Founder The Melanated Mammary AtlasTM Malabar, Florida, United States
Thumb through any lactation textbook and one fact is glaringly clear: fair-skinned breasts are over-represented. Attempting to reconcile this with the proportion of more deeply pigmented people around the globe leaves one wanting. How are practitioners to learn about the ways in which conditions present on clients of color if they do not see examples? How can people of color trust their practitioners to know and understand how conditions present on their skin if the first time they encounter it is in practice? This session will illuminate the harm that is caused by a lack of diverse imagery in lactation and build the case for a multi-pronged, systemic approach to equipping all IBCLCs to assess and support patients of color.
Disclosures: Presenter(s) indicated no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Learning Objectives:
Determine whether their own assessment technique is adequate to support all populations
Articulate ways to identify key breast ailments in darker-skinned patients