This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa. She has carried 4 babies to term. She has 2 biological daughters who live with her and her husband Cesar. She has carried 2 other babies as a surrogate mother. Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman, the surrogate mother, agrees to become pregnant and give birth to a child for another person (s) who is or will become the parent (s) of the child. Sometimes a family member or a friend offers to be a surrogate. Lisa worked with a Surroga ..read more

The top 5 breastfeeding positions I fooled you.  I titled this article the top 5 breastfeeding positions because I knew that would catch your eye.  Everyone wants to know the answer to this question. However, I am not going to give you detailed instructions on the 5 top breastfeeding different positions.  Instead, I am going to share with you a story which will help illustrate why there is no one right breastfeeding position for everyone. I want you to think outside the box, rather than rely on others who give you specific pos ..read more

New Parenthood and Sleep Deprivation – I bet most pregnant parents have heard this a million times. Be sure you sleep when the baby sleeps. If this is a first baby for you and you have not been around newborns, you probably nod your head and say: “I will. we will”. and then you go on your merry way. I remember the first time I was told this. I was standing inside the elevator in my office building. The door opened and in came this lady who was in her mid 60s. She said congratulations when she saw my belly and I said – thank you ..read more

What is a nipple shield? This is a silicone nipple shield which can be helpful to the breastfeeding mother. It is a device that a mother places over her nipple-areolar space prior to latching her baby onto the breast. A nipple shield can be this amazing tool that helps a baby breastfeed, who would otherwise not have been able to breastfeed. It can be a tool to help a baby who has early difficulty in latching. Once the original problem is solved, mom can work with her baby to gradually make the transition to the bare breast. I l ..read more

Weaning from breastfeeding Weaning from breastfeeding by definition means to gradually take away, to detach. An optimal way for moms to go about the weaning process is for it to happen gradually and with love. Optimal, but not always possible. As a lactation consultant, the assumption is that I only help mothers who want to breastfeed their baby. Of course, this is one of the important things I do each and every day. Educate through breastfeeding classes, blogs, and private consults and now with podcasting. There are circumstan ..read more

Breastfeeding and Pain, What’s the real deal? I am a lactation consultant on a mission to help bust the popular myth that goes like this – “Breastfeeding hurts – just keep going and in about 6 weeks it will be so much better.” Instead, my mantra is: Breastfeeding is not suppose to hurt. Not on Day 1 or Day 2 or Day 3. If it does, get help. There is no need to suffer for days while you are waiting for it to get better. There are some things in life that it makes sense to wait it out and see if it gets better. Breastfeeding is no ..read more

Breastfeeding around the clock – and my baby is still losing weight. There are times when moms are breastfeeding around the clock – literally every 2 hours. Babies do breastfeeding frequently. They even have cluster feeding sessions where they nurse non-stop for 3-4 hours in a row. However, when babies are nursing every 2 hours and are still losing weight – This is not normal. If the weight loss is more than 10% and continues past the 4th day of life, I agree that supplementing is good advise. My argument is that often times mo ..read more

Postpartum depression – You can’t just snap out of it.   I interviewed Morgann  for the All About Breastfeeding podcast when she was 14 months pregnant with her third baby.  She has since given birth to a beautiful baby, making this her third daughter.  She was so hoping that perhaps this time she would escape having a third baby who was tongue tied, but alas, this was not to be the case.  Morgann knew she would be better prepared as she was well connected with the birthing and tongue tie community this time around.  And yet, i ..read more

Tongue Tie is just a fad – Says who?  Breastfeeding mothers are on the front lines. Some are struggling with breastfeeding challenges and are suffering greatly.  As they seek to find answers, some will have a visit with an IBCLC.  Leah is a mom who just does not understand why her baby is still hungry after an hour of breastfeeding.   She is trying so hard but it seems that no matter what she does, breastfeeding takes a very long time and her nipples feel battered and bruised. Leah is so desperate to get more than 1 hour of sle ..read more

While I have known about baby carriers/wraps for quite a few years, I imagine it is because I am in the BIZ. I have to keep reminding myself that for new parents, baby carriers may be new to them. I always love to highlight that wearing babies in carriers is a great way to calm a fussy baby. While there are many baby carriers available, I do not claim to know about all of them. I do know about Boba Wraps because I sold them for 8 years. The main reason I sold Boba Wraps is the material, the price and the beautiful colors. I als ..read more