The NDC Lactation Fellowship: what makes it different

Locating the NDC Lactation Fellowship in the context of breastfeeding and lactation medicine internationally

Currently within our health systems in advanced economies, there is widespread conflicting advice for breastfeeding problems, and breastfeeding mothers report dissatisfaction with the help that is available when common problems arise. The NDC Lactation Fellowship offers

• A core curriculum of up-to-date breastfeeding and lactation medicine content, drawn from latest research

• Clinical guidelines for both common and complex breastfeeding and lactation challenges

• Upskilling nested in the context of Neuroprotective Developmental Care which is inclusive of the latest evidence-based clinical approaches in the domains of infant sleep, cry-fuss problems, sensory motor development

• A forum for respectful and lively debate, disagreement, discussion.

• You can find out about the Lactation Medicine Lab which is freely available for any medical practitioner here.

Lactation medicine is a research frontier

Breastfeeding and lactation medicine, or clinical breastfeeding and lactation support, remains a research frontier.(1) We know from implementation science that explicit naming (and debating) of a theoretical frame through which research is instigated and interpreted is essential for best practice translation of existing research into clinical guidelines.

Unfortunately up to 85% of research in health is wasted in methodologically poor studies, in part because the theoretical frames which underpin the question and the interpretation of results have not been robustly and explicitly named and examined (2). Often clinicians are upskilled in clinical approaches to breastfeeding and lactation support which are not genuinely evidence-based, or are not built from robust theoretical frames. It's possible that this occurs more commonly in the field of clinical breastfeeding and lactation support than other health fields due to a historical failure of our health systems to prioritise funding for research into breastfeeding and lactation support.

Many current approaches to breastfeeding and lactation use unnecessary and costly interventions, which lack an evidence base, risk unintended consequences, and which, in the absence of evidence, often also lack a plausible scientific rationale. Ideological positions concerning breastfeeding and lactation continue to underpin both overservicing and overtreatment.

A montage style of clinical management guideline development in breastfeeding and lactation medicine education results in unstable clinical management approaches, which alter regularly in response to changing consensus opinions.

The NDC theoretical models are developed from an interplay between clinical experience and reviews of extensive interdisciplinary research literature, with clinical translations iteratively refined in response to feedback (that is, NDC is developed using best practice implementation science). These strong theoretical models and the use of implementation science have resulted in the NDC clinical approaches tending to be stable and corroborated by new studies as they emerge, rather than requiring change, though NDC remains responsive to emerging research.

An example of a novel, evolutionarily robust theoretical frame in NDC is the programs' integration of the emerging field of mechanobiology, which investigates the effects of mechanical forces on living tissues and cells. In the NDC lactation domain, mechanobiology foundationally informs the NDC approach to fit and hold (the gestalt method), management of nipple pain and damage, and management of the spectrum of breast inflammation.

Genuinely integrative breastfeeding medicine: how this course is different to other opportunities

This content is distinguished from other lactation course content available internationally because the NDC Lactation Fellowship

• Uniquely and comprehensively integrates lactation science with infant sleep science, the research concerning fussy infant behaviour, research concerning infant sensory motor development, and the latest psychological and neuroscience research concerning attachment and infant development (all translated into clinical and educational programs which have been formally evaluated in multiple peer-reviewed research publications).

• Acknowledges that from an evolutionary perspective, clinical breastfeeding and lactation support will have limited effectiveness unless the latest science and clinical implications of these other domains are comprehensively addressed in the one content-aligned service (not dealt with in silos by multiple providers offering conflicting advice). That is, the NDC LF offers uniquely integrative lactation medicine.

• Clearly acknowledges its research-based interpretative lenses (complexity science, evolutionary biology, holistic generalist clinical care) when making sense of the latest lactation science. That is, the NDC Lactation Fellowship also explores what it means to claim to be evidence-based.

• Not only avoids ideologically-informed clinical practice, but analyses the dangers of both ideologically-informed clinical practice and ideological powers acting within professional organisations.

• Is deeply committed to addressing the broader sociocultural contexts in which women breastfeed, including the international trends towards worsening overdiagnosis and overtreatment and dominance of market forces within health education and clinical services, which profoundly affect how clinical breastfeeding and lactation support skills are taught and delivered.

• Does not exclude formula-feeding families through using a title which excludes formula-fed infants (since an NDC Lactation Fellowship is genuinely integrative, flagged by NDC in the title).

NDC breastfeeding medicine doesn't exclude parents according to how they feed their infant, and doesn't exclude researchers or educators or health professionals for ideological reasons.

Related resources

About The NDC Lactation Fellowship

The NDC Lactation Fellowship: upskilling leaders in lactation medicine

The NDC Lactation Fellowship: cost and comparisons

NDC Lactation Fellowship Curriculum

The Lactation Medicine Lab - live online 2026

Guest Speaker program

References

1. Stuebe AM. We need patient-centred research in breastfeeding medicine. Breastfeeding Medicine. 2021;16(4):349-350.