Lactation Partner and Daughter
Today I had 3 clients. They had quite a bit in common. They were determined to breastfeed. Their babies were girls and they were all less than a week postpartum. The other thing these clients had in common was that their partners were active participants during the consultation. Dads are terribly important to the success of breastfeeding, and these three were absolutely amazing. They are well on their way to being lactation consultants themselves! Continue reading
Sometimes I get a call from a parent who really needs help to breastfeed their baby but is unable to pay for a consultation. If you have been helped in some way by myself or another lactation consultant, please consider being a Breastfeeding Booster by donating to this lactation fund. The money from these donations will enable me to help families who otherwise could not afford a home visit. You will feel great knowing that you are helping another person succeed with breastfeeding! Stay tuned… I will periodically post about the families that you have helped. You can follow this link. Any amount helps. All donations will be used for families in need. The babies thank you!
Foods or medications that help increase milk supply are called galactagogues. Fenugreek is probably one of the best known herbal galactagogues used by breastfeeding moms. Drs. regularly recommend it to their patients. Moms recommend it to other moms. Doulas suggest it to their clients. It is easy to find, inexpensive and often helpful. It doesn’t require a prescription and there are usually no warnings on the bottle. Even so, I rarely recommend it in my practice. Uncomfortable side effects are common; and, for some mothers, fenugreek can be downright dangerous. Continue reading
One of the great things about Hygeia is that their fantastic professional-grade breast pump comes in 2 different versions. It’s nice to have choices. But choices can sometimes be confusing—especially when you are a sleep-deprived mother of a new baby.
The nice folks at Hygeia could have made it a lot easier on all of us by coming up with names that made sense. EPS? LBI? What the heck do those mean exactly? I finally have it all figured out and it’s really very simple once you understand that those abbreviations really mean very little. Just trust me as I describe each pump in detail. Continue reading
Lately there seems to be a lot of confusion about just who is qualified to dispense breastfeeding advice. Historically, the term “lactation consultant”refers to a health care professional who has met the qualifications for, and passed the exam given by, the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners. Passing the exam permits her to use the letters IBCLC after her name. Unfortunately the term “lactation consultant” is not trademarked so there are no regulations about who uses that term. If you’re seeking help for breastfeeding be sure that your consultant has received extensive training, including at least 500 supervised clinical hours specific to lactation.
In the last 10 years or so some organizations have begun offering certifications for programs that involve a mere week or so of didactic instruction. The coursework is valuable, but does not provide the depth and breadth of training required to become IBCLC. On the other hand, other healthcare professionals, such as MD’s, have 1000’s of hours of clinical training and experience, but usually very little in the area of lactation.
Here is a partial list of professionals and others who sometimes get confused with lactation consultants. This list pertains to the US only. Other countries have different certifications. Continue reading