One question I get asked a lot is, “who can help me with breast feeding?”
Years ago, your choice was your grandmother or Le Leche league. Now we have CLC, IBCLC, RNs, support groups, Facebook and so much more.
Lets break it down.
IBCLC are nurses or lay people who have the highest certification for breastfeeding assistance. In fact, IBCLC stand for International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. In short terms I can take this certification and practice anywhere in the world with it. Pretty amazing RIGHT!! Getting this certification is not for the faint of heart. When I first became an IBCLC in 2008 I had to prove 5000 hours of hands on helping moms breastfeed and I needed about 75-100 hrs of specific breastfeeding education and then after all that I had to sit in a room full of other candidates and take an 8 hour test by hand. OH my you say well you then had to wait another 3-4 months for results and if you failed you had to wait until the next year to take it again. YIKES!
As an IBCLC I have to renew my licensure every 5 years by education of 75 hours of approved breastfeeding education and at the 10-year mark I have to take the dreaded boards again
An IBCLC should be at the top of the breastfeeding pyramid. The IBCLC should be comfortable in most aspect of managing breastfeeding and be able to assist in the breastfeeding journey from start to finish. We can besides taking care of our Moms and Babies be able to teach, and help create policy and procedures to promote breastfeeding in every setting. Now that being said not all IBCLC are the same, some are stronger in certain areas of lactation and are more comfortable with say the NICU infant, or with home visits, and some prefer hospital care. We are all individual just like you. So, as I go through just some of what the IBCLC can do be sure you find the one that is right for you.
IBCLC can
Create policy and procedure to assist with breastfeeding goals.
Make care plans regarding breastfeeding
Assess oral function but not diagnose oral tethers. AKA Tongue tie and lip tie.
Assist with latch and observe feedings make suggestion on how to improve transfer.
Help moms increase milk supply.
Help with nipple soreness and wound healing.
Help create back to work plans
Assist with feeding baby with cleft palate, or any oral dysfunction.
Do test weights to assess transfer of milk to baby.
Assist NICU babies with home care plans.
Work within a team of health care professionals help moms and babies obtain feeding goals.
How to use supplementer tools such as a SNS, finger feeding and proper bottle feeding.
Assist with poor weight gain or loss
A CLC takes a 45 hour class and then an exam and must recertify by 18 hours of education every 3 years. There is no hands-on time
CLCs are excellent for
Basic breastfeeding needs
Latch and positioning
Back to work planning
Evaluate for complex problems and refer to IBCLC
Helping with sore nipples
They can help with feeding plans
Le leche League and Postpartum Support groups.
We in honesty I cannot say enough wonderful things about LLL. Leaders are trained in their topics and those groups are usually wonderful places to meet new mommy friends. Postpartum support groups run by anyone? Well some are and some aren’t. It for me is important to have someone who has training in Postpartum. I also prefer them to be run as cohorts. This is where I feel we can help so many moms with postpartum depression and anxiety. I almost feel like they should be mandatory for all first-time moms. Moms never open up until the middle or the end of the group about how its truly going. In my group we have guest speakers that can include a Postpartum depression therapist, an occupational therapist for tummy time education, a financial[MM1] planner, infant massage therapist, pelvic floor therapist, a photographer on how to get great pics with your phone. These are all geared for this time in a new moms life.
Ok guys now lets talk about where you really like to look for help. I belong to a few of the breastfeeding boards on Facebook. (OK, OK so I TROLL them). This seems to be many moms first stop for breastfeeding advice. Now I LOVE these for moral support, LOVE them when they are kind and supportive, LOVE them to help a mom keep going during her struggle of breastfeeding.
I really dislike them for the shaming of moms who do something different then advised by them, I really dislike how some will pick apart a moms self confidence in her breastfeeding decisions. I can also some of those people that are giving out advice are not actually breastfeeding even though they post words and pics like they are. I dislike when they diagnosis other moms tongue ties, milk allergy, gluten allergy, soy allergy, nut allergy, and whatever allergy. There are more diagnoses on these pages then in a 1000 bed hospital. You should not and will usually not see IBCLC comment freely on these pages. We can’t say “hey that not a tongue tie it’s a………” that is diagnosing we as medical professionals cannot diagnose, we also cannot just give out medical advice we need to be careful. The average person can say all sorts of things with no repercussions. I ethically and legally cannot.
Example “Blue Gatorade increases milk supply” In one group 27 times this is mentioned. Red Gatorade not as often but its there. I’m sure you can guess that blue Gatorade does nothing for milk supply except belief that it can. Believe in the placebo affect its real.
In all of this IBCLC can really help with your breastfeeding needs. I stay with my clients for a year if they need me. We usually end up being friends by the end. Its true I can’t help it I love all my clients.
If it’s a simple latch issue a CLC is a great bet and should be more reasonably priced.
If you’re on the boards and they are treating you well then great if they shame you or make you feel bad get out of there. If they give you crazy advice, please contact an IBCLC, or pediatrician to sort through the info.
But for the best feeling and most support in real life a NEW MOMS GROUP of some kind is wonderful.