7 Reasons to See an IBCLC

What even is an IBCLC, Becky? 

IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and they are the person on the maternal-child healthcare team who is highly specialized in human lactation and infant feeding. 

There are a number of reasons you might want or need to see a lactation consultant, but here are 7 of the most common reasons I see clients:

1. Painful nursing or damaged nipples: this is commonly an issue with positioning, latch, and/or oral restrictions in the baby. An IBCLC can help you with all of these things and provide appropriate referrals to other practitioners to help resolve things like oral restrictions.
2. Low milk supply: sometimes there just is not enough milk, regardless of intervention and tremendously hard work. This can be devastating. We can work on ways to increase supply, and discuss how to manage chronic low supply.
3. Oversupply: managing oversupply can be a full-time job. An IBCLC can help you create a plan to down-regulate your supply while avoiding mastitis and plugged ducts.
4. Recurrent mastitis, plugged ducts, or thrush: mastitis is inflammation of the breast tissue, which is often caused by an infection. Caught and managed early, you can avoid antibiotic treatment of mastitis (sometimes preventing you and babe from then contracting thrush). All of these conditions are uncomfortable, and I can help with management to resolve the issues, prevent continued recurrence, and provide appropriate referrals as needed. 
5. Poor or inconsistent latch (this can be both on the breast and on a bottle): sometimes, babies have a hard time attaching well to the breast or bottle. Poor latch can increase gassiness and colic, and can lead to poor weight gain, and low milk supply due to poor milk transfer.  A poor latch can be the result of a few things, and having an oral assessment by a trained practitioner is key on the path to resolving latch issues.
6. Returning to work and the continuation of breastfeeding: many folks must return to work or find themselves facing a physical separation from their baby before they plan for their breastfeeding journey to be over. It is absolutely possible to continue breastfeeding when you need to be away from your baby, and an IBCLC can help you create a pumping schedule (and teach you how to pump in the most effective and efficient way), as well as how to feed your baby in a way that they won’t develop a flow preference for a bottle. 
7. Needing to wean: we can make a plan for how to do this in the most comfortable, safe way.

It is also important to mention that most IBCLCs offer prenatal consults. Here, we can prepare you for what to expect as your breastfeeding journey begins, what’s normal and what’s not in newborn feeding behaviour, managing engorgement, how to tell if your baby is getting enough milk, discuss and practice basic positioning for breastfeeding, and show you how to identify the signs of a good latch. While the majority of breastfeeding is most certainly a dance that must be learned with your particular babe in arms, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” as they say, and learning to avoid common breastfeeding missteps ahead of time can sometimes save you a lot of energy and heartache, particularly in those tender early days with your newborn.