Breastfeeding and Lactation Team
The breastfeeding and lactation team at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is comprised of a director, four international board-certified lactation consultants, more than 650 specialty trained breastfeeding resource nurses, and the full support and backing of a Hospital-wide breastfeeding committee.
Together, our team is available to help all new moms with lactation support. Whether your baby can feed at the breast or not, you can ensure your child has essential nutrients found in human milk by pumping and storing your milk.
Members of our lactation team are available for consults around the clock, and often work with moms at their baby’s bedside in one of the Hospital’s intensive care units. Breastfeeding resource nurses are also available at multiple facilities within the CHOP Care Network in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
This page offers biographical sketches of each of the core members of the breastfeeding and lactation team at CHOP. Our hope is that by getting to know them a little better, you will feel comfortable calling them for help with your breastfeeding questions and concerns.
Director of Lactation Program
Diane L. Spatz, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN
Diane L. Spatz, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, is a nurse researcher and director of the Lactation Program at CHOP. She also shares a joint appointment as the Helen M. Shearer Term Chair in Nutrition and Professor of Perinatal Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing.
Dr. Spatz is an internationally known expert in the field of breastfeeding and human lactation. She is chair of the American Academy of Nursing’s Expert Panel on Breastfeeding and is the Academy’s representative to the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. Dr. Spatz also serves as faculty for the Sigma Theta Tau and Johnson & Johnson Maternal-Child Leadership Academy.
At CHOP, Dr. Spatz developed the Breastfeeding Resource Nurse program. Today, more than 650 staff nurses serve as breastfeeding resource nurses throughout the Hospital and the CHOP Care Network. Dr. Spatz is currently conducting several research projects related to the use of human milk and breastfeeding.
Dr. Spatz has been recognized for her leadership at CHOP and globally in the field of human milk and breastfeeding. She is the 2009 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Exemplary Professional Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2011, Dr. Spatz received the Expert Alumni Award from Penn’s School of Nursing, and the Family and Community Department’s Academic Practice Award.
International board-certified lactation consultants
Georgette Bartell, BSN, BA, RN, IBCLC
Georgette Bartell, BSN, BA, RN, IBCLC, was a labor and delivery nurse for almost two decades. During the years she was breastfeeding her own three children, she became a childbirth educator, a counselor to nursing mothers, and was certified as an international board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) in 1988.
Since then, Bartell has worked in birth hospitals and now spends most of her time in the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit at CHOP. Bartell has been on the board of the Breastfeeding Resource Center, Abington, PA, and is a long-time member of the Pennsylvania Resource Organization for Lactation Consultants.
Margaret D'Andrea, RN-C, IBCLC
Margaret D’Andrea, RN-C, IBCLC, has been a registered nurse, working in maternity and pediatrics, since 1987. She was inspired to become an international board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) after the birth of her first child, when an IBCLC-certified nurse came to her home and helped her successfully breastfeed. D’Andrea became IBCLC certified in 1999, and has dedicated herself to helping all women succeed in their breastfeeding goals.
D’Andrea has been a member of CHOP’s lactation team in the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit since 2008. She looks forward to continuing her work supporting and mentoring clinical staff to assist breastfeeding mothers and babies.
Meghan Devine, BSN, RN, CCRN, IBCLC
Meghan Devine, BSN, RN, CCRN, IBCLC, is both a lactation consultant and a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care (PICU) at CHOP. She has always had a special interest in promoting family-centered care in the pediatric setting.
After having her own children, Devine viewed becoming an international board-certified lactation consultant as a natural extension to her role as a bedside nurse. She currently works with breastfeeding families throughout the hospital to support their feeding goals, while engaging with hospital staff to promote and educate in all things breastfeeding-related.
Rachelle Lessen, MS, RD, IBCLC
Rachelle Lessen, MS, RD, IBCLC, is a registered dietitian and international board-certified lactation consultant. She earned her bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, and her master’s in health education from Arcadia University, Glenside, PA. She has worked as a lactation consultant at CHOP since 1996.
Lessen provides lactation consults for families of patients admitted to the Hospital and assists mothers and babies with breastfeeding. She counsels families in the Fetal Heart Program prenatally to offer support and guidance related to breastfeeding an infant with congenital heart disease.
Lessen also offers an outpatient clinic to help mothers with breastfeeding challenges such as latching problems, sore nipples and low milk supply. She specializes in nutrition-related problems including food allergies and poor growth.
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