This week Jim and I reflected on our year abroad as we prepared
for our flight back to Raleigh-Durham. (Click here for a glimpse at these reflections.)
As we flew past an amazing North Carolina sunset, I was struck with such
excitement and appreciation about those who have agreed to keep those HUGs
going in their home country and to enhance the work of HUG Your Baby internationally. It is with great delight that I write my final HUG Your Baby's International Teaching Tour blog and
introduce you to those who are making a difference in the world!
HUG Your Baby International Country Representatives
(in alphabetical order)
Australia's HUG Your Baby Distributor: Barb Glare, IBCLC, is a lactation consultant
with decades of experiences at a large rural hospital in Victoria, Australia. She was one of the early leaders of the Australian Breastfeeding Association and is currently Director of Breastfeeding Conferences, a company that produces conferences
for midwives, lactation consultants and nurses in Australia and New Zealand.
Having hosted many international leaders in the field of lactation, Barb has a
pulse on issues that impact breastfeeding mothers around the world. Barb brought
HUG Your Baby to numerous cities in Asia-Pacific and is a distributor for HUG
resources. Contact Barb at zacdan@datafast.net.au Read about The HUG in Australia.
Holland's Director of HUG Education and HUG Distributor: Elly
Krijnen, RN, IBCLC, has decades of experience caring for young families and
training nurses, midwives, lactation consultants and kraamverzorgenden (similar
to postpartum doulas) in Holland. As a mother of three (now grown and thriving)
NICU babies, she is especially attentive to the concerns of families with
premature babies. Formerly the owner and manager of a maternity center in Amsterdam, Elly
now works as a private lactation consultant and is co-owner of "Baby en Borst" (Baby and Breast), a charming store and educational center
in Almere. Contact Elly at infor@babyenborst.nl Read about The HUG in Holland.
Iran's Program Director of HUG Your Baby and HUG Research Advisor: Maryam Mozafarinia, RN, MSN, CHT, recently completed
a Master's degree in Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing from Teheran University
School of Nursing, where she became the first Certified HUG Teacher in
Iran. She currently lives in Canada with plans to complete a DNP with a focus
on neonatal nursing. Maryam translated The HUG materials into Farsi and published
research on using The HUG to teach fathers of infants in a NICU. In the
process she developed the HUG
for Iran website. Contact Maryam at smaryammozafari@yahoo.com.
Read about Maryam's research in Iran.
Japan's Director of HUG Education and
Research: Yoko Shimpuku, RN, CNM, PHN, PhD, CHT, has worked clinically as a nurse midwife
in both hospitals
and birth centers in Japan. She earned her PhD from the University of Illinois
at Chicago. Yoko's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and
presented at international conferences. She conducts research in Tanzania for
the education of pregnant women, adolescent girls, and local midwives. A former
intern with the WHO, Yoko's international efforts have been recognized with
multiple research grants and awards. Yoko is Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, St.
Luke’s International University, Tokyo. She created the Japanese
HUG website and Facebook page. Contact Yoko at yokokitty@gmail.com Read about The HUG in Japan.
Malaysia's HUG Your Baby Distributor: Ning Desiyanti Soehartojo, MD, IBCLC, is a
physician in Shah Alam, Malaysia, where she has provided primary care to
families for many years. More recently, she has become an IBCLC and is now
focusing her care on supporting breastfeeding women in Malaysia. Ning is
becoming a Certified HUG Teacher and wants to integrate this information into the
care she provides. Contact Ning at ningds@gmail.com Read about The HUG in Malaysia.
South Korea's Director of HUG Education and Research: Min Sung
Kwon, RN, MSN, received her Master's degree in mental health nursing
from the University of Sydney in 2013 with a thesis focusing on postpartum
depression. (Click here to see an interview about this work).
Min is currently studying and working in Australia at breastfeeding clinics as
she prepares to become an IBCLC. Contact Min at ms9989@hotmail.com Read about The HUG in South Korea.
Thailand's HUG Your Baby Distributor: Meena Sobsamai is a nurse-midwife and
lactation consultant (IBCLC) in Bangkok. She has decades of experience
providing prenatal, delivery and antenatal care in Thailand and has contributed
to the leadership team for the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Foundation of
Thailand and Thailand's WHO Baby-Friendly Initiative. She developed "BirthaBaby,"
a company that educates parents and professionals and markets beautiful,
hand-made childbirth teaching materials. Meena will soon be distributing the
Thai HUG Your Baby DVD. Contact Meena at sobsamai@yahoo.com. Read about The HUG in Thailand.
HUG Your Baby's Child Development Consultant: D. Camille Smith, MS, EdS, CPD, is an educational psychologist who was trained in
the Brazelton NBAS exam and its counterpart for premature babies, the APIB. She
initially worked with new families and babies transitioning from the NICU to
home and then for years at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), where she
designed curriculum for interventions with parents. Camille is the co-author of
the Essential Package of Health and Developmental Services (EP)
– an HIV parenting intervention resource used internationally. She is thrilled
to be recently certified as a postpartum doula and looks forward to sharing her
experience with young families and to helping professionals integrate HUG Your
Baby into their work. Contact Camille at dcamillesmith@att.net
HUG Your baby Trainers:
Gale Touger, BSN, FNP, CHT, is the first HUG Your Baby
Trainer. She has worked professionally with families for more than thirty-five
years and more recently excels as "Grandma Par Excellence" (shown
here). Gale studied at Boston University, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.
She was honored as the NC Nurse Practitioner of the Year, received
the Barbara Bennett Peer Assistance Award, and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau
Nursing Honor Society. Gale is certified in Brazelton's Touchpoints and
the Brazelton Center's CLNBAS teaching exam (now known as the NBO) and
integrates The HUG into her work as a nurse practitioner in Beaufort, SC. As a
HUG Trainer Gale teaches local professionals, helps to study and develop the HUG
curriculum, and joins Jan in "Giving a HUG" to parents and
professionals across the USA. She is currently completing research on the
impact of teaching The HUG to professionals in outpatient settings. Contact
Gale at gale@touger.net.
Barbara Hotelling, MSN, WHNP, IBCLC, CHT, has worked for decades as
a postpartum home visiting nurse, nursing instructor, doula, and childbirth
educator. She has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and
spoken internationally on issues related to providing evidence-based birth and
parenting care. Barbara has served and led the birthing community as President of both Lamaze and DONA, and as a CIMS site evaluator. She has been honored by Sigma
Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (2006), Nurses’ Education
Funds Scholarship (2005), Mother-Friendly Nurse Recognition-ANACS (2003),
Elisabeth Bing Award-Lamaze International (1998), Who's Who in American Nursing
(1996), and Who's Who in American Women (1996). Barbara is currently a clinical
instructor at Duke University School of Nursing, where she was named the "Clinical
Instructor of the Year" (2014). Contact Barbara at barbara@hotelling.net.
Vice President and Director of
"HUGs for Dads": Jim Henderson, PhD, brings skills to HUG Your Baby as a
teacher, editor, journalist and administrator with experience in public
relations, publishing, and fund raising. He earned degrees at Gettysburg College (BA), Columbia University (MA), and Duke University (PhD). For thirty-two years Jim worked as a teacher
and administrator at Carolina Friends School, where he gained day-to-day experience with innovative and
effective approaches to developing the hearts, minds, and spirits
of the next generation. A lifelong musician, Jim has performed professionally
for six decades and wrote and performed (with colleague, Tony Bowman) the HUG Your Baby theme song. Jan, Jim and Tony are currently writing, arranging, and recording HUGs Around the World: Lullabies to Calm Babies and Empower Parents. For more than a decade Jim worked to compose, write, and produce Ariel's
Way (a modern
musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest), which deals theatrically with timely themes of parenting and forgiveness. He is currently creating "HUGs for Dads," a program to help prepare fathers-to-be for the journey ahead.
