Back: Becky Mannel, COBA Board Chair; Cari Elledge, OEA Vice President; Katherine Bishop, OEA President; Alicia Priest, OEA Immediate Past President; Torie Shoecraft, AFT-Ok President; Senator Carri Hicks
Front: Amber Hookstra, Yukon Public School teacher and six-month-old daughter, Lennox Hookstra; Governor Kevin Stitt
As Oklahoma schools prepare for the beginning of school, COBA kicked off National Breastfeeding Month with the passage of Senate Bill 121, which became law on July 1. The new legislation requires school districts to allow their employees time during the workday to express milk or breastfeed. School districts must also make a reasonable effort to provide lactating mothers with a private, secure, and sanitary room for pumping or nursing.
COBA worked diligently this year with SB 121 authors Senator Carri Hicks and Representative Toni Hasenbeck to champion the needs of Oklahoma’s breastfeeding families, and recently joined Governor Kevin Stitt at the Oklahoma State Capitol for a bill signing. COBA is honored to partner with the Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) and the American Federation of Teachers Oklahoma (AFT-Ok) to create a downloadable toolkit for districts as they work to implement breastfeeding-friendly policies.
COBA'S IBCLC Exam Fee and Education
Scholarship Program
The IBCLC Exam Fee and Education Scholarship program aims to increase the number of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) in Oklahoma with a focus on individuals of color, with demonstrated financial need and/or work in rural areas or with disadvantaged populations.
COBA offers two types of scholarships: Exam Fee and Education.
Deadlines for exam fee scholarship applications are: midnight on January 30 and May 31
Deadlines for education scholarship applications are: midnight on March 31 and September 30
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Like the determined women who formed COBA in 2000, we need your help TODAY as we continue advocating for the needs of Oklahoma’s breastfeeding families! A gift of $20 ensures that we are able to offer quality resources and programming, initiate scholarships for maternal health professionals obtaining the IBCLC, and build our non profit infrastructure.
Hit the DONATE button below to give $20 for our 20th birthday! Thanks for honoring COBA’s core values of respect and compassion; inclusion and diversity; evidence-based practices and family empowerment. COVID-19 Workplace Rights
Your COVID-19 Workplace Rights: Pregnancy and Lactation has been published by the US Breastfeeding Committee affiliated Workplace Support Constellation with support from the Center for Worklife Law. This document provides frequently asked questions with answers and resources to assist the pregnant, breastfeeding or breast pumping worker as they navigate the challenges and opportunities in the workplace. Read the full document here. COBA UpdatesCOBA is now sending monthly newsletters! Check out the September Newsletter with articles on National Newborn Screening Awareness and Childhood Obesity Awareness months, the updated COVID vaccine guidelines for pregnant and breastfeeding persons as well as the work of the Maternity Care Practices Committee. Check it out and get involved in YOUR statewide coalition!
Oklahoma has 10 Baby-Friendly designated hospitals! At this time almost 32% of Oklahoma babies are born in a Baby-Friendly hospital - well above the national average of 28%. To learn more about Baby-Friendly and see a full list of designated hospitals in Oklahoma, click here.
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Have you seen the latest Breastfeeding Support Fact Sheet from the Oklahoma State Department of Health? Check it out here: Breastfeeding Support Fact Sheet According to the clinical guidance statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, families can now be informed that evidence to date suggests that the risk of the newborn acquiring COVID-19 infection during the birth hospitalization is low when precautions are taken to protect newborns from maternal infectious respiratory secretions. This risk appears to be no greater if mother and infant room-in together using infection control measures compared to physical separation of the infant in a room separate from the mother. The current AAP guidelines encourage keeping mothers and babies together. 
"Making Breastfeeding Easier" & "Breastfeeding Basics and Beyond" Training: Free one-day and two-day classes for health care providers held in Oklahoma City, provided by the Oklahoma Breastfeeding Resource Center (OBRC) with funding from the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Check the OBRC Training Page to register.
Interested in hosting a class at your location? Contact OBRC at OBRC@ouhsc.edu. Page last updated 8/21 by CAC.
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