Holland: Final Stop on International Teaching Tour!

On some days, giving A HUG seems quite magical. Today was one of those days, when a room full of highly experienced lactation consultants joined me in Almere, Holland. Learning and teaching is always a two-way-street. Today there was much give and take about the "hot spots" for LCs (swaddling, pacifiers, and sleep issues) as well as important conversations about the critical importance of helping parents understand a baby's behavior. 

The group was especially engaged with the HUG Strategy, "See and Share (the baby's behavior)." We practiced "Broadcasting" and "Commentating," using role-plays with a baby doll. Then we were delighted to be joined by a charming, first-time mother and her baby. How wonderful to see this little one demonstrate the competencies of "Spacing Out" or "Switching Off" to manage an over-stimulating environment! It is always clear that these normal behaviors can be misinterpreted by caring parents. A little bit of education about these concepts is often reassuring to mothers, as it was today. 

Ninety percent of the Lactation Consultants in today's workshop signed up to complete the Certified HUG Teacher program. Elly Krijnen, RN, IBCLC, and co-owner of Baby en Borst, hosted the workshop. Elly, who has decades of experience in maternity care, parent education and professional training, also agreed to serve as the Holland country representative (and distributor) for HUG Your Baby. Dutch parents will enjoy getting The HUG from Elly and from the passionate and competent professionals she knows and serves.

The HUG Your Baby community is thankful to celebrate this final, and glorious, day of sharing HUG Your Baby with parents and professionals around the world! Thank you to the Dutch lactation consultants (pictured below) who joined us on our last day of taking The HUG out into the world!