The Reflexive Anatomy of Latching

USCLA Webinar

Recorded August 11th, 2023 , 1 Hours

Number of CERPs & CNEs: 1.0 L CERP and 1.0 CNE

Detailed Content Type: Physiology, Endocrinology, Clinical Skills, Techniques

Presenter:

Avery Young M.S, M.Ed., IBCLC

Bio:

Avery Young is a passionate enthusiast about empowered feeding and is on a mission to help make feeding feel better. Over the last few years, she has been observing, studying and experimenting with engaging the reflexes that infants use when feeding, to help make the latching progress work better. This work has transformed her practice and her ability to make profound changes in the families she supports. She has a master's degree in Biology, a Master's Degree in Science Education and has been supporting feeding families for almost a decade.

Presentation description:

Nipple pain is currently a pervasive problem that causes a significant number of feeding parents to prematurely cease breast or chestfeeding before they are ready, even when it was their original intent to feed for longer. The lack of recognition and understanding of the infant feeding reflexes and their innate latching skills results in a commonly taught approach to latching that inadvertently leads to increased damage and pain for many new parents. To provide an alternative, reflex-based approach to latching to reduce nipple pain and damage and allow latching to resume it's role as a process that is foundational for infant development.

Objectives:

Recognize the role of the latching reflexes in the development of an infant.
Understand the cascade of reflexes that an infant is able to use during latching.
Facilitate a reflex-based latching process