Kathy Parry, MPH, IBCLC, LMBT

About

Kathy Parry, MPH, IBCLC, LMBT is a team member of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute (CGBI) in the Department of Maternal and Child Health. At CGBI, Kathy is Project Director of Prenatal Breastfeeding Education and Project Manager for the ENRICH Carolinas project that works with birthing facilities in North and South Carolina to improve access to equitable and evidence-based care. Previously she served as a management team member for the EMPower Breastfeeding and EMPower Training Initiatives, CDC-funded efforts to support improvements in maternity-care practices at nearly 200 facilities the United States. Kathy supports communications and global projects for CGBI and has participated in WHO/UNICEF’s Global Breastfeeding Collective since 2015. In her career with CGBI, Kathy has led iterative research and development of Ready, Set, BABY, a nationally-acclaimed curriculum for prenatal breastfeeding education in the US available in 10 languages. Her previous work at CGBI includes collaboration with Food for the Hungry on the development of three adaptable responsive feeding and attachment-related curricula for low-income countries fighting malnutrition and stunting. Kathy is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist (LMBT), a former Certified Educator of Infant Massage and a former DONA-certified birth doula. Her service work includes a staff advisor role for the graduate student group, Carolina BEBES, and ongoing participation in the North Carolina Breastfeeding Coalition, with 7 years on the executive board, including terms as Secretary and Chair. Kathy lives in Durham, NC with her family.

Honors and Awards

Impact in Practice Award
2017, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Robert E. Bryant Public Service Award
2012, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Delta Omega Honorary Society
2012, Johns Hopkins University

Research Activities

• Step 3 of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding

• Prenatal Breastfeeding Education

• Responsive Feeding

• Infant Massage / Partner Involvement

• Infant Formula Marketing

Key Publications

Evaluation of an evidence-based prenatal breastfeeding education curriculum adapted for the COVID-19 pandemic: Ready Set Baby Live COVID-19 Edition. Wouk K, Parry K, Palmquist A, Bridgman J, Perkins M, Smetana A, Woods-Barr, A, Sullivan C. (2022). Journal of Perinatal Education In Press.

Ready, Set, Baby Live! Virtual prenatal breastfeeding education for COVID-19. Palmquist, A, Parry, K, Wouk, K, Lawless, G, Smith, J, Smetana, A, Bourg, J, Hendricks, M, Sullivan, C. (2020). Journal of Human Lactation.

Evaluation of Ready, Set, BABY: A prenatal breastfeeding education and counseling approach. Parry K, Tully KP, Hopper LN, Schildkamp PE and Labbok MH. (2018). Birth.

Innovative Prenatal Breastfeeding Education Curriculum: Ready, Set, BABY. Parry K. (2017). Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 49.

Health Professional Associations and Industry Funding – reply from Parry et al. Parry K, Sullivan C, Stuebe AM (2017). Lancet, 389(10080), 1696.

Achieving Exclusive Breastfeeding: Translating Research into Practice. Labbok MH, Taylor E, Parry K (2013). Hale Publishing.

Understanding Women’s Perceptions of Infant Formula Advertising. Parry K, Taylor E, Labbok M (2013). Birth, 40.

Education