"Well Mama" Maternal Health Limited Series | Breastfeeding Support with Janel Hughes-Jones, PC

SkinnyTrees: Lift Health for All

In this limited series of episodes, we have conversations with a variety of experts and community leaders in the field of maternal and child health to discuss how to advance maternal health equity. In this episode we spoke with Janel Hughes-Jones, a bilingual breastfeeding Peer Counselor (PC), with more than 18 years of experience working with many organizations to facilitate breastfeeding communities in public health, hospital, educational, business and faith based settings in the State of Illinois. She was the co-chair of JABA (Joliet Alliance of Breastfeeding Advocates)from 2004 - 2019. She is the President and Founder of Milk of the Heart Inc. a 501-c3 breastfeeding education, support and advocacy non-profit, where she raises funds for equity projects like hiring a translator to translate the “Illinois Breastfeeding Law Card” into Spanish and receiving donations to build incentive bags for women to take an infant feeding class. She is a proud member of BELA, Birth Equity Leadership Academy, (Health Connect One) and has been a long time speaker at the Illinois’ Baby Expo, Northwestern University, and APHA’s Annual Meeting/Expo. She was a co-author to scientist, Lauren Keenan-Devlin’s and Dr. Ann Borders’ recently published work in the Journal of Perinatology, April of 2021 entitled, “Clinically integrated breastfeeding peer counseling and breastfeeding outcomes.” RESOURCES: • Firstdroplets.com • Womenhealth.gov • Wicbreastfeeding.fns.usda.gov • Magicalhour.org (9 stages of attachment) • Breastfeedingresourcesontario.ca (positioning and latching-scroll down to how to engage the chin first before latching) • [e-mail] a women’s workplace rights firm