When I visit families, above all I want them to be comfortable and relaxed. Please do not feel obligated to clean or alter your schedule in any way, other than just being awake at the time of the visit. 🙂
It’s ideal if baby has not fed just before your consult, but it’s also really difficult to work with a hangry baby, so by all means, respond to your baby’s needs.
At your consult, I will:
- Review your intake forms, personal history of mother and baby
- Conduct a brief physical exam of infant’s neck, head, shoulders, and your breasts if needed
- Observe infant’s oral and physical structures and function, check for tongue and lip ties
- Ask questions about baby’s feeding, sleep, intake, diaper output, and behavior
- Ask questions about your nutrition, sleep, and mental health
- Review how breastfeeding is going, and discuss your personal goals and needs
- Weigh your baby on a highly sensitive infant scale
- Observe an infant feeding, if possible
- Help with positioning and latch
- Help feed the baby with alternative methods/tools if needed
- Discuss breastfeeding management and solutions to any difficulties
- Review normal behaviors, and how to maintain adequate milk production
- Assist with pumping, including setting up a pump and sizing for flanges if needed
- Briefly assist with any sleep or babywearing difficulties
- Answer any questions you may have
- Work together to develop a Care Plan that works for you and your family to help you meet your goals
- Make referrals to any necessary specialists
- Compile a customized folder of helpful handouts and information for you to keep
- Leave your family feeling more empowered in your parenting, confident in your abilities, and able to focus on resolving any breastfeeding difficulties, one step at a time.
All clients will receive a yellow folder full of info to keep, and a digital Care Plan and Superbill (if needed) via email within 24 hours. With your permission, I will also send your Care Plan to your other healthcare providers (midwife/OB, pediatrician) as designated in your intake forms to facilitate continuity of care.
I’ll check on you after two days via email to see how you’re doing, and discuss any further changes that need to be made.
I am available via secure text/email/phone for 30 days from your consult, so you can text me with any question (or growing baby pics, or brelfies!) – it’s like having a lactation consultant in your pocket!
Virtual Consults involve working with parents as best I can through secure video chat technology. I am, of course, unable to weigh babies through the internet, but together we can often do everything else we would normally do in an in-person visit.