I tend to stay away from controversial topics on my blog, but in real life, I’m not great at keeping my mouth shut. There have been a slew of new products aimed at breastfeeding parents in the past couple of years- changing pads that weigh your baby, breast milk test strips, a Measure My Milk
In a blog post earlier this year, I discussed the obnoxious loophole that allows health insurance companies in the United States to claim that they cover breastfeeding support and supplies as per the Affordable Care Act, even though they won’t allow IBCLCs to be in-network providers (and often will refuse to reimburse families for their
I spent hours and hours this week searching for a term in another language- a term for a feeling that sometimes occurs when you’re breastfeeding a child or pumping milk. A feeling that, itself, doesn’t have a term in English. Can I explain it in English? Let’s give it a shot. Breasts don’t sit around
Over the past few decades, the language we use to promote breastfeeding has changed. We used to say “breast is best”- but that implied that formula feeding was either worst or almost the best. So we switched to saying “breastfeeding is natural”… and of course, breastfeeding IS often natural. But not always. Never mind the
There are lots of reasons that a baby will suddenly stop breastfeeding and initiate a nursing strike- illness in the baby or mom, pain, trauma, bottle preference, stubbornness. That last one’s a joke. Kinda. Anyway, it’s one of my jobs as an IBCLC to work with families to figure out exactly why a baby isn’t
You will very rarely hear me say anything negative about my chosen profession. I love my job, I love the families I see, and I love the other IBCLCs I have come to know. But like any job, being a private practice IBCLC who does home visits does have it’s down sides. I know, SHOCKING
For today’s blog post I considered just cutting & pasting my 21,397 word Masters thesis on U.S. mothers and perceived insufficient milk supply. It’d be… quite a post, but luckily for you, I’ve narrowed my scope down. A bit. You’re welcome. Today we’re gonna talk about response expectancy theory. Response expectancy theory is defined as the
Imagine, please, that something is wrong with you (I’m sure this isn’t the case- you are a special snowflake and perfect in every way, but indulge me here). Either you are in pain or you are ill. You’ve been suffering for a week or two or a month or two, and have read every link
How to get reimbursed for an IBCLC home visit by your health insurance company As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Affordable Care Act of 2012 requires most health insurance companies to cover “breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling” in conjunction with each birth. This means that most insurance companies should cover a home visit from
I have a theory about nipple shield distribution, and it’s based on the large number of families I see who are struggling to ditch the shield. I always ask how the family got the shield in the first place, and the story is always the same: the nipple shield was introduced in the middle of
Last week I had the chance to go out for coffee with a fellow IBCLC, Michelle, who has been in private practice for 12 years. One of the many things we discussed was how many hours of work go into each home visit that we do, what we charge for a home visit, and how
It’s hard to drill down to only five weird breastfeeding facts because lactation is totally, utterly fascinating. So much so that I happily spend every moment I can learning about how and why we make milk. May I present to you the first five of many, many strange breastfeeding facts that you can use to
Hi, I'm Rachel!
I'm a lactation consultant (IBCLC) with my masters degree in human lactation. When I'm not helping breastfeeding & chestfeeding families in MetroWest Massachusetts, or writing blogs for parents AND other lactation professionals, I'm hanging with my three kids and/or indulging in my love of drag queens. Learn more about me by clicking here!
