Jan Riordan Personal Thoughts
Who am I?
Mother of 6 children, grandmother of 12, I am also a Professor of Nursing at Wichita State University, an author of books on breastfeeding, a researcher and a lactation consultant.
Like many of you, I became interested in breastfeeding when I had my children. When I birthed my children there was very little information or support for breastfeeding but fortunately La Leche League was there for me. As I re-entered the nursing profession, I noted a lack of information on breastfeeding for nurses so I wrote my first book, A Practical Guide to Breastfeeding, in 1983. More books followed. Breastfeeding and Human Lactation is now in its 3rd edition and won a 2004 AJN Book of the Year Award from the American Journal of Nursing.
How did I get started? While going through my masters program in nursing, I chose class projects, wrote papers and did research related to lactation which led to writing articles and books. The research skills I learned in my doctoral work enabled me to conduct my own research helping to fulfill an abiding interest in breastfeeding clinical studies.
When lactation consultant certification came along in 1985, it was a heady time. All of a sudden, the professional role of helping mothers became a clinical specialty! As a member and President of the International Board of Lactation Consultants, I had the opportunity to help write the first examination and to set up continuing education guidelines for lactation consultants.
I have been teaching an online course on lactation since 1997. The course helps prepare for the IBLCE exam and gives 45 continuing education credits (45 CERPS) in addition to 3 credit hours of college credit. See the Breastfeeding course link for details.
GREAT NEWS! Wichita State School of Nursing is establishing a Distinguished Professor of Maternal Child nursing with an emphasis on breastfeeding. More on this later.
For Those Tuning in for the First Time...
Breastfeeding provides ideal nutrition for infants, contributes to their healthy growth and development and reduces both the incidence and severity of infectious and chronic diseases. About 74% of new mothers now start off breastfeeding, quite an increase from the 18% in the 1960's when I began in this field.
The benefits of breastfeeding for the baby are well known but I also believe that breastfeeding is an empowering influence on women.
©2008 by Jan Riordan
Updated January 2008
