Yurika’s Story: A Beautiful “Thank You”

This story was sent to me by one of my clients, Yurika. She wants to share it with all of you and hopes that it will help to continue breastfeeding–even when facing challenges.

photo_face0 Mila was born 8lbs 7oz, healthy and passed all the health screening at the hospital before discharging. At our postpartum appointment 3 days after leaving the hospital, her weight loss was brought up as a concern. She seemed to be latching but she was not transferring enough milk and I was experiencing a lot of pain. Her losing more that 10% of her birth weight was addressed at her 7 day postpartum appointment with her pediatrician and we were sent to the breastfeeding center at the hospital that day for further investigation. Continue reading

The Lactation Consultation: What to Expect (Updated, 3/21)

This article was written in collaboration with Lyla Wolfenstein, B.S., IBCLC. Lyla is a lactation consultant in Portland, OR.

DSC9909-LA thorough lactation evaluation will probably be different than any other health-related visit you’ve experienced. It is time intensive, multi-dimensional, intuitive, experiential and often includes a bit of detective work. The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is the only health care professional that has the expertise and training required to perform such a specialized evaluation.

She (Lyla) is patient with new moms and has an ability to detect problems. She has creative solutions and never gives up on a client.

Continue reading

Finding a Lactation Consultant: How do you Choose?

This article was written in collaboration with my colleague, Lyla Wolfenstein, BS, IBCLC. Lyla is a lactation consultant in Portland, OR. 

I_DSC9271n an ideal world, every mother-baby dyad would have access to thorough, accurate, compassionate lactation support from the prenatal period through weaning. Sadly, this is not the case, and sometimes the “support” new families receive is fraught with error– informed by poor (or no) training. Continue reading

Guest Post: Choosing the Right Bottle for your Baby

This is a guest post from my esteemed colleague, Amy Peterson, BS, IBCLC.  I know it will be helpful when choosing a bottle for your baby.  Thank you, Amy! Photos in the post (as in all posts on this site) are copyrighted and are used with permission from Peterson & Harmer, Hale Publishing 2009.

Which bottle is most like breastfeeding? That’s the million, make that billion-dollar question! The baby bottle industry in the United States is enormous. And not surprisingly, many of the bottles claim to be most like breastfeeding to win your dollar. Continue reading

Bottle Feeding: Your Baby Sets the Pace!

Dad pacing the feeding for baby.

Dad pacing the feeding for baby.

You may wonder why I have written a post about bottle feeding. After all, I am a lactation consultant. My job as a lactation consultant is, first and foremost, to help mothers and babies breastfeed comfortably and enjoyably for as long as they both desire. One hundred percent breastfeeding is often the goal. The reality is, however, that most of my clients use bottles as well—either to supplement an inadequate milk supply or as an alternative means of feeding for times when mom is separated from baby. In addition, many babies I see have challenges that make breastfeeding next to impossible until the challenges are resolved. If a baby cannot get adequate nutrition at the breast, a bottle may be a temporary solution. Bottles are a fact of life in the western world. Continue reading