Great Starts™ - Breastfeeding Counseling

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is a natural process, but it is helpful to learn about breastfeeding before baby is born, and to know where to turn for help if your still have questions in the first days, weeks, or months of feeding your child.

Prenatal Classes (back to top)

Great Starts Birth & Parenting Preparation classes include a two-hour breastfeeding class session taught by a Great Starts breastfeeding counselor, or you can take just a breastfeeding class.

At Great Starts, we pride ourselves in providing the best breastfeeding classes available. All of our educators are registered nurses, with additional training in breastfeeding, and hundreds or thousands of hours of experience with working with moms and babies with breastfeeding challenges. Most are IBCLC certified - the gold standard in the field.

Lactation Consulting: Telephone Counseling, Home Visits and Clinic Visits

After your baby is born, you may find that everything goes smoothly with breastfeeding, or you could be faced with a variety of challenges.

If breastfeeding is challenging for you, there is help available! It's best to call when you first start having a hard time, rather than waiting until things have gone downhill and everyone is frustrated!

If you're experiencing these things, contact a lactation consultant*:

if it hurts to breastfeed after the first minute of a feeding; or it it hurts at all after the first month of nursing
if you're worried about your milk supply and whether baby is getting enough milk

We recommend the lactation consultants at Community Birth & Family Center, who teach the breastfeeding classes at Great Starts. They can be reached by pager, and can answer basic breastfeeding questions over the phone. They also provide home visits and clinic visits for lactation support.

Contact Number	Hours
(206) 615-8078 - Pager	9 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily

Telephone Counseling

Several hospitals and community services also offer free phone lines for breastfeeding counseling (though the providers there do not do home visits). Ask your care provider if your hospital offers phone support, or check our list.

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Proven benefits of breastfeeding support.

Research shows us that breastfeeding support services help families get breastfeeding off to a great start.

For example, moms who took prenatal breastfeeding classes:

Were more likely to succeed: First-time moms who took breastfeeding classes reported a higher frequency of breastfeeding success (by their own definition) than those who did not take classes (Wiles, 1984)
Breastfed longer: In a low income population with low breastfeeding rates, moms who took a breastfeeding class breastfed for 76 days on average, versus 29.5 days for those who did not take classes. (Reifsnider, 1997)

Support by lactation consultants (in hospital visits, home visits, or over the phone) had these benefits:

Increased confidence: Of the moms who spoke with a lactation consultant, 85% felt more confident afterward…. (Kuan, 1999)
Longer duration of breastfeeding: the moms who received support from a lactation consultant nursed for an average of 3.1 months versus 2.4 months for those who did not meet with a lactation consultant. (Quarles, 1994) Another study showed that of the women who had home visits, 100% were still breastfeeding at 4 weeks, versus only 68% of women who had not had home visits. (Porteous, 2000)
More likely to meet or exceed their goal for breastfeeding duration: 71% of the supported mothers met their goals, vs. 54% of those who did not receive support. (Quarles, 1994).
Fewer problems with breastfeeding: women who received home visits reported fewer problems with breastfeeding and greater satisfaction with the help received. (Boulvain, 2004)

Breastfeeding has huge health benefits for mom and baby, and the longer mom breastfeeds, the greater the benefits.

Cost-effectiveness: Although lactation consultants do charge a fee for visits, their clients believe that it is money very well spent.

Formula feeding a baby costs $100 or more a month. Therefore, if a breastfeeding home visit helps you to breastfeed just five weeks longer than you would have nursed without the support, you will have broken even financially, and gained:

short-term benefits for baby: less diarrhea and constipation, and fewer ear infections
long-term benefits for baby: reduced risk of obesity, asthma, allergies, and diabetes
long-term benefits for mom: reduced risk of osteoporosis, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer

* Lactation consultants can also answer any question you have about:

Early breastfeeding problems, including poor latch, sore nipples, and engorgement
Babies who are reluctant nursers or difficult to nurse
Nutrition information for mother and baby
Slow or poor weight gain
Increasing milk supply
Combining breastfeeding and formula supplementation
Breast pumps and hand expression
Plugged ducts and mastitis
Combining breastfeeding and working outside the home
Breastfeeding twins
Breastfeeding adopted babies
Breastfeeding infants with special needs
Weaning

Resource for Breastfeeding Info

www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding: One of the best resources on the web for breastfeeding information, with links to all the other great resources.