Individual Lactation Counseling

Lactation Services

What are the Types of Breastfeeding Support

Lactation consulting specializing in difficult cases.
Breast pump rentals and essentials.
Breast feeding classes and workshops.

Breast Feeding

Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding are a special time in our lives. Breastfeeding your baby is simple and natural and one of the most valuable gifts a mother can give her baby. What better way to provide the best nourishment available to your child. Breastfeeding promotes physical and emotional well being for the baby, today and in the future. Providing the breastfeeding mother with encouragement and support is of great importance. Encouragement and support helps the mother and child in particularly during the first few weeks after birth and allows them to continue nursing for months or even years. Breastfeeding also provides a whole host of other benefits to the mother and child.

Benefits for Mother:

Your uterus returns to its non pregnant size rapidly when you nurse.
Several hundred calories per day are used from stored fat to make milk.
Convenient. The breast milk is always there, needs no preparation, is always clean and at the proper temperature.
Reduces the risk of developing breast cancer
Inexpensive.
Emotional satisfaction. Breastfeeding facilitates the bonding relationship between mother and child through intimate physical contact.

Benefits For Babies:

Easy digestibility with less digestive upsets. Breast milk is used rapidly and efficiently by babies.
Protection from many diseases. This is especially important if the babies are premature and/or are very small.
Protection from allergies.
Optimum nutrition. Breast milk contains all the nutrients necessary for infants and in the exact amounts and proportions.
Enhanced dental development.
Special closeness with mother.

Latching On
Put the baby to the breast as soon as possible after birth. Sit back comfortably (don't lean over your baby). Use pillow behind your back or under your arms to help you support the baby. Place the baby's head in crook of your elbow and hold the baby at level of breast. Baby's face and body are turned toward mother. The baby's ear, shoulder and hip should be in a straight line. Cup you breast with your free hand and tickle baby's lower lip gently with you nipple and wait for him to open wide. Quickly pull baby closer when ready to latch on. Make sure that a large part of areola is drawn in and centered in his mouth.

How often and how long should I nurse the baby?
Baby needs to nurse 10-14 times in a 24 hours period. The more you nurse the more milk you will have. Watch you baby not the clock because babies should be fed according to their individual needs, not according to some schedule. Watch your baby and let him nurse as long as he show interest (sucking eagerly, swallowing often). When baby lose interest that is when you can switch him over to the other breast.

What other position can I use to nurse the baby?
Lying down to nurse
Lye down on you side and use pillows to support yourself and the baby. Baby should be lying on his side facing you with his mouth in line with your nipple and his knees pulled in close to your body. Support you baby with your arm. Offer the breast to the baby. This is a great position to use for nighttime nursing.

Football hold
Remember to use pillow to support you and your baby. Place the baby with his head resting in your hand and his legs under your arm. When you pull the baby close to latch on make sure his legs are not pushing up against the back of the bed or chair you are sitting in. The football hold is help full for mothers if baby is having trouble latching on because it give mother good visibility and good control of baby's position as he latches on.

What is nipple confusion?
How do I know my baby is getting enough to eat?
After the milk comes in the baby should have 6-8 wet cloth diapers or 5-6 disposable diapers in a day. He should also have 3-5 bowel movement per day. Other things to check, is he eating every 2-3 hours, is he filling out, active and alert. These are all sign that you baby is getting enough to eat. Remember most babies lose some weight during the first week but get back to birth weight within 2-3 weeks after birth

I need help with breastfeeding who can I get help from?
La Leche League International has local support groups that hold monthly meetings in most parts of the United States and they encourage mothers to begin attending meetings while they are still pregnant. La Leche League is a volunteer organization that has provided mother-to-mother help for more than 45 years. Every La Leche League leader has breast fed at least one child and she has access to a considerable network of breastfeeding research and knowledge.

Lactation consultants
Breastfeeding doesn't always come "naturally," though-and that's where lactation counseling comes in. Counselors provide new moms with the information and help they need to make breastfeeding a happy and successful experience for both mother and child. Our services include:

Nursing instruction during childbirth classes
Assessment and counseling during the hospital stay
Support from counselors and maternity unit nurses after discharge (by phone or in person)
A nursing mothers' support group that meets monthly to share and discuss issues of interest

Getting help with breastfeeding problems can be challenging at times. If your doctor, nurse or consultant tells you to wean your baby get a second or third opinion.