Réka Morvay, IBCLC

My name is Réka Morvay. I’m an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). I currently work full time at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a lactation consultant, and have my private practice in Orange County, CA.

I was born in Hungary, and grew up in the States, then returned to Hungary, met my husband and had my babies there, and then we moved back to the states in 2014. I have been working with breastfeeding mothers since 2007 and I became an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) in 2011. Since then, I have worked as a lactation consultant, childbirth educator and Baby Friendly coordinator at Memorial Hospital of Gardena, I provided outpatient lactation services at Good Samaritan Hospital, and taught a variety of lactation-specific courses through BreastfeedLA: The Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles. I have taught prenatal breastfeeding at Providence Little Company of Mary, and served as the Grant Project Manager for the Inland Empire Breastfeeding Coalition. I’m the most recent past-president of the Orange County Lactation Consultant Association. I live in Orange County with my husband and our two daughters. If you’re brave, ask me about our menagerie of pets!

My background

I received my B.A. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and my M.A. in Psychology from Cornell University. I was always interested in topics related to reproduction and sexuality, and took a wide array of classes from anthropology, legal studies, psychology, biology, sociology and pre-med about reproductive issues. At Cornell, I studied biological psychology: the intersection of the physical body and emotions and behavior. Specifically, my research area was how hormones and the brain affect sexual and reproductive behavior.

After I left Cornell, I returned to my native Hungary, and retrained from a scientist to a therapist. I attended Semmelweis University and VIKOTE’s joint program in cognitive and behavior therapy.

I have an abiding love for science and evidence-based medicine.

Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding

I had my two daughters in Hungary, and promptly fell in love with all things pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. I started working with breastfeeding mothers in 2007, providing weekly support groups. While I was preparing for the IBCLC exam, I did 1000 hours of supervised clinical practice at a hospital-based maternity ward, helping mothers of newborns breastfeed, providing education and hands-on support. I received my IBCLC certification in 2011 and have been working as a lactation consultant in private practice, hospital inpatient and outpatient clinic settings since then.

Educator

I provide continuing education for hospital staff, nurses, midwives, physicians, doulas and other birth workers in breastfeeding topics.