“I’m pregnant with my second child and planning to breastfeed. I had an extremely challenging experience with my daughter and ended up exclusively pumping for about 5 months. My confidence level is pretty low, so I’m planning for lactation support soon after my baby is born. I was wondering if you offer prenatal consultations or if you would recommend I sign-up for a breastfeeding class.”
Yes! A prenatal consultation or private breastfeeding class would be perfect for you. You can address your specific challenges and fears in a safe, private setting.
Many lactation consultants are happy to meet with you prior to your baby’s birth to help prevent problems. It can be very helpful to establish a relationship with someone before a situation is urgent and you’re feeling stressed. These prenatal meetings are particularly helpful under the following circumstances.
- You were unable to breastfeed your first baby. Perhaps you felt you didn’t have enough milk, or breastfeeding was painful. Or maybe you breastfed a previous baby but it was not enjoyable.
- You are afraid of all the challenges you’ve read about online.
- You have experienced a hospital-based breastfeeding class and it didn’t meet your needs. You want a private, individualized class to discuss exactly what YOU want to discuss.
- You have had trauma or surgery on your breasts or chest—including augmentation or reduction.
- Your breasts are very different from each other in size and/or shape. Breasts are never absolutely identical, but marked asymmetry can indicate an underlying problem.
- You are expecting a baby who may have special challenges. Or you are expecting twins or more!
- You have a medical situation or injury that may require creativity when positioning yourself and baby for breastfeeding.
- You have an endocrine disorder such as diabetes or hypo- or hyper-thyroid.
- You were unable to get pregnant naturally—needing help with fertility.
- You are taking medication that you’re concerned about continuing while breastfeeding.