Nourish Lactation

09/19/2021

As a general life rule I like to remind myself that it takes way more energy to be against things than for them.

I also happen to be a lactation consultant that is not “against” pacifiers.

When families ask, I try to make two points:

1. Studies do tell us that babies who receive a pacifier are feeding on average one less time per 24 hours. Is this okay? Maybe. Depends on your specific baby and what the big (feeding) picture looks like for your family. Could this be a problem? Sure can.

2. If you hold that pacifier up and think “dang! I would not want my ni**le to look like that after it came out of my baby’s mouth” 👉 do not use that pacifier unless breastfeeding is very well established. “Flat Nipple” is not the pacifier shape you are looking for when pacifier shopping. In fact, of your human ni**le is flattened after a breastfeed you should call your friendly neighborhood IBCLC!

TLDR: Pacifiers are not the enemy. Flat ni**les might be.

04/21/2021

Clicking/smacking/slurping noises while feeding mean that baby is having a difficult time maintaining good (necessary) suction. When the suction breaks your hear a click and they may swallow air that is painful, frustrating and exhausting. This can lead to baby on-and-off the breast, milk leaking from their mouth, or click-click-click followed by a long pause to catch their breath and gain composure before they start to feed again.

What causes this? There could be several things but they are all related to the function of the tongue. The birth story may be playing a role in the way baby is compensating while feeding. The amount of milk they are tasked with transferring and how fast it is flowing may be what needs a spotlight on it... sometimes a quick adjustment to latch and position is all that's needed and other -- more often -- times it's something that will take more investigating and trained hands.

"Aerophagia" is the medical word for swallowed air and it can be so uncomfortable these babies are in pain and crying for many hours of the day.

"Colic" is the medical word for "your baby is crying a lot, we do not understand exactly why, and in our experience this is going to go away soonish so hang in there".

What if the person that has diagnosed Colic doesn't know but your friendly neighborhood lactation consultant does?!

To my happy surprise the very first results on Google when I searched were helpful! KellyMom.com has a list of things this could be. Mattos Lactation comes up with a discussion about tongue function and tongue tie that is very helpful and the amazing Lucy Webber Breastfeeding IBCLC has a video of what this "clicking" actually sounds like.

Here's the rub... one of the top results says "the odd noise is pretty normal" 👈 No.

If someone has told you it's normal, keep looking for your person. They are not your person. If someone says they do not know THANK THE UNIVERSE they know their limits (instead of saying something that sounds quite confident but isn't accurate) and move on find your person.

The clicking and the constant crying are very likely related and there are some folks with the hands-on skills and the knowledge to help you.

04/02/2021

https://gofund.me/dd462a42

Dear friends:

One of the loveliest humans we know has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Hannah is a midwife at St. Charles and has influenced a narrative in our small mountain town by understanding what needs to be done and impacting the lives of so many Central Oregon families. She has delivered over 500 of our babies and for many, she has changed the relationships we have with our bodies and what we are able to achieve.

Please join us in rallying together with love, gratitude, and support— we are coming together to help her heal her way through the next chapter of her story and return to us doing what she loves so much!

Our beloved Hannah Boomer has been diagnosed with breast cancer and faces chemot… Greta Cook needs your support for Help Hannah Heal! Breast Cancer Support.

02/12/2021

I am reminded tonight that so many medical providers are wishing to help breastfeeding families, doing the best they can and... getting it wrong.

Resharing this infographic depicting the list of medications that are •safe• for breastfeeding and/or pumping to give your baby a bottle.

When you are given anesthesia and the medications work to “knock you out” or block pain or sedate you for a procedure they are in your system... doing their job... and when you wake up they are all done doing their job. They are not free agents in your bloodstream. “Pumping and dumping” to get rid of the medications is most often not necessary. Consider the medications they give us to perform a cesarean delivery and encourage breastfeeding ASAP! 🤱🏼

It’s a recommendation from yesteryear that is still hanging around in some circles. If you’ve been told to pump and discard your milk for _____ hours you can contact InfantRisk Center or your friendly neighborhood lactation consultant and they will get you the information you need straight away!

11/21/2020

Raise your hand if you have come to see me and I encouraged you to implement the Guppy Pose.

Raise two hands if it worked wonders to help to improve feeding!

🙌 🙌 🙌

Thank you TummyTime Method and Michelle Emanuel, the OT behind the therapeutic exercise.

Pictured: super adorable relaxed baby sleeping with his tongue 🆙 and his dad on a mission to help mom and baby through this. They’re all doing a great job!

Photo credit: friendly neighborhood IBCLC with a brain that just never stops.

07/03/2020

I’m reading a lactation study and felt compelled to share this with you all since it’s so much different than the breastfeeding statistics Facebook and IG posts make you think are normal. Heck, this is different than what your friends, family, and healthcare providers may tell you is normal!

〰️ Median age of babies in this study: 18 weeks. (the youngest baby in this study was 15 weeks old)

〰️ Median number of feeds per 24 hours: 10.

〰️ Median total amount of breastmilk per 24 hours: 874mL (29.6 ounces)

——————————
What does this mean?
——————————

Following a group of breastfeeding babies 3.9 to 5 months old, they averaged 10 feeding sessions per day, probably drinking 2.9 ounces each time.

🖐 🤚 TEN. Ten feeds.

[That means that half of the full term healthy babies in this study were eating 10 or •more• times per day, and half of them were eating 10 times or less]

🍼pumping
🍼three
🍼ounces
🍼is
🍼normal

🤱🏻breastfeeding
🤱🏾ten
🤱🏼times
🤱🏽a
🤱🏻day
🤱🏽is
🤱🏼normal

NOR•MAL/ˈnôrməl/
standard, usual, typical, average, or expected.

04/08/2020

❝Mothers with COVID-19 are encouraged to practice skin-to-skin or kangaroo mother care, both of which help to increase human milk, and to breastfeed their infants❞

Journal of Human Lactation

If you have access to a journal via a society or association membership, please browse to your society journal, select an article to view, and follow the instructions in this box.

04/01/2020

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!
🍼🍼🍼

LEXINGTON PARK, Md. — There are a lot of moms that still have them sitting around. Maybe stuffed in a drawer, maybe in a random bedroom closet, or maybe just tucked away with the rest...

03/28/2020

💡 Idea💡

Go for a walk and •call• a friend for that 30 minute talk. Hear their voice, send them love. You can put baby in a stroller or a baby carrier.

We do need exercise and human interaction if we can’t have contact. It’s good for your mental health, moms!

Thank you @ World Health Organization

03/13/2020

EXCELLENT article! 💕

Before having their baby, many women make the assumption that breastfeeding will come easily and naturally. But sometimes things don’t go to plan. Insufficient milk supply is one of the most …