Diana West (lactation consultant)

This article is about the expert on breastfeeding issues. For the American political commentator, see Diana West.

Diana West

Diana West is a leading lactation consultant and noted author in the field of breastfeeding.

Biography

Diana West was born August 8, 1965 in Rogers, Arkansas. West is the granddaughter of Clyde T. Ellis (1908–1980), congressman of Arkansas (1939–1943) and the first general manager (CEO) of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (1943–1967).

West attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, from which she obtained a bachelor of arts degree in industrial psychology. She lives in Long Valley, New Jersey together with her husband, Brad West. The couple have three sons.^[1]

Work in the lactation field

West became involved in breastfeeding advocacy after her experiences trying to breastfeed her three children following breast reduction surgery.^[2]

West is an accredited La Leche League Leader^[3] and a member of the review board of the United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA)^[4] professional journal Clinical Lactation.^[5] She was a member of the board of directors of the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA)^[6] from July 2008 until the end of 2009, working as Director of Professional Development.^[7] She has been on the board of the Monetary Investment for Lactation Consultant Certification (MILCC) and has been a speaker at professional and parenting conferences.^[8]

Diana West is the co-owner of Mahala Lactation and Perinatal Services, LLC,^[9] a private lactation consultation practice, a website developer, and administrator of the Breastfeeding After Breast and Nipple Surgeries,^[10] Low Milk Supply,^[11] and LactSpeak Lactation Speaker Bureau^[12] websites.

Published works

In her 2001 book, Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery, West discusses the effects of breast reduction surgery on breastfeeding and provides practical advice to women in that position. The Journal of Human Lactation described this book as "an excellent resource for healthcare professionals, in particular lactation consultants."^[13]

In her book looking at low milk production, The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk, West looks at the use of galactagogues (herbs to increase lactation), putting forward the suggestion that goat's rue and shatavari can be effective tools to target the causes behind low milk production.^[14]

Bibliography

• Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery, La Leche League International, 2001.
• Clinician's Breastfeeding Triage Tool, International Lactation Consultant Association, 2007.
• Clinics in Human Lactation: Breastfeeding After Breast and Nipple Procedures, A Guide for Healthcare Professionals, Hale Publishing, 2008, with Elliot M. Hirsch.
• The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk,, McGraw-Hill, 2008, with Lisa Marasco.
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 8th edition, Ballantine Books, 2010, with Diane Wiessinger and Teresa Pitman.

Footnotes

1. ^ Program, 17th Annual Professional Lactation Conference, Vermont Lactation Consultant Association, April 15-16, 2010.
2. ^ Huggins, Kathleen (2009). 25 Things Every Nursing Mother Needs to Know. Harvard Common Press. 
3. ^ La Leche League International
4. ^ United States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA)
5. ^ Clinical Lactation Fall 2010 issue, page 5
6. ^ International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA)
7. ^ Brooks, Liz (February 2010). "Association News From the ILCA Board of Directors". Journal of Human Lactation 26 (1). http://jhl.sagepub.com/content/26/1/79.full.pdf+html. 
8. ^ Lactspeak Lactation Speaker Bureau
9. ^ Mahala Lactation and Perinatal Services, LLC
10. ^ Breastfeeding After Breast and Nipple Surgeries
11. ^ Low Milk Supply
12. ^ LactSpeak
13. ^ Chase, Heather (May 2002). "Books: Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery". The Journal of Human Lactation 18 (2). http://jhl.sagepub.com/content/18/2/182.1.full.pdf+html. 
14. ^ Lauwers, Judith (2010). Counseling the Nursing Mother. Jones & Bartlett Learning. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=JDA876m87X4C&dq=%22The+Breastfeeding+Mother%27s+Guide+to+Making+More+Milk%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 

External links

• "Diana West" biographical page, www.lactspeak.com/ Retrieved January 26, 2011.
• Breastfeeding After Breast and Nipple Surgeries website, www.bfar.org/ Retrieved January 26, 2011.

See also

• List of breastfeeding activists

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Name	West, Diana
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Date of birth	1965
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