Blog & Podcast
From Barbara: Happy Father’s Day to anyone who identifies as a father! With breast/chestfeeding the bulk of the focus is on the birthing parent, typically the mother. But what about Dads? Where do they fit into this picture? From research, we know that father support is important to breastfeeding success. In a 2022 study looking …
How important are our words and communication skills as lactation professionals for our families’ success? This episode is all about the power of words as lactation supporters to boost or undermine our nursing families self efficacy. Barbara and Jessica discuss how the social emotional state of breast/chestfeeding families plays a huge role in the postpartum …
From Nancy: My body is not like most. The internet tells me my odd deformity will not shorten my lifespan, but it makes me different. It affected my breastfeeding experience, but what was truly unexpected was the way breastfeeding affected my most peculiar body. Why should you care? And why should I reveal now my …
From Barbara: What is the cost of formula feeding? As much as we are not fans of artificial baby milk, ie formula marketing, the product itself was created to help keep babies alive when human milk was not available. The first rule of lactation is feed the baby. The second rule is protect the parent’s milk supply. If we do not …
Milk production and menses? Is low milk production and periods related? From Nancy: “I’ve heard that milk production can drop when I get my period. Is that true? Does that mean I won’t have enough milk for my baby?” Concerns about milk production top the “worry list” for many new parents. [1] Among these worries …
From Barbara: Do we really need to know about relactation? Recently in Michigan we experienced a crisis in formula availability. This led many families to think about the idea of “relactation” so they could rely on their bodies to feed their babies instead of outside resources. This often comes from a “Desire to have a …
From Nancy: Nursing is much more than milk. When discussing lactation, the health effects of human milk often get top billing, but nursing gives children much more than calories and immune-boosting ingredients. Nursing provides sensory stimulation that enhances infant neurodevelopment.[1] It is one of baby’s first social interactions. The sucking of nursing calms and comforts …
Many of our families are told by well meaning health care professionals (or family or friends or social media…) that they need to eliminate dairy from their diet to cure fussiness and gas, basically a variety of normal newborn behaviors. Newborn babies are almost always fussy and gassy! Eliminating cow’s milk from a person’s diet …
Lots and lots of families are using formula to feed their babies, either partially or fully, short-term or long-term. But there’s not a lot of info shared with parents on how to feed formula in the healthiest way. In today’s episode, we share some guidelines and ideas on bottle feeding techniques, appropriate amounts based on …
Breastfeeding/chestfeeding should not be painful! Ongoing and significant breastfeeding pain is a sign that something is wrong. Unfortunately, Julie‘s feeding journey was full of pain for the first few months! She was in a lot of discomfort both while the baby was feeding, later in between feeds and throughout the day as well. It turned …