If your baby isn’t responding well to breastfeeding, or you want support during the emotional and sometimes exhausting journey, a lactation consultant might be a valuable resource to explore. Luckily, there are several different options for a lactation consultant in Milwaukee.
Peterson Lactation Services wants to help families meet their feeding goals. They are an evidence-based facility located inside the Authentic Birth Center in the Wellness Collective on 108th Place in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. They focus on ensuring their clients leave confident and are not judged for their questions, concerns, or struggles. The lactation consultants understand the complex journey that becoming a mother entails. They assist families with breast pain or damage, latch issues, concerns about milk supply, low weight gain, oversupply, plugged ducts, mastitis, accessing oral function, aftercare for tongue and lip releases, discoordination of suck, inducing lactation or re-lactation, exclusive pumping, returning to work, and more.
The three different appointments they offer patients are initial visits, follow-up visits, and one-on-one counseling sessions. They also offer a class called “Breastfeeding 101,” which is a two-hour virtual class that breaks down the most crucial information new parents will need to know. The class costs $40 and occurs monthly.
Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Women’s Birthing Center in Milwaukee provides care for mothers and babies before and after labor. They provide assistance when the baby is in the hospital and remain available if needed when the mother takes the baby home, too. They emphasize that breastfeeding is a personal choice the mother makes and should never feel influenced by anyone else’s opinion. However, they note that breastfeeding helps give your baby a healthy start in developing and fighting off infection from the antibodies and plethora of nutrients in the breast milk.
They offer breastfeeding classes for expecting parents, where soon-to-be-mothers will learn about what to expect while breastfeeding, locations of nearby parenting support groups, breastfeeding accessories, latching techniques, lactation consultants, and how to care for themselves after the baby is born. This lactation consultant in Milwaukee explains what creates healthy breast milk—like your diet, stress, and hormone imbalances—and essentially provides a crash course for new motherhood.
Tera’s Lactation Care provides lactation care and services to families in Milwaukee. Tera, the owner, offers various services revolving around breastfeeding: assistance with breast and nipple pain, latching and positioning challenges, and establishing a feeding schedule that works for the mother and the baby. She also helps mothers who are experiencing a low supply of milk, an oversupply of milk, babies not gaining enough weight, plugged ducts, enforcements, and mastitis, pumping, bottle feeding, lip, and tongue ties, post-frenectomy stretches and suck training, and babies with gas, reflux, or irritability.
During the first appointment with her, Tera will learn about the mother, her pre-existing medical conditions, and her birth story. She examines the mother and baby, watches how the baby latches onto the mother and weighs the baby before and after the feeding to examine how much milk was digested. She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant—the highest accredited healthcare professional in lactation care.
The African-American Breastfeeding Network supports Black families in their birth journeys. It offers a variety of services and resources to birthing families. They are currently hosting three programs for new parents or those who want to support them: Breastfeeding Support, WeRISE Community Doula Program, and Healing Waters for Loss. They emphasize the importance of having a support network while breastfeeding your baby, comprised of fathers, partners, mothers, sisters, brothers, or friends.
A breastfeeding mother will need all the support she can get, as it can be incredibly draining on a postpartum mother. On their website, you still find several resources in different media forms like podcasts, music, and blog articles. At the end of August, they will host their 8th Annual “Lift Up Every Baby” Celebration, which is an event that celebrates birthing families, honors families who experienced loss, and shares community resources.
Mothering the Mother understands that new mothers benefit from guidance and education surrounding the experiences they will encounter. To assist in this effort, they created an organization that provides various services to new parents. They offer a Childbirth Education Series, Childbirth Education Express, a Childhood Education class where you choose what you learn, birth and postpartum doulas, breastfeeding assistance, and resources for birth professionals.
While the best lactation consultant in Milwaukee for you will depend on what problems or concerns arise during breastfeeding, any of the above services will provide helpful information and support. Each organization emphasizes the same message: while it may feel like it sometimes, you are never alone in your birthing experience.
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