We are dedicated to supporting primary care providers and practices to provide excellent breastfeeding support.
Ann Witt MD, IBCLC, FABM launched www.bfmedprimarycare.com in 2022 as a resource for primary care practices and providers wanting to improve breastfeeding support for families, to gain practical breastfeeding knowledge for their clinical practice, as well as to learn more about implementing team-based LC/PCP care.
The inspiration for Breastfeeding Medicine Primary Care came through clinical practice experience, research, speaking, and teaching physicians, nurse practioners, and lactation consultants over the years. Dr. Witt founded Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio in 2008 to provide specialized breastfeeding medicine consults to families experiencing breastfeeding difficulties. Additionally, she is the director of lactation services at Senders Pediatrics where she led the implementation of team-based lactation consultant and primary care provider visits for the first newborn visit after hospital discharge. She has researched the effectiveness of this model and created an assessment tool to help facilitate implementation of this practice model at individual primary care practices.
A Cleveland native, Dr. Witt is a board-certified family physician who completed her training at the University of Washington in Seattle. She also completed additional clinical research training focused on improving lactation care for mothers and continues to conduct research. Dr. Witt is both an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and a Fellow of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. Dr. Witt enjoys working with families to meet their personal breastfeeding goals.
Samantha Walters, MPH, IBCLC, is a bilingual lactation consultant, poet and health educator committed to supporting embodied sovereignty for individuals and communities. Through her work and writing, Sam re-imagines what it could mean for all us to connect with our bodies in new and powerful ways. She has worked with Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio since 2014, has been an IBCLC since 2016, and holds a Master of Public Health degree from Oregon State University. She lives in Cleveland with her husband and 2 children.
"You instilled in me a confidence that I very desperately needed. Thank you for that and for everything you do to help women nurse their babies. There's so much pressure to breastfeed, but very little knowledge or support for it (at least around here), so I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you and your work. Thank you!!!!"
Leader in Practice-Based Breastfeeding Research
Team-Based Lactation Support
Team-based lactation consultant/primary care provider(LC/PCP) support is feasible at a federally qualified health center. Patients find this support helpful. This program was associated with increased breastfeeding duration through 4 months.
Therapeutic Breast Massage in Lactation
Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio is nationally and internationally known for their research about Therapeutic Breast Massage in Lactation (TBML). This research helped establish the role of TBML in decreasing pain and managing milk stasis.
Breastfeeding Pain
Pain is a common cause of weaning from breastfeeding. Our research contributes to the understanding that there can be bacterial causes of chronic pain and should be considered for those parents with persistent breast pain that is not improving with basic breastfeeding support.
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