Lactation Consulting
What is an IBCLC?
A lactation consultant (IBCLC) is someone with health and biology knowledge who has taken specialty breastfeeding education. They are often, but not always, people working in healthcare, such as doctors, nurses or dietitians. They also have lots of experience helping families with breastfeeding and providing breastfeeding support, either at a hospital or in a community. IBCLCs write a certification exam to become qualified and must re-qualify every five years and continue to update their breastfeeding knowledge through experience, training, research articles, seminars and conferences. For more information, see www.ilca.org.
Lactation Consultants can help with:
- Concerns about baby’s weight gain
- Latching techniques and positioning
- Sore nipples
- Overactive let down
- Attempting breastfeeding with another baby if you weren’t able to before
- Infants with tongue tie
- Wanting to decrease/eliminate supplements
- Problems with milk supply
- Engorgement
- Plugged ducts
- Mastitis (inflamed, sore breasts)
- Previous breast or nipple surgery
- Inverted nipples
- Premature baby, transitioning to home from the NICU
- Nipple shield use
- Returning to work
- Help with pumping
- Weaning
- If you just feel like things are not going as they should be with breastfeeding
What does a lactation consult include?
- Initial assessment of your pregnancy, birth and how feeding has been going
- Weighing baby
- Assessment of mother and baby, including observation and assistance with a breastfeed
- Pre and post feed weights, as needed
- Together developing a plan to help resolve breastfeeding concerns
- Paper and internet resources as needed, written breastfeeding care plan
- Telephone follow up the next day to see how things are going