Doctors Practicing Breastfeeding Medicine.  Being Vice President and part of the board to create a certification for Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine feels like the grand finale in my career journey and it’s a honor to work along such strong advocates for this field of medicine.

Kathy Leeper, MD, IBCLC, FABM, NABBLM-C

Secretary

Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, USA

I am excited to be a part of finally creating a credential for what I have been doing for the past 21 years!  I trained and was board certified in Pediatrics, but have been practicing breastfeeding medicine exclusively at a nonprofit breastfeeding center called MilkWorks since it opened in 2001. It is beyond time for this to be a recognized specialty area of medicine. The breastfeeding dyad is an organ system that has been ignored for far too long.

Karen Bodnar, MD, FABM, IBCLC, NABBLM-C

Treasurer

Falls Church, VA, USA

Dr. Bodnar is a pediatric hospitalist practicing just outside of Washington DC at one of the largest birth hospitals in the US. In 2018, she founded the Inova Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic where she trains medical students and residents from pediatrics, OBGYN and family medicine. She is an associate clinical professor with the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a member of the board of directors of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. She co-hosts the Breastfeeding Medicine Podcast series and the Clinical Case Discussion webinar series from the Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding and Lactation Education. She has been a board-certified lactation consultant since 2010.

 

She is excited to be a founder of NABBLM to advance the multidisciplinary specialty of Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine.

Bailey Adams, MD, IBCLC, BSC, NABBLM-C

Village Lactation St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

Dr. Adams is a Family Physician and an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant in Canada. She completed her bilingual undergraduate Baccalauréat en Science, her Medical Degree, and her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Alberta.


She provides pregnancy care and delivery services at the Sturgeon Community Hospital. Her passion to support pregnant individuals and their babies during this crucial stage of their lives inspired her to pursue training in Breastfeeding & Lactation Medicine. She has been practicing in this field since 2019. She is an Assistance Clinical Professor at University of Alberta, teaching medical learners about Breastfeeding & Lactation Medicine.


She is very excited to be working with the NABBLM.

When she isn’t catching babies or helping families with their infant feeding journeys, she is providing full spectrum Family Medicine care.  She loves spending time with her husband and three hilarious little girls. 

Josdalyne Anderson, MD,
CCFP, FABM, IBCLC, NABBLM-C

Ottawa, Canada

Dr Anderson works at an innovative maternal and newborn healthcare clinic focusing on transition from hospital to home. Her expertise in medically complex breastfeeding cases is sought out locally and provincially. She is actively involved in teaching medical learners Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine and moving forward research in this
discipline. She is grateful for the connection with community lactation consultants and support of colleagues that recognize the important role she plays in the health and well being of patients.

 

Struggling with her first child had her question how patients navigate the system to find the help they need and deserve. She fiercely advocates to ensure
access in her community, and to increase education to health care providers to close the knowledge gap so dyads receive the most recent evidence-based care. Hence, she is thrilled to be a founder to help pave the way for the establishment of the NABBLM. 

Katherine Kearns, MD, CCFP, IBCLC, FCFP, NABBLM-C

Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, Canada

The mammary gland is an active endocrine gland that has not had a proper place in medicine. Its function affects both the lactating parent and the growing infant’s health. I had significant challenges Breastfeeding my second child after success with my daughter. This experience showed me how little I understood and led to my journey in Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine. I have long supported lactating families in my work in low-risk obstetrics. In 2017, along with a colleague, I co-founded the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, seeing families with lactating difficulties.

I am active in teaching breastfeeding medicine to medical student, residents and practicing physicians, and founding the NABBLM is both a privilege and a responsibility. I am excited for this opportunity to continue expanding the knowledge of physicians in all specialties until it becomes as understood and supported as other glandular systems in the body.

Rima L. Strassman, MD, FAAP, FABM, NABBLM-C

St. Luke’s University Health Network, Bethlehem, PA, USA

I am a general pediatrician and breastfeeding medicine specialist. I have been practicing breastfeeding medicine for about 25 years. I have practiced in private practice and now in for a health network where I teach medical students. Lactation care is not taught in medical lactation so that the practice is “niche.” This area of medicine impacts all of us. I am a founder of this organization to bring the field into the mainstream of medicine and give those of us who practice an acknowledgement of our expertise and training. 

Shawna Lamond MD, CCFP, IBCLC, NABBLM-C

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I am a family physician and lactation medicine specialist in Calgary, Alberta at Well Fed Clinic and Riley Park Lactation. I love working with families to take a stressful time for many and support them in their infant feeding goals. Teaching residents and other learners has been an important aspect of my practice and contributing to a standard certification program for physicians is a needed step in ensuring quality care for our families.  Exploring the mountains and our world is my other passion that I sneak in as much as possible with my husband and two sons.

Lauren Macaluso, MD, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC, NABBLM-C

Allied Physicians Group, New Hyde Park, NY, USA

I am a breastfeeding and lactation medicine specialist caring for lactating parents and their children in my office. After incorporating breastfeeding medical care and education into the outpatient clinic and newborn nursery at a teaching hospital, I saw the tremendous need to help lactating families in my community. By caring for mom and baby together as patients throughout their lactation journey, I teach an evidence-based, organized education while providing both mom and baby with compassionate care. I am thrilled to help establish breastfeeding and lactation medicine as a board certified medical field as well as raise awareness of, and accessibility to, high quality breastfeeding and lactation medical care.

Cindy Rubin MD, IBCLC, FAAP, NABBLM-C

Chicago, IL

I am a Pediatrician and Breastfeeding Medicine Physician in Chicago, IL.  I worked for 13 years at an academic center until I found that I needed to buck “the system” in order to practice medicine the way that feels right to me.  I opened a Direct Primary/Specialty Care practice in 2021.  At In Touch Pediatrics and Lactation, I am able to give my patients the time they deserve by providing home visits for general pediatrics and breastfeeding medicine outside Chicago.  I enjoy being part of the lactation community in my area and working alongside other lactation professionals to provide the full spectrum of care that breastfeeding dyads deserve.  I serve as Co-Chair of The Committee on Breastfeeding for the Illinois Chapter of the AAP and continue to dedicate my time to teaching Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine to the next generation of medical learners.  I am honored to be part of NABBLM as we work to give Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine the respect and attention it deserves in the medical field.  

Christina Raimondi MD,
CCFP, FCFP, IBCLC, PMH-C, NABBLM-C

Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada

As a Family Physician since 2006 I have always been a fierce advocate for Women’s Health and Women’s Rights. When my first daughter was born, I became aware of the perinatal care gaps and health inequities that existed in our medical system. This fueled my interest in learning about breastfeeding and lactation medicine, becoming an IBCLC in 2018. Together with a colleague, we founded the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, the first physician led breastfeeding clinic in our community. We strive to give all families evidence based and accessible lactation care, invite medical learners to enhance their knowledge and skills with us and collaborate with our local human milk researchers. Becoming a Founder for NABBLM is a privilege, and I am proud to lead growth in this field and medical community.

We are incredibly thankful to these founding board members who are no longer active on the board!!

Michelle Haggerty, DO, PMH-C, IBCLC, NABBLM-C
Casey Rosen-Carole, MD, NABBLM-C

NABBLM is compliant with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

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