Past events

Medela Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium 2023 - Europe

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Now available as online course inside Medela University!

In June 2023, the European edition of Medela’s Breastfeeding & Lactation Symposium 2023 premiered in Munich, Germany. This hybrid event gathered 700 healthcare professionals from 40 countries to learn about the latest science, in order to improve the quality of lactation care and infant feeding in Europe. This was an incredible two-day event, providing an opportunity for exchange and collaboration amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) across Europe and worldwide.

To further support our commitments towards breastfeeding and lactation, we make all lectures available free of charge via online courses inside Medela University, our professional learning platform. Audio translations in English, German, Spanish and French are now available. Attendees have the possibility to earn a 3 points CPD certificate. Don´t miss international speakers Lars Bode (USA), Donna Geddes (Australia), Rebecca Hoban (Canada), Diane Spatz (USA), Neena Modi and Sarah Bates (UK).

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Together for a new approach in lactation support in European neonatal units

The Europe edition of Medela´s Breastfeeding & Lactation Symposium 2023 featuresd a world-class two-day scientific agenda for healthcare professionals keen to learn about the latest scientific evidence in the field of human milk and lactation and to share local experience towards improving the quality of lactation care and infant feeding in Europe.

Day 1 – June 23rd, 2023, Hybrid Symposium with live-streaming from Munich, Germany

Four international speakers provided most recent advances in the topics of lactation as a biological system, research in the mother-breast milk-infant “triad” and initiation of lactation best practice in the neonatal unit and Maternity Ward.
To bridge to the regional perspective, two European experts focused on the need of prioritizing own mother´s milk and collecting standardized metrics to improve infant outcomes in the neonatal unit.
Two panel discussions allowed attendees to participate on-site and via our virtual platform to send questions to the speakers and actively participate during the live discussions.

Internationally renowned speakers

Prof. Diane Spatz (USA)

asset_image Professor of Perinatal Nursing & The Helen M. Shearer Professor of Nutrition, University of Pennsylvania

Prof. Donna Geddes (AUS)

asset_image Professor of Human Lactation, The University of Western Australia

Prof. Lars Bode (USA)

asset_image Professor of Paediatrics, University of California San Diego

Dr Rebecca Hoban (CAN)

asset_image Neonatologist & Director of Breastfeeding Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children

Prof. Neena Modi (UK)

asset_image Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London

Dr Sarah Bates (UK)

asset_image Consultant Paediatrician and Neonatologist, Great Western Hospital, Swindon

Medela’s Breastfeeding & Lactation Symposium Series 2023 - Europe

Together for a new approach in lactation support in the neonatal unit
Munich, June 23rd – 24th , 2023 - INFINITY Hotel & Conference Resort, Unterschleißheim, Germany

Scientific Program*

DAY 1: Friday, June 23, 2023

Topic	Facilitator	Time (CET)
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION	Thomas Golücke, Natacha Jalu, Medela	12:30 – 12:45 PM
Medela EU Abstract Award Presentation	Call for abstracts open	12: 45 – 1:00 PM
Lecture 1: Lactation as a biological system: dynamics of human milk composition(Plenary room)	Speaker Lars Bode	1:00 – 1:30 PM
Lecture 2: Lactation as a biological system: The importance of dose (Plenary room)	Speaker Donna Geddes	1:30 – 2:00 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION: Lactation as a Biological System	Moderator Daniela Much	2:00 – 2:20 PM
BREAK		2:20 – 2:45 PM
Lecture 3: A call to action: Improving human milk & breastfeeding outcomes by prioritizing effective initiation of lactation (Plenary room)	Speaker Diane Spatz	2:45 – 3:15 PM
Lecture 4: Initiation of lactation: Prophylactic lactation support as Standard of Care for mothers of NICU infants (Plenary room)	Speaker Rebecca Hoban	3:15 – 3:45 PM
Lecture 5: Spotlight: Improving survival & outcomes for preterm infants through optimizing early Maternal Breast Milk - a national Quality Improvement toolkit from BAPM (Plenary room)	Speaker Sarah Bates	3:45 – 4:15 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION: Optimizing the Initiation of Lactation	Moderator Daniela Much	4:15 – 4:45 PM
BREAK		4:45 – 5:15 PM
Lecture 6: Perspectives: Prioritizing own mother´s milk in the neonatal unit - need for standardized metrics that capture lactation and infant feeding (Plenary room)	Speaker Neena Modi	5:15 – 5:45 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION: Relevance of data collection	Moderator Leon Mitoulas	5:45 – 6:00 PM

*Preliminary Program, subject to change.

Day 2 – June 24th, 2023, In-depth Expert Workshops: on-site and per invitation only

A diverse group of healthcare experts, representing a range of disciplines involved in perinatal care will be assembled to participate on-site in Munich.
Three well-known experts will lead active discussions in smaller and interdisciplinary groups during three in-person workshops. The main goal is to explore practical and feasible solutions to overcome the most recurring barriers/challenges that prevent tracking and increasing own mother´s milk volumes in neonatal units.
The main conclusions of these expert workshops will be summarized in a wrap-up session on-site and presented to a wider audience during virtual events following the two-day European Symposium.

Our expert Moderators will lead the in-depth workshop sessions with high level discussion

Prof. Matthias Keller (GER)

asset_image Health Economist, Neonatologist. Director of the Children´s Hospital, Passau

Thomas Kühn (GER)

asset_image Medical Consultant, Vivantes Hospital Level III Centre of Perinatology, Berlin and CEO of Neotrainer

Leon Mitoulas, PhD (AUS)

asset_image Global Director Medical Research at Medela AG

Are you curious to know how it all started and how to join us on our journey to improve breastfeeding support in the neonatal unit by turning science into care? Here is the story!

How can lactation support in the neonatal unit achieve optimal outcomes? To address this question, Medela invited renowned neonatal intensive care and data science experts from across Europe back in Autumn 2021 for a discussion on the need to collect data on both maternal lactation and infant feeding in Europe.

The revealing conclusions of this European roundtable was presented on Day 1 of the European edition of the Medela Symposium 2023. Attendees were able to learn from these findings and share them with other healthcare professionals.

With the aim of translating the results into clinical practice, these findings became the starting point for Expert Workshops in the next part of our journey, which took place on-site on Day 2 of the Symposium.

To support improved outcomes in the neonatal units, the results of the workshops are available following the symposium and Medela held events across Europe to present the workshop conclusions and recommendations.

Join us on this very exciting journey to turn science into care!