Part 1 of a 2 part series, Cathy Carothers BLA, IBCLC, FILCA will be discussing how to Improve lactation support in the workplace for advocates and employees on March 23, 12 pm- 1:30 PM ET.  Representatives from the Women's Law Project in Philadelphia will also be presenting on Pennsylvania specific laws, regulations, and education. 


Cathy Carothers is co-director of EVERY MOTHER, INC., a nonprofit organization providing counseling and lactation training for health professionals across the United States.  Cathy is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 1996; past president and Fellow of the International Lactation Consultant Association; and past chair of the United States Breastfeeding Committee. She currently serves as the North American representative to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) Steering Committee, which works on global advocacy for the rights of breastfeeding parents at work. She has provided more than 750 training events in the field of lactation in every U.S. state and territory and many countries, including state-level workshops for employers and community advocates on worksite lactation support in 40 U.S. states.  

She has worked with the HHS Office on Women’s Health (OWH) and Maternal Child Health Bureau (MCHB), as well as several states, to develop national and state-level resources for supporting employed breastfeeding mothers. She is the author of the MCHB Business Case for Breastfeeding, and served as project director for the OWH Supporting Nursing Moms at Work national initiative. She has also worked with national business organizations and the breastfeeding community to help nursing parents make it work…at work.

In addition to worksite lactation support efforts, she served as the national project director for numerous USDA Women, Infants, and Children curriculum development projects, including project director for the brand new WIC Breastfeeding Curriculum, a comprehensive breastfeeding staff training curriculum for all levels of WIC staff. She was honored in 2014 with the National Leadership Award in the “Friend of WIC” category from the National WIC Association.

She is the mother of five adult breastfed children, now ages 30 to 41, and “Nana” to 10 beautiful breastfed grandchildren, ages 4 months to 13.