Trudi Szallasi Memorial Scholarship

Our friend and colleague, Trudi Szallasi, was an online tutor with Health e-Learning from August 2005 until her untimely death from breast cancer in June 2008. Trudi was totally committed to helping mothers and babies to have a successful and happy breastfeeding relationship. She was a volunteer breastfeeding counselor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, served as a Director on the National Board, and held the role of State president for 2 years. After qualifying as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Trudi began a private practice, and ultimately became the President of the local branch of the Australian Lactation Consultant’s Association. In the year Trudi qualified as an IBCLC she gained the highest marks in the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners exam and was subsequently invited onto the IBLCE examination committee for the review of the following year’s exam.

She left behind three beautiful young children, a devoted husband and loving parents, brothers and their families, and countless friends.

Health e-Learning, by the awarding of this scholarship, is seeking to honour the memory of a truly remarkable and wonderful woman who made a great contribution to the mothers and babies in her care, the students of lactation who she taught, and the lactation world.

What the scholarship covers

Full fees for:

Selection Criteria

The applicant:

  • must have an intention to sit the IBLCE examination within the two years following the year the scholarship is awarded.
  • must meet all IBLCE stated prerequisites to sit the IBLCE examination within the two years following the year the scholarship was awarded. (Important: Please refer to the IBLCE website to view the exam pre-requisites. The scholarship does NOT cover the college-level courses that must be completed.)
  • must be prepared to pay the IBLCE examination fee when it becomes due.
  • will provide written agreement to IBLCE to release your examination results to Health e-Learning.
  • must have a computer that is connected to the internet and you have sufficient computer skills to participate in online learning.
  • must be sufficiently fluent in the English language to study these programs, and read research papers and textbooks.

The scholarship is open internationally. The scholarship will be awarded to the best-qualified applicant, with preference given to one who has or has had mother-to-mother/peer-to-peer breastfeeding counseling experience with a recognized volunteer peer counseling service (for example La Leche League, Australian Breastfeeding Association, National Childbirth Trust, etc)

Application

Applications are now closed, but will open again the first week of March every year.

Agreement

It is expected that the successful applicant will agree to:

  • Purchase, or have access to, one or more of the latest editions of the major comprehensive lactation texts.
  • Pay the IBLCE examination fee when it becomes due.
  • Make a firm commitment to spend at least 15 hours per BreastEd course and at least 5 hours for the Ethics course to study the course content and complete the activities and other courses prior to the Deadline for Exam Application in the year you sit.
  • Complete the practice exams in Lactation Exam Practice.
  • Participate in the online discussion forums that accompany each of the online courses and the Lactation Exam Practice.
  • Establish and maintain regular contact by email with your course facilitators.
  • Apply the knowledge learned as you work with mothers/parents and babies, discussing your clinical experiences with your clinical mentor and your course facilitators.

Mirriam GoiyeMirriam Goiye

My name is Mirriam Goiye mother of four children first twin boys aged 14 and second and third single girls aged 10 and 12. I come from a small town called Kerowagi in Simbu province of Papua New Guinea married to Enga province in Papua New Guinea. We lived in my husband’s village called Irelya in Wabag, Enga Province.  I graduated with a Diploma in general nursing from the Highlands Regional College of Nursing and worked for 4 years in general wards.  Then I went to obstetrics and gynecology working there for 3 years then I built up my interest in Midwifery so went on applying to study midwifery in 2017 and 2018 at the University Of Goroka in Papua New Guinea. 

I completed the International Confederation of Midwifery [ICM] program in 2018 and graduated with a Bachelor in Midwifery in 2019. I am currently working in labour ward and post-natal ward. I was selected as a trainer of Trainee [TOT] for Emergency Maternal and Obstetric Care [EMOC ] and Primary Mother and Baby Care [PMBC ] training in the Province where I co-facilitate and assist with the Papua New Guinea Health Service sector development program.  As an experienced mother of twin sons, I developed an interest in helping mothers who facing complications in breastfeeding twins, so through experience, I help the mothers who deliver twins. Helping them how to do football positioning and also do proper breastfeeding positioning and attachment.

I am also teaching the mothers in labour ward and post-natal ward to do Kangaroo mother care.  It is cold up here in the highlands of Papua New Guinea so I promote natural warmth from the mother which provides the need for warmth, love, and nutrition and decreases the risk of hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and neonatal sepsis and enhances breastfeeding. As a nurse living in the village is very challenging in terms of women going in through labour or lactation problems and other medical or obstetric-related problems. My husband also helps them by transporting them to the hospital. I advise and assist them to the hospital for the right care and management and hospital delivery is promoted.

With that, I am more than happy to study with the Health e-Learning with the International Institute of Human Lactation Inc. My special thank you for the Trudi Szallasi scholarship, and for the golden opportunity offered for me to study online for the lactation program.

Huynh Thi Diem ThuyHuynh Thi Diem Thuy

I was born and raised in Cam Kim, a riverside village near the ancient town of Hoi An, Vietnam. I moved to the capital city, Hanoi, to study medicine at the Y University for 10 years and then returned to work at the Da Nang Hospital as a pediatrician. For over 20 years, alongside treating children, I have been actively involved in promoting and guiding breastfeeding practices, which has been one of my regular responsibilities.

Raising children exclusively through breastfeeding has been an incredible journey that my two children and I have experienced together. I always share my own experiences with my patients, and it brings me great joy when a mother successfully breastfeeds her child. Children who receive adequate breastfeeding tend to recover from illnesses much faster.

With this course, my aim is to acquire more knowledge and continue supporting families in effectively maintaining breastfeeding practices in Vietnam.

Agnes Nemes-ChowAgnes Nemes-Chow

Agnes, originally from Hungary, has lived in Singapore for 20 years. She and her husband have 8 children. Agnes has a degree in Economics but following the birth of her first baby, she decided to become a stay-at-home mother.
 
Her first 2 children were born in Australia where she received outstanding breastfeeding support. Moving back to Singapore, she was surprised by the strong push for formula feeding and the cultural practices that undermined breastfeeding. Her own challenges breastfeeding a premature baby and struggling with delayed, insufficient milk production have spurred her on to help mothers who face breastfeeding difficulties. 
 
Agnes’ passion is to support young mothers in all aspects of parenting, with a particular focus on breastfeeding. Besides helping mothers in her closer community, she has been volunteering as a breastfeeding counselor with the local Breastfeeding Mothers’ Support Group for 3 years. Her volunteer work has involved online support to mothers, leading mother-to-mother meetings, and facilitating breastfeeding workshops.
 
With the IBCLC qualification, Agnes hopes to give professional help to many mothers, including low-income families who find it hard to afford such services. She also hopes to influence healthcare providers and policymakers to promote exclusive breastfeeding and make Singapore more breastfeeding-friendly. 

Hazwani Fadhillah

Hazwani Fadhillah

Hazwani is a medical doctor, a wife, and a mother of 2 daughters. After experiencing difficulties in breastfeeding her firstborn, she decided to follow her heart helping mothers and babies. In Medan, where she lives, breastfeeding support services are still limited. Hazwani became a certified lactation counselor in 2018 and took another training in lactation and with the support of her family, she opened her own lactation clinic in her mother’s garage. To reach more families, she joined the Indonesia Breastfeeding Mothers Association (AIMI) and actively participates in AIMI’s activities, educating families about breastfeeding. Now she also works in a hospital in Medan as a Lactation Doctor, helping mothers to prepare for breastfeeding before birth and provides a lactation visit after birth.

While focusing on her work in lactation, she realised that becoming an IBCLC would allow her to make a bigger impact. The credential would make her more confident in giving support and help to families to reach their breastfeeding goals.

Health e-Learning is proud to have supported Dr. Hazwani Fadhillah to reach her goal and she has now successfully achieved certification as an IBCLC in 2022. Congratulations Hazwani!

Photo LS

 Luciana Stehlik 

Luciana graduated from the Foreign Language University and has a master's in Intercultural Studies. When she gave birth to her daughter, she realized the fact that she needed support in breastfeeding, even though she followed a prenatal breastfeeding class. After a difficult start in breastfeeding, a lot of research done on the breastfeeding literature, and the support of an IBCLC, Luciana decided that she also can become the helpful person the parents need to initiate breastfeeding. And this means a total switch in her career as she is currently a Project Manager within an international corporation.

Luciana started doing volunteer work for a call center, answering mother’s calls from Romania and abroad related to breastfeeding concerns, as well as volunteer practice in one of the most important maternity wards in Bucharest, Romania. Currently, she is preparing for the IBCLC exam in April 2021 and counseling parents in breastfeeding and child nutrition, especially through phone or an online support group. Luciana is passionate about statistics and she is dreaming to increase the breastfeeding rates in her country, along with all the colleagues in her field, through education of parents, and medical health providers.

Health e-Learning is proud to have supported Luciana to reach her goal and she has now successfully achieved certification as an IBCLC in 2021. Congratulations Luciana!

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