Using the Prenatal Evaluation and Referral for Lactation (PEARL) Tool

You’ve had this experience: meeting a client postpartum who is already struggling with lactation challenges and thinking, “If only we had caught this sooner.”

This course is designed to change that.

Taught by the creator of the PEARL tool (Prenatal Evaluation and Referral for Lactation), a validated prenatal lactation screening tool, this course teaches you how to identify lactation risk factors during pregnancy, provide anticipatory guidance, and create proactive care plans that support breastfeeding success before birth.

You’ll leave with practical assessment skills and a framework you can immediately apply in prenatal care settings.

In this course, you'll learn:

• How to screen for lactation risk factors during pregnancy, including BMI, gestational diabetes, hypertension, PCOS, thyroid disorders, and prior breast surgery or trauma
• How to use the PEARL tool's four-part history: maternal health, pregnancy health, breastfeeding history, and breast and nipple changes
• How to talk with clients about referral in a way that affirms their concerns and frames lactation support as proactive, not a sign of failure
• How to build a closed loop referral system so screening leads to real follow up, not just a name on a list

Tools included in this course

You'll leave this course with the PEARL tool itself, a solid understanding of how to use it, and a full collection of other validated tools to round out your prenatal consult:

• The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, to screen for depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum
• An ACEs screening tool, to identify trauma history and support whole person care
• A BMI calculator, to assess maternal weight status as a factor in lactation outcomes
• The Breastfeeding Competency Scale, covering breastfeeding knowledge, confidence, and psychosocial readiness

Together, these tools let you screen for medical risk factors alongside depression, trauma history, and psychosocial readiness, giving you a complete picture of the support your client needs to meet their breastfeeding goals.

Meet Your Instructor

Mirine Richey, DrPH, IBCLC, is a researcher and educator who developed the PEARL tool through more than three years of doctoral research. She serves as Research Faculty for the FSU Breastfeeding Course program at Florida State University.