 A new study involving several MILC Club members links the 2018 discontinuation of the Lactation Consultant (LC) program at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre (HSC) to lower breastfeeding rates and increased formula use across Manitoba. Researchers analyzed data from over 126,000 births (2014–2021) and found that First Nations and remote-living infants experienced the most significant declines in breastfeeding—up to three times greater than other groups. In contrast, infant feeding rates remained stable at St. Boniface General Hospital, where the LC program continued. The study underscores the critical role of LC support in promoting breastfeeding equity, especially among vulnerable populations.
 Back row (left to right): Daniel Flores-Orozco, Sarah Bridgman, Zahra Nouri, Deane Noseworthy, Roxanne Myslicki, Carol Dick, Michelle Olivson, Kelly Fitzmaurice, Katherine Kearns, Christina Raimondi, Aislinn Hasty. Front row (left to right): Larissa Lotoski, Spencer Ames, Rowan Shwaluk, Meghan Azad (chair), Sarah Turner, Karinne Muniz (MILC Club coordinator). On May 28 2025, MILC Club members and THRiVE lab guests gathered in person in Winnipeg to share updates and exchange ideas on a range of initiatives supporting infant feeding and maternal health. Highlights included updates on the Milk Mentors program, the Community Breast Pump Library, and enhanced Indigenous engagement efforts, led by the Youville Team. Discussions also included ongoing breastfeeding education, quality improvement initiatives, community and system-level collaborations led by the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre, and updates from the MILC Proof-of-Concept Study. The group also brainstormed impactful ways to utilize a potential significant donation, aiming to further strengthen their support for families across Manitoba.
 MILC members along with a multidisciplinary team of scientists have published the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium study protocol to better understand the complex makeup of human milk and its role in infant growth, immunity, and development. By combining expertise from nutrition, global health, and data science, the consortium aims to conduct the most comprehensive, standardized analysis of human milk to date—spanning low-, middle-, and high-resource settings—to guide new strategies for improving maternal and child health worldwide. The protocol brings together 36 authors affiliated to 33 institutions to describe the analysis of 1946 human milk samples from 1040 mother-infant dyads spanning 4 countries in 3 continents. The protocol paper is a great achievement for IMiC! Read the Tweetorial here.
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