Breastfeeding Clinics
As I’m sure you’ve heard me preach before, a variety of breastfeeding support will be needed and should be used.
Sometimes the books romanticize the whole breastfeeding experience and make it sound like it’s a calm, beautiful, natural experience but from what I’ve seen with the families I work with in, in the first couple weeks it isn’t always easy, perfect, instinctual.
One of my favourite solutions? Breastfeeding clinics.
Here is the link for the Toronto/Etobicoke clinics and here are the ones in Peel region. The clinic in Brampton is notorious for really, really good care in case you’re ever in the mood for a drive/in the area for another reason/aren’t having good experiences with the clinics around you.
So why do I love clinics? First, they’re free. They can be a really great follow-up to a paid lactation consultant because then you can make sure that things like the latch really have been fixed and you can also get a second opinion. Lactation consultants are amazing but it can be a good to have a second set of eyes. For example, baby’s latch might be fixed but now maybe it’s time to work on your hand position or a different hold because that’s impeding baby’s ability to continue to have a great latch.
Clinics can also be great before seeing a lactation consultant because they can get some of those things out of the way so you can focus on latch or a feeding schedule with the in-home consultant. For example, maybe there is a position recommendation that you can implement ASAP and that’s 20 minutes of time you’ve now gained with the lactation consultant when they do go into your home.
If you do want or need continuous support, clinics can be great because then you’re seeing the same person consistently a couple times a week whereas lactation consultants make their own schedule and might not be able to see you at the same frequency (pro tip: ask that question when you do your phone interviews pre-birth!).
And, just to throw this out there, breastfeeding clinics are also great down the line. I’ve worked with more families than I can count who we were told at month two, month three, month four (year two!) that their child has a tongue/lip tie. When the breastfeeding relationship is already established then it’s not super imperative to bring in a private lactation consultant and they might be one of the first people who can help you diagnose it.
As I’m sure you’ve heard me preach before, a variety of breastfeeding support will be needed and should be used.
Sometimes the books romanticize the whole breastfeeding experience and make it sound like it’s a calm, beautiful, natural experience but from what I’ve seen with the families I work with in, in the first couple weeks it isn’t always easy, perfect, instinctual.
One of my favourite solutions? Breastfeeding clinics.
Here is the link for the Toronto/Etobicoke clinics and here are the ones in Peel region. The clinic in Brampton is notorious for really, really good care in case you’re ever in the mood for a drive/in the area for another reason/aren’t having good experiences with the clinics around you.
So why do I love clinics? First, they’re free. They can be a really great follow-up to a paid lactation consultant because then you can make sure that things like the latch really have been fixed and you can also get a second opinion. Lactation consultants are amazing but it can be a good to have a second set of eyes. For example, baby’s latch might be fixed but now maybe it’s time to work on your hand position or a different hold because that’s impeding baby’s ability to continue to have a great latch.
Clinics can also be great before seeing a lactation consultant because they can get some of those things out of the way so you can focus on latch or a feeding schedule with the in-home consultant. For example, maybe there is a position recommendation that you can implement ASAP and that’s 20 minutes of time you’ve now gained with the lactation consultant when they do go into your home.
If you do want or need continuous support, clinics can be great because then you’re seeing the same person consistently a couple times a week whereas lactation consultants make their own schedule and might not be able to see you at the same frequency (pro tip: ask that question when you do your phone interviews pre-birth!).
And, just to throw this out there, breastfeeding clinics are also great down the line. I’ve worked with more families than I can count who we were told at month two, month three, month four (year two!) that their child has a tongue/lip tie. When the breastfeeding relationship is already established then it’s not super imperative to bring in a private lactation consultant and they might be one of the first people who can help you diagnose it.