Supporting mothers, helping infants, transforming lives

The postgraduate human lactation program at North Carolina A&T State University is only four years old, but already it’s diversifying a profession, operating a community clinic and graduating new professionals dedicated to improving the health of mothers and their newborn children. Earlier this year, the program hosted a national breastfeeding conference — a first for a Historically Black College and University.

Most important of all, according to its director, this pioneering program is transforming lives.

Cierra Murphy-Higgs. who will join A&T’s lactation program this fall as didactic coordinator, speaks during the Uplifting Black and Brown Lactation Success Conference, held this fall. Organizer Janiya Mitnaul Williams described the conference as the first to be held at a Historically Black College and University. An estimated 180 lactation professionals, maternal health practitioners and others involved in the breastfeeding, doula and childbirth education communities across the United States attended.

“I want our graduates to say this was the most transformative year of their lives,” said Janiya Mitnaul Williams, director of the N.C. A&T Human Lactation Program. “My ultimate goal is to diversify the lactation profession. And if I can help maternal and child health care practitioners improve how they talk to people, this program can make the world a better place by making better humans.”

Launched in 2020, this accredited two-semester postgraduate program prepares students to become International Board Certified Lactation Consultants who specialize in the clinical management of breastfeeding. N.C. A&T is one of three institutions in North Carolina — and one of two HBCUs in the country — to offer the formal Pathway 2 academic program. It’s housed in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences within the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

The program has graduated 41 students — making N.C. A&T the nation’s largest producer of Black lactation consultants since 2020 — and achieved a pass rate of 83% on the international certification exam. Nine students in the program’s fifth cohort began their studies in August. While most graduates become lactation consultants, some have used the program as a springboard into master’s and doctoral programs.

“We push our students to think beyond utilizing their certification in hospital settings,” said Williams, who got her bachelor’s degree from N.C. A&T and later earned a master’s degree in maternal and child health. “We encourage our graduates to get into research and larger areas of public health so they are responsible for developing the procedures and protocols that ultimately affect Black and brown babies.”

Emma Burress, clinical director of the Human Lactation Pathway 2 Certificate program at N.C. A&T, shares some laughs with attendees as she keeps up with Cierra Higgs-Murphy’s child during the Uplifting Black and Brown Lactation Success Conference.

The program was created in part to produce more skilled and culturally humble lactation professionals from historically underrepresented communities. The largest percentage of certified lactation consultants in the U.S. identify as white. The relative lack of Black lactation consultants has contributed to Black mothers breastfeeding their babies at much lower rates than other demographic groups despite its significant health benefits for both mothers and children.

“I call it the mirror-mirror effect,” Williams said. “So many Black people don’t have culturally relevant access to lactation assistance. Because of the history of breastfeeding and the mistrust of the health care system in this county, most Black women who are often already not seen or heard in health care settings don’t feel comfortable receiving information about breastfeeding from people who don’t look like them.”

The program’s impact is being felt far beyond the classroom. Williams is a co-principal investigator on a project, funded by a $2.3 million American Heart Association grant shared by N.C. A&T and UNC-Chapel Hill, to decrease Black and brown maternal deaths. The project has produced a new curriculum, augmented by virtual reality modules, to help health care professionals improve their communication skills so they can provide better care. The training will begin this fall at two UNC Health locations and at Cone Health sites in Greensboro and Alamance County.

With a $450,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the program is operating a no-cost clinic to provide lactation support to new mothers. Located in the General Classroom Building on campus, the clinic is open two days a week for in-person and virtual appointments for N.C. A&T employees, students and community members. The clinic is funded through 2024, and Williams said she is seeking additional funding to keep the clinic open beyond.

In August, the program hosted the two-day Uplifting Black and Brown Lactation Success Conference that brought together 180 people involved in the breastfeeding and birthworker communities across the country. Williams said conference attendees left “energized” because they had a rare opportunity to connect with other professionals with similar backgrounds and experiences.

When Jessica Aytch enrolled in the lactation program in 2022, she was a community-based full spectrum doula who enjoyed serving families and posting informational videos on TikTok. Today, she’s an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who coordinates N.C. A&T’s community outpatient lactation clinic and runs the lactation program’s social media and digital marketing efforts.

“This program has helped me and others discover our own natural gifts and talents and use those strengths to become a positive impact on this field and beyond,” Aytch said. “Everyone leaves the program with a better sense of self and how they will use this credential to serve. That’s a huge thing.”