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
Newborn loving his time with Michael!
I often recommend bodywork for the babies of my clients. As a lactation consultant, it is my job to look at the entire baby–not just the mouth–to get to the underlying cause of any breastfeeding challenges. When I see structural issues that may cause a problem for breastfeeding or overall function, I refer to someone I trust. Michael Hahn is one of those very special bodyworkers who I rely on to help me help my clients. Here is what he says about working with infants. 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!
Many of my clients run into difficulty when they follow a rule-based approach to breastfeeding. Unfortunately, breastfeeding books and websites are often full of rules. “Always breastfeed on both sides each feeding.” or “Baby should only have one side per feeding.” There are scary warnings about baby not getting enough “hindmilk” and details about how many minutes to spend on each breast. Really? How do other mammals (and humans) do this without watches and books? Continue reading
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