UW Offers Scholarship to Expand Lactation Care in State

The University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences' Rural Health Institute has partnered with the University of California San Diego (UCSD) to launch a tuition assistance program aimed at expanding lactation care capacity across Wyoming, which has just 25 international board-certified lactation consultants statewide -- one of the lowest totals in the nation relative to its size.

The program will fund two Wyoming residents per year for three years, supporting six awardees in total, to complete UCSD's Pathway 2 lactation education program and sit for the exam required for international board certification. Awardees will be selected with preference given to candidates who commit to practicing in underserved or frontier areas of Wyoming after certification.

"We know that workforce capacity is one of the key challenges to expanding maternal and infant health services in Wyoming. This partnership with UCSD creates an exciting opportunity to grow our state's lactation workforce while supporting Wyoming residents who want to serve their own communities," says Lauren Gilbert, director of UW's Rural Health Institute. "We are particularly excited about the potential to strengthen access to lactation care in the rural and frontier communities where those services are often hardest to find."

"Before the community can have access to breastfeeding support, the providers need access to breastfeeding and lactation education. I'm thrilled that UCSD can partner with UW in providing education to the state's future international board-certified lactation consultants," says Kristina Chamberlain, clinical director with UCSD's Division of Extended Studies.

The program builds on the Rural Health Institute's ongoing landscape analysis of lactation and maternal health care access across Wyoming, which is gathering input directly from practicing lactation consultants to identify gaps and barriers to care in rural and frontier communities.

How to Apply

People attending the inaugural Wyoming Maternal Health Summit, hosted by the Rural Health Institute Sept. 2-3 in Laramie, will have early access to the program application beginning Wednesday, Sept. 2.

To attend the Wyoming Maternal Health Summit, register at www.uwyo.edu/hs/rural-health-institute/maternal-health-summit.html.

The application will open to the public Monday, Sept. 21, with a deadline of Friday, Nov. 13. Recipients will be selected jointly by the Rural Health Institute and UCSD and notified in mid-December. Awardees are expected to begin the Pathway 2 program in spring or fall 2027.

More information on the program is available at www.uwyo.edu/hs/rural-health-institute/lactation-workforce.html.

This program is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the State Maternal Health Innovation Program.

About the University of Wyoming Rural Health Institute

The Rural Health Institute designs, implements and evaluates innovative approaches to improving health outcomes for the people of Wyoming -- the least-populated, most rural state in the nation. The institute works at the intersection of research, direct program implementation and workforce development to close persistent gaps in access to care across Wyoming's 23 counties. Learn more at www.uwyo.edu/hs/rural-health-institute/index.html.

About the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies Lactation Program

This university-based program and courses provide clinical training for those interested in working with the mother/baby/breastfeeding dyad. It offers all levels of clinical lactation education, whether the student is new to the field, working toward international board certification or needs continuing education credits. Learn more at https://extendedstudies.ucsd.edu/certificates/lactation-consultant-pathway-2.