GOLD Speakers

Ruth Lucas, PhD, RNC, CLS

• Country: USA

Biography:

Ruth Lucas, PhD, RNC, CLS, is a maternal-infant health nurse researcher with a focus on infant breastfeeding behaviors. Dr. Lucas received her Bachelor of Nursing from George Mason University (1986) and spent 20 years at the bedside supporting mothers and infants initiate breastfeeding. She observed a lack of clinical knowledge regarding intervention and neurological implications for infants demonstrating dysregulated latch and sucking behaviors. To answer these questions, she attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for her Master (2009) and Doctor of Philosophy of Science (2011) degrees. Her published work describes infant feeding behaviors, including at what intraoral pressure are preterm infants are able to transfer milk, a concept paper of measures of neonatal neurobehavioral organization including infant feeding behavior, maternal recall of their children diagnosed with autism, newborn breastfeeding behaviors, and maternal self-report of different infant breastfeeding behaviors during the first month of life.