Perspectives From a Career in Breastfeeding Research, Mentorship, and Advocacy: An Interview With Karen Wambach

Karen Wambach recently retired from a distinguished career in nursing education and breastfeeding research in the United States, practicing her craft during the formative years of the field of lactation consulting. Her research focused on the description of biopsychosocial influences on breastfeeding initiation and duration, as well as interventions for promoting and supporting breastfeeding among vulnerable childbearing populations, for example, adolescent mothers. Her research career trajectory mirrors the development of breastfeeding research more broadly. She began with descriptive studies and theory testing, which included the development of the Breastfeeding Experience Scale quantifying early breastfeeding problems. She then moved on to randomized clinical trials of breastfeeding education/support for adolescent mothers, and finished her funded research using a multi-behavioral, technology-based education and support intervention to promote breastfeeding, healthy lifestyle, and depression prevention in adolescent mothers. As researcher and educator in a clinical science area, she has supported evidence-based practice and translational science through her work as lead editor of many editions of the textbook Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. She is a consummate teacher, having mentored many upcoming researchers during her teaching career, and directed the undergraduate nursing honors program and PhD program at the University of Kansas School of Nursing in the United States. She also believes in serving her profession and has been an active member of American Academy of Nursing, the Midwest Nursing Research Society, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and the Neonatal Nursing and the International Lactation Consultant Association, including serving on JHL’s Editorial Review Board for many years. (This conversation was recorded on October 14, 2022 then transcribed and edited for readability. EC = Ellen Chetwynd; KW = Karen Wambach)