BADT Full Spectrum Lactation Educator
Our brand new live 12-week online course is open for enrollment!
Our Lactation Educator Training educates aspiring lactation professionals about the holistic needs of lactation.
From the anatomy of human milk, to providing inclusive & trauma-informed care education to various communities, this is definitely a “one-of-a-kind” type of training that will prepare you to become an inclusive lactation educator. Topics include:
Mammary Anatomy & Physiology
Human Milk Composition
Lactation Feeding Methods & Techniques
History of Lactation & Community Advocacy
Queer & Trans Lactation
Lactation Research
Pumping Advocacy 101
Postpartum Mental Health and Wellness
Lactation Business and Practice
NICU Support
Lifestyle and Family Dynamics
Nutrition
Lactation Professional Pathways
Baby Wearing
As always, you can expect that the material in this course will reflect BADT's core values and that the course is focused on affirmative lactation education for families. The full spectrum of experiences is included and acknowledged underneath the umbrella of "postpartum.”
Access to quarterly business sessions, our private online community, and a free listing in our directory are included. Certification is available and optional.
Closed caption (CC) and transcript in English will be provided.
General Overview (Live)
This training includes:
Live classes on 12 consecutive Tuesdays at 1pm EST, beginning June 4, 2024. These will be core content classes with either Sabia, Iya Mystique, Kaytee, or all core teachers.
There will be 12 live sessions on Thursdays at 1 pm EST. These will either be a live masterclass with a guest teacher, a live Q&A session, a live virtual mixer, or a co-working session for you to use for accountability as you work through training materials.
All live sessions are between 75 and 120 minutes long.
Attendance is NOT required. Replays are shared on the learning platform.
Weekly lessons, materials and assignments.
Quarterly business strategy sessions (and an invitation to each of these future sessions once your training has ended for extended business support).
Access to our private online community.
One year of access to all materials and recordings (and a free, one-time, 6-month extension, if you need more time!)
Optional certification. Certification comes with additional requirements that vary. Our certifications are for life, you will not need to recertify.
A free listing in our directory. You can make your directory listing as soon as you enroll! You do not need a completed certification to join!
Scholarship opportunities are available, please sign up for our newsletter and stay connected on social media for more information!
Please send an email to info@birthingadvocacy.org about your accessibility needs.
Certification Requirements
If you choose to pursue certification with us, you will be asked to:
Complete online student modules
Complete reading list and book reports (books must be obtained by student, we provide PDF downloads when available, and encourage lending/borrowing).
Book list (Please note: Some books will have gendered language. However, they still provide great information and education for future lactation professionals, as there is a lack of lactation books with inclusive language.):
Relactation: A Guide to Rebuilding Your Milk Supply, Lucy Ruddle
Why Breastfeeding* Grief & Trauma Matter, Amy Brown
Safe Infant Sleep: Expert Answers to Your Cosleeping Questions, Dr. James J. Mckenna
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart - 3rd Edition, Deborah L. Davis
Oppression & The Body: Roots, Resistance, and the Revolution, Christine Caldwell and Lucia Bennett Leighton
Feed the Baby, Victoria Facelli
Optional Reading List Addition: Birthing Liberation, Sabia Wade
Optional Reading List Addition or Replacement Book: Queer Nursing
Complete an Infant/Child CPR Certification
Visit or tour 2 hospitals, birth centers, or clinics (2 visits total)
Assist with a birth, abortion or 12 hours of postpartum care
Attend a chestfeeding/infant feeding support group or class for parents (1 class total)
Complete all written assignments thoughtfully
Write an assessment of available local resources & gaps
Outline your business strategy
Participate in our private online community
Full Spectrum Lactation Educator Training Enrollment Options
LIVE Full Spectrum Lactation Educator Training
Payment plans are available at check out. Scholarship opportunities will be announced on our social media!
$899
Bundle: LIVE Full Spectrum Lactation Educator Training + Prerecorded Postpartum Doula Training
Bundle both of our trainings for extra savings!
$1,250
Note: We do not offer refunds or reimbursements once you enroll, and encourage you to budget accordingly. If life circumstances prevent you from participating in the course as planned, we may be able to extend your enrollment or adjust. You can make this request by emailing info@birthingadvocacy.org
Scholarship Opportunities
We’ll will open our scholarship application will open on Fri, May 24.
We will share the link via email when they open! (Subscribe here.)
Note: if you’ve purchased the training, you'll be ineligible for a scholarship.
This Training will be co-taught by core teachers, Sabia Wade, Iya Mystique, and Kaytee Crawford with masterclasses being facilitated by amazing teachers from a variety of lactation professional backgrounds.
Sabia Wade
Core Teacher
Sabia (she/they) - The Black Doula - is a Radical Doula, Educator, Doula Business Coach, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (in training), and Reproductive Justice Advocate. She founded Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings in 2019 with the goal of bringing necessary education to doulas that are seeking to go beyond the traditional doula role and into advocacy work for the communities that need them.
Iya Mystique
Core Teacher
Iya Mystique (they/she) is a “unicorn”, Blactinx queer femme, and certified radical birth worker currently pursing their path in traditional community birth work, lactation, research, and education, along with being a Pathway 3 Mentee to become a future IBCLC. With a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Iya Mystique is a trained newborn care specialist and advanced holistic plant medicine practitioner. Iya Mystique specializes in Caribbean-Indigenous practices in their role as an initiated Ifa priestess in perinatal health, reproductive health and justice, “Blactation” (Black lactation), and healing justice for Black LGBTQ+ communities. Iya Mystique's vision is to infuse their love for birth, postpartum, healing, education, and lactation into their future full spectrum practice.
Kaytee Crawford
Core Teacher
Kaytee supports families in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as a lactation consultant, craniosacral therapist, childbirth educator, birth and postpartum doula, and babywearing educator. She uses her training, combined with a wealth of experience in parenting four boys, to create personalized care as well as fun, insightful social media content.
Kaytee is passionate about sharing her experiences in pregnancy and lactation as a Black woman and person living in a larger body to create safer, trauma-free experiences for others.
Kaytee lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband and four sons. She owns and operates “Doula Kaytee,” her birth working private practice.
Whitney Dula
Masterclass Teacher
Whitney Dula (she/her) is a native-born Marylander. She began her journey into lactation support after noticing a lack of options in her area (Prince George’s County, Maryland, a largely Black population), as well as providers who looked like her. Whitney became a Certified Breastfeeding* Specialist in 2019 and certified as an IBCLC in fall of 2021. She created her practice, The Mama’s Dula, to give a platform to issues surrounding the perinatal period - focusing on family, lactation, and mental health. Currently, she works for the Babies Born Healthy Program in Montgomery County (MD) as a lactation consultant providing prenatal lactation education and postpartum support. Her advocacy focuses on closing the gaps in maternal/infant mortality, increasing Black lactation rates and education, and increasing the number of lactation professionals of color and underrepresented communities. In January 2020, she was appointed to the inaugural Advisory Board for USLCA. Whitney believes that breastfeeding and chestfeeding is a community duty - a parent is as successful as the support around them. In addition to her community and public health duties, she is the immediate past President of the Maryland Breastfeeding* Coalition, an active member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and an experienced speaker and panelist in the birth and lactation field. Whitney is an avid traveler with her aircraft mechanic husband and the proud mom of two exclusively nursed babies. *=gendered language used in professional established titles
Andrew Givens
Masterclass Teacher
Andrew Givens (they/he) is a parent, healthcare worker, and future physician currently located in Louisville, Kentucky. He is a white queer transmasculine person who gave birth to his child, Omega (she/her), in 2020 (after a 70+ hour induction!). In May 2023, Andrew will complete a post-bac pre-med program (essentially, all of the science classes a former English major needs to apply to medical school) and a master's in healthcare ethics at the University of Louisville. From there, he plans to apply to medical school and continue working in healthcare and research with a focus on gender affirming care, reproductive health, and family medicine. Andrew trained as a doula in 2018 and as a lactation counselor in 2020. He loves hanging out at the hospital (especially in the middle of the night), meeting new humans (and the people who love and make them!), and making giant stacks of books he might read one day. He is passionate about the messy, challenging, and essential work of confronting the harms we encounter and enact in the healthcare setting and creating expansive and liberatory alternatives.
Nichelle Clark
Masterclass Teacher
Nichelle Clark is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Infant Feeding Counselor (IFC), Holistic Sleep Coach (HSC), wife, and mom of two residing in Chesapeake, Virginia. Nichelle is the owner of a lactation private practice, SonShine & Rainbows Lactation & Sleep, which was inspired by her son and honors her fertility journey with him. Born and raised in Upper Marlboro, MD, Nichelle joined the United States Navy in 2010 and served honorably for 7.5 years. When she’s not spending time with family, she admins multiple online support groups for People of Color, providing lactation support and lactation education to her community. As prior exclusive pumping mom herself, Nichelle is a champion for lactating parents to write their own rules and breastfeed their way.