Family Connects Chicago at Rush has received the International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants Care Award. This award recognizes organizations that “demonstrate commitment to promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding and the lactation consultant profession.” Family Connects Chicago at Rush is the only organization in Chicago with this distinction.
“The Family Connects Chicago at Rush team is helping raise the standard of lactation support, offering the best care possible to their patients,” says Christine Kennedy, PhD, RN, FAAN, John L. and Helen Kellogg Dean, Rush University College of Nursing. “The care award celebrates the accomplishments of these nurses and demonstrates our firm commitment to health equity for families in our community.”
Family Connects Chicago at Rush began with a partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health in 2019. Nurses from Rush University College of Nursing visit Chicago families around three to five weeks after birth to provide in-home and virtual services.
Services are free to all families who deliver their babies at Rush University Medical Center and live in Chicago. Nurses can help with well-baby and mother checks, feeding and fussiness support, swaddling, bathing, diapering, safe sleeping information, postpartum depression services and more.
Lactation services are among the most sought-after services provided. In 2021, Family Connects Chicago at Rush nurses recognized the overwhelming need for these services and decided a deeper investment in education and skill was required to address their patients’ needs. Since then, nurses on the team have been encouraged to work toward achieving IBCLC certification.
“It was very important to us as we expanded our lactation services that we invested in the training and resources necessary for our home visiting nurses to become IBCLCs,” says Kathryn Bender, BSN, RN, IBCLC, nurse manager, Family Connects. “This allows our team to offer the highest level of lactation support to the families we visit.”
To become IBCLC certified, nurses must complete a rigorous professional development program consisting of 1,000 hours of clinical experience, 90 hours of specialized classes, and a comprehensive scientific exam. Nurses must also recertify every five years to maintain their credentials, keeping up with evolutions in knowledge.
“Going above and beyond for our patients is part of our team norms,” says Stephanie Flores, BSN, RNC-EFM, IBCLC, community nurse, Family Connects Chicago at Rush. “Getting the care award highlights our commitment to ensuring all Chicago families have access to high-quality lactation support.”
IBCLCs can support new parents with a myriad of lactation concerns, including relactation. Relactation is the process of stimulating milk production after it has diminished and is one of the primary services Rush IBCLC nurses provide. Many mothers face challenges about a month postpartum and believe they cannot breastfeed for various reasons. The team provides essential support and guidance, helping these mothers successfully relactate and continue breastfeeding.
The Family Connects Chicago at Rush team is comprised of seven nurses, a program support specialist and a nursing director. Five of the seven nurses currently hold IBCLC certification and offer advanced lactation care to the patients they see. Family Connects Chicago at Rush is part of the Department of Academic Practice Nursing that operates more than 20 community partnerships across Chicago.
“I am so proud of the Family Connects team for their unwavering dedication to their patients,” says Angela Moss, PhD, MSN, APRN-BC, RN, FAAN, assistant dean for Faculty Practice. “They saw a need among their patients for better lactation care and set out to achieve one of the most rigorous certifications in the field. It is their persistent commitment to exceptional patient care that made them a clear choice for the IBCLC care award.”
In addition to being nurses in the Family Connects program, Bender and Flores are also students in the Family Nurse Practitioner program in the College of Nursing.
