In-Home Lactation Consultation
$300 if not covered by insurance.
90 minutes
In-home lactation consultations are available seven days a week.
They are useful if you are a new, sick or exhausted mama, a mother of multiples or premies, when transportation is a challenge and when you want to reduce your exposure to the outside world. They are also useful when your baby is refusing to latch.
Here's what happens when I come to your home:
You get to stay home in your jammies with your baby. I come to your home—no judgement—I expect your house to look like you’ve been very busy taking care of a baby and yourself. Please don’t clean just for me.
We talk about what is happening with breastfeeding, what happened in the hospital, and since then, what you have tried, and how you feel about it. I look at your health history and your birth and breastfeeding experiences and how they impact your difficulties.
I answer all your questions, and your partner's questions, too.
I try to anticipate what might happen in the days following our appointment, and address those situations as well.
At the end of the visit, you will feel more confident and comfortable. You will have a written breastfeeding-friendly feeding and care plan so you know what to focus on.
A care plan includes recommended feeding frequency, what to look for in the next few days, how to know baby is getting enough and how to stimulate milk production and optimal feeds. It will have a summary of everything we discussed.
I work using a permission-based, hands-off technique.
I won’t touch you, or your baby, without your permission. I won’t be touching your breast at all, unless you have breast pain, plugged ducts, or have had breast surgery, and again, only with your permission.
I will look at your baby and do an examination of their mouth and tongue with my gloved finger. This is to learn what their mouth structure and suckling, looks and feels like.
For example, if your nipples are sore, my finger will usually be able to feel compression or friction in your baby's mouth that is causing your distress. Based on what I find, I will provide ways you can resolve those issues. You will have more comfortable nursing sessions and your baby will have better feeds.
I observe you and your baby nursing.
I coach you in adjusting your positioning and latching until you feel more comfortable. If your baby is fussy and refusing to nurse, or sleeping through feeds, we observe to understand why they are behaving that way way.
I give suggestions for you to try while nursing and in many cases, you will see instant improvement.
I observe and describe you and your baby's interactions while you feed, so you can understand and make room for the instinct and innate responses that are helping, and often hindering your progress. For example, babies instinctively put their hands in their mouths, which delays latching onto your nipple. Rather than preventing them from doing something they are driven to do, you can learn how to work with it.
You will receive:
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An appointment as early as today or tomorrow. Babies are born every day and they need to eat!
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Specialized attention in your home environment. I will help you set up your 'nursing nest' and teach optimal positioning, including side-lying positions, so that you are comfortable every time you feed your baby.
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Frequent and timely follow up until feeding your baby is enjoyable and comfortable for you and your baby.
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Compassionate counseling so you, your partner and your baby feel better mentally and emotionally as individuals and as partners in this special relationship.
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Phone or text conversations after the visit, for updates, feedback and questions. You can call me 24/7, if you need to. You are not "bothering me."
In-home consults are effective and cost-effective.
One 90 minute consultation gets most people back on track and successfully breastfeeding and some people do better with a series of on-going support sessions. You will know better during our first consultation as we develop your care plan. I aim to provide the right amount of support: Not too much and definitely not too little.
Follow up visits can be in-home, in-office, or telehealth and may be varying lengths.