For Dads and Other Partners: Bonding with Baby.

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Dad and newborn doing some bonding!

Even before the birth of my first daughter, I knew that her father intended to be very “hands on.” The truth is, he wanted a baby way more than I did! I tried to include him as much as possible in her day to day care. Even so, I expected him to be more than a little jealous of all the time I spent breastfeeding. I’m pretty sure if he could have sprouted a pair of milk-making breasts, he would have happily participated. Continue reading

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