Pam Galle - Breastfeeding coordinator, Healthy Northland

Pamela Galle, IBCLC was selected as the Betty Hubbard Leadership Award recipient for her contributions to maternal and child health with outcomes at the statewide level. Ms. Galle is an International Board Certified Lactation consultant and has a long has a long career working in several venues to promote healthier babies, mothers and families through supporting, protecting and promoting breastfeeding at the local, regional and statewide levels. Ms. Galle has convened 13 Breastfeeding Summits, providing opportunities for regional hospitals, clinics, and public health to share best practices, and to further enhance collaboration between organizations. She founded the Northland Breastfeeding Coalition. Under her leadership, the Northeast region of Minnesota has outpaced other Minnesota regions in maternal perinatal hospital practices and served as a statewide model. In 2017, in partnership with MDH Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, the Northland Breastfeeding Coalition has brought together public health, hospitals and community to provide networking, resources and training opportunities, including “Breastfeeding Management in Primary Care - for physicians” and “Breastfeeding Management and Counseling for the Health Care Team: A Deep Dive”. Statewide, Ms. Galle has worked with the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition (MBC) since its founding in 2009, has served on its Board of Directors and on many subcommittees. She has represented the MBC at the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee and Midwest region breastfeeding committee. Her work with the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition in promoting Baby-Friendly Hospital practices through the MBC’s four Perinatal Hospital Leadership Summits has helped in Minnesota’s statewide increase in BFHI-certified hospitals from two in 2012 to 14 in 2018. For the last several years, Ms. Galle has also worked successfully with the Northeast MN and Fond du Lac WIC peer programs to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates in the region. Through her work the Northeast region’s Maternity Practice in Infant Nutrition and Care score has risen from 75.9 in 2011, to 92.1 in 2015.