May 8, 2025 • 19 mins
Planning for a birth that makes breastfeeding easier? Check out my FREE guide on setting yourself up for breastfeeding success:https://bit.ly/los-birthpractice-workbook
---------------------------------
In this episode of Lo’s Lactation Lab, host Lo Nigrosh discusses the foundational steps expectant parents can take to set themselves up for breastfeeding success before their baby arrives. From understanding their ideal feeding scenario to building a support network and planning for the logistics of daily life with a newborn, Lo guides listeners through a thoughtful, proactive approach emphasizing preparation over perfection.
Lo Nigrosh is a seasoned IBCLC, birth doula, and certified childbirth educator. She brings a wealth of clinical expertise and compassion to her mission of making infant feeding a more joyful and less stressful journey for families. With years of experience supporting parents both prenatally and postpartum, Lo combines evidence-based guidance with heartfelt support.
Expect to Learn:
[00:00] – Introduction and Importance of Prenatal Planning
[04:07] – The Power of Colostrum and Early Milk
[04:58] – What Feeding Really Looks Like
[06:54] – Building a Postpartum Support Plan
[07:49] – Defining Your Ideal Feeding Scenario
[10:00] – Assessing Your Birth Setting
[11:37] – Pump Availability and Phalange Sizing
[13:16] – Creating Your Lactation Support Network
[15:43] – Personalized Prenatal Consultations
[16:56] – Trusted Resources and Final Encouragement
Follow Lo Nigrosh
#breastfeeding #breastfeedingjourney #breastfeedingstruggles #breastfeedingsupport #postpartum #postpartumsupport #ibclc #childbirtheducation
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lo-s-lactation-lab--5834691/support.
Follow Lo Nigrosh:
---------------------------------
In this episode of Lo’s Lactation Lab, host Lo Nigrosh discusses the foundational steps expectant parents can take to set themselves up for breastfeeding success before their baby arrives. From understanding their ideal feeding scenario to building a support network and planning for the logistics of daily life with a newborn, Lo guides listeners through a thoughtful, proactive approach emphasizing preparation over perfection.
Lo Nigrosh is a seasoned IBCLC, birth doula, and certified childbirth educator. She brings a wealth of clinical expertise and compassion to her mission of making infant feeding a more joyful and less stressful journey for families. With years of experience supporting parents both prenatally and postpartum, Lo combines evidence-based guidance with heartfelt support.
Expect to Learn:
- Why prenatal breastfeeding preparation is as important as choosing the right baby gear.
- How to align your support network and birthing environment with your feeding goals
- The significance of having a flexible plan and how to create your “ideal” feeding vision.
- What to consider when evaluating hospitals or birth centers for breastfeeding support.
- The role of lactation consultants and how to find one who fits your needs.
[00:00] – Introduction and Importance of Prenatal Planning
[04:07] – The Power of Colostrum and Early Milk
[04:58] – What Feeding Really Looks Like
[06:54] – Building a Postpartum Support Plan
[07:49] – Defining Your Ideal Feeding Scenario
[10:00] – Assessing Your Birth Setting
[11:37] – Pump Availability and Phalange Sizing
[13:16] – Creating Your Lactation Support Network
[15:43] – Personalized Prenatal Consultations
[16:56] – Trusted Resources and Final Encouragement
Follow Lo Nigrosh
- Website: https://www.quabbinbirthservices.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lo-nigrosh-16371495/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quabbinbirthservices/#
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2F54fe1szmemB9n7YUJgWv?si=2eea7f1cfba64867
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/los-lactation-lab/id1614255223
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@loslactationlab3967
#breastfeeding #breastfeedingjourney #breastfeedingstruggles #breastfeedingsupport #postpartum #postpartumsupport #ibclc #childbirtheducation
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lo-s-lactation-lab--5834691/support.
Follow Lo Nigrosh:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lo-nigrosh-16371495/
- Website: https://www.quabbinbirthservices.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quabbinbirthservices/
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2F54fe1szmemB9n7YUJgWv
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nurses who struggle to breastfeed may show bias towards breastfeeding
in the hospital, and that's not necessarily their fault. They
might not even know they're doing it, but it is
important for you to know because that does affect the
quality of care that you get. So how many different
providers are available to help you reach your goals? And
(00:20):
then think about are there pumps available in your birth
setting in case there is a reason for you to
pump right away, because we know that sometimes milk supply
gets delayed in situations where baby and mom are separated
in the beginning and feeding doesn't happen right away. Before
we begin, I want to share something special with all
(00:40):
of you expecting parents out there. As an internationally board
certified lactation consultant, I've seen firsthand how a little planning
can go a long way to helping you achieve your
baby feeding goals. That's why I'm offering you my free ebook.
It's called Birth Practices to Support Breastfeeding and it's a workbook,
(01:02):
so check out the link in the description below. Hi,
welcome back to Low's Lactation Lab. I'm Low Nigrash, an
International Board certified lactation consultant, a birth doula, and a
certified childbirth educator, and I am on a mission to
make feeding your baby easier and filled with more joy
(01:23):
and less frustration. Today, I want to tackle the topic
of how you can prepare for breastfeeding your baby while pregnant.
So many people while pregnant are doing everything they can
to prepare for their new baby to come. Often these
preparations look like buying things, getting the crib set up,
(01:47):
painting the nursery, buying the clothing you'll need, making sure
you have diapers, getting your gift registry prepared, figuring out
which bottles you want, ordering your breast and these are
all really important things. However, I might argue that the
most important thing that you can do is set yourself
(02:10):
up for success with feeding your baby, especially if you
feel very strongly about wanting to breastfeed or at least
providing your milk to your baby. If pumping feels like
the better option for you, and if you're here, then
that must be something that's on the top of your mind.
(02:30):
So I'm so glad you're here. Let's go over what
you can do right now to set yourself up for
success once your baby is born. When I am able
to meet with a patient pre natali, I hear from
them that they feel so much better about what to
expect once their baby is born. When it comes to
(02:52):
baby feeding. Conversely, I hear from so many patients who say,
I had no idea that breastfeeding was going to be
as hard as it is, or I had no idea
that breastfeeding could be so complicated. I thought that this
(03:14):
was just a natural process, that I would get it,
that my baby would get it, or I hear from
people who say I knew it was going to be
hard because I have friends or family members who had
difficulty with breastfeeding, or for whatever reason, we're not able
to and that plant seeds of doubt on whether or
(03:35):
not you will be able to do it. So let
me tell you right now. You can feed human milk
to your baby. And we know that any amount of
human milk that you feed to your baby can only
affect their short term and long term health outcomes. Positively,
(03:57):
we know that one tea spoon of breast milk has
millions of antibodies that help protect the baby, and especially
when we think about colostrum, which is the very first
milk that your body produces. It is the milk that
is in your breast right now while you are pregnant,
(04:18):
which is so crazy to think about. So even if
you are only able to feed colostrum to your baby,
that's a win that sets your baby up for long
term positive outcomes. So being prepared pre natally can do
so much to set you up for success in both
(04:40):
physically being able to provide breast milk to your baby
and in being able to pivot when the need arises
when your baby's unique situation dictates that you need to
make a different decision. So the first thing I like
to discuss when thinking about baby feeding is thinking about
(05:06):
what your days look like now, what are the things
that you need to get done on a daily basis,
and how much time does that take? Because honestly, so
much time is devoted to feeding your baby. If you
think about the fact that a baby feeds every two
(05:30):
to three hours on average, Some babies more frequently than that,
especially in the beginnings, and very rarely will babies newborn
babies feed less frequently than that, that is a lot
of time devoted to feeding your baby. From getting set up,
getting all your pillows ready, which can take a while
in the beginning, finding the right position, helping baby get
(05:53):
latched when baby is learning a new skill as well.
And let's say feeding takes anywhere between twenty and forty
five minutes. If you're feeding twelve times a day, which
is every two hours, then that's twelve hours or so
devoted to feeding your baby, not to mention the time
(06:14):
that you need to sleep, and the time that you
need to shower, and the time that you need to eat,
and the time that you need to prepare for other
household tasks. So if you think about that, how much
time is devoted to feeding, the very first thing that
you and your partner can do when preparing for breastfeeding
is to talk that through. Write out every single feeding
(06:35):
on a piece of paper. Go from from eight am
on one day to eight am the next day, and
notice how little time you have for cooking, for washing dishes,
for doing laundry, for taking a shower, for feeding yourselves,
for caring for your pets. And come up with a
plan with your partner about how you are going to
(06:58):
get that done, include hiring a postpartum doula or inviting
a close family member to come and stay for a
week or two while you get acclimated to feeding and
all the time that it takes freezing meals and advance,
or switching to a meal delivery service for a few
weeks during that early postpartum period, or asking somebody to
(07:20):
create a meal train for you, or choosing to do
grocery delivery instead of doing the grocery shopping yourself, changing
the types of foods that you eat. Maybe you do
mostly home cooked meals now, but you may need to
do more frozen foods or more pre prepared foods just
in the beginning, so that you can get nutrition into
(07:41):
your body while you are also feeding another human from
milk that your body is making. And then I would
like you to think about what your ideal feeding situation
looks like. So this is something that you make a
decision on yourself, and then you discuss with your partner
(08:03):
or whatever support people that you have so that they
know what your ideals are. And just because you name
your ideal does not mean that you cannot pivot to
a different scenario once your baby is with you and
you have started trying to feed your baby and you
(08:25):
come across difficulties or you find that your feelings towards
body feeding are different than what you expected. So coming
up with an ideal does not mean that you have
to stick to that ideal, but having an ideal helps
you to prepare in the right way. So are you
(08:46):
dead set on exclusive body feeding if at all possible?
Are you wanting to do a mix of body feeding
and pumping so that partner can provide bottles to the
baby maybe? Are you not really sure which of those
is ideal for you? Are you wanting to do a
(09:08):
mix of breast milk and formula? Do you feel adamantly
against formula? I have lots of clients who answer these
questions in very different ways. So talk through that with
your partner and decide what feels right for you based
on the information you have right now, and then, once
you have come to that decision, be sure to talk
(09:31):
with your care providers about that decision. If you've chosen
your pediatrician, check with your pediatrician, do a nurse visit
and ask how they respond to these various goals. Who
do they refer to when you're having difficulty, What is
their response when you don't want to feed formula? How
(09:52):
do they work with you to make sure that you
can reach your goals with supportive providers. And then I
think it's a good idea to look at the place
where you will be birthing, whether it's a hospital or
a birthing center, or perhaps you're planning on a home birth,
check with the stats of your particular setting, and try
(10:18):
to determine what sort of help is available within that place.
Are there IBCLCs that are there to support you. That
stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultants, which is the
gold standard and lactation care, or if there aren't, what
is the credential for the supporters that are there. Are
(10:40):
those supporters there full time twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week, or are they only there for
certain hours, Because it's important to know going into your
birthing situation how hands on the breastfeeding help will be.
Is the hospital a baby friendly hospital? Have all the
(11:02):
nurses been trained on breastfeeding? We know that some studies
show that however a provider fed their baby, they are
more biased towards that type of feeding, So nurses who
struggle to breastfeed may show biased towards breastfeeding in the
hospital and that's not necessarily their fault. They might not
(11:25):
even know they're doing it, but it is important for
you to know because that does affect the quality of
care that you get. So how many different providers are
available to help you reach your goals? And then think
about are there pumps available in your birth setting in
case there is a reason for you to pump right away,
because we know that sometimes milk supply gets delayed in
(11:48):
situations where baby and mom are separated in the beginning
and feeding doesn't happen right away, and milk removal using
a pump does not happen right away, So check to
see what's available there or do you need to bring
your own pump. The other thing that you want to
do is get an idea of what your fulange size
will be going into your birth situation. So most pumps
(12:12):
come with a size twenty four and a size twenty
eight millimeter fu lange, and the vast majority of people
use anywhere between a size ten millimeter and a size
seventeen millimeter breastfulange, So that is a really huge difference.
And we know that fu Lande size matters when it
(12:33):
comes to both comfort while pumping and milk output. So
getting the right size in advance, at least an approximate size,
is going to be really helpful to be able to
go into the hospital knowing that if you need to
pump that you will be able to and be able
to do so as efficiently as possible. And the way
(12:53):
that you can get your falanges sized is through a
prenatal consultation with an IBCLC who offers falandizing as one
of their services. And of course I am a provider
who does that. I would love to help you with falanchizing,
whether that's in person or virtually, I'm happy to do
(13:13):
that for you. And then you also want to make
sure that you know who your supporters are going to
pee when it comes to feeding your baby. So you
were in the hospital, or if you give birth in
a hospital, you're there anywhere between three and five days,
depending on what type of birth you have. If if
(13:35):
all goes well, and then you're sent home. And one
of the times that I hear from clients the most
when they're freaking out and their stress levels are really
high is those first few days when they get home
and they had all this around the clock support while
they were feeding their baby and then suddenly it's not
there anymore, and so who are you go to when
(13:58):
you are struggling? Now? This can be peer supporters. This
could be a sister who has fed, or a neighbor
who has breastfed, or a friend who you really trust
and feel confident in who can help you. But sometimes
this needs to be a professional. This needs to be
an IBCLC. You want somebody who can either meet with
(14:22):
you virtually or come to a home visit, especially in
those first few days when it's still really hard to
move around. You're still recovering from the birth process itself,
you still might be very sore, and getting baby in
and out of the car seat and into the car
is more challenging. And you want this person to support
(14:45):
you in whatever your goals are. And when you speak
with them, you want to feel like you're receiving a hug,
that you're being comforted, that you're getting really good information
that is specific to your individual situation. And if you
don't feel that way, then find somebody else. It's okay
(15:08):
to call a few providers and to see who matches
most with your personality, who's training most matches your desired
feeding outcomes, and to go with the person who your
gut tells you is going to be the best supporter
for you. Because you can have the best laid plans,
(15:29):
you can read all the right books, and still you
may encounter difficulty once you decide who you want to
be your supporter, your professional supporter, your IBCLC. I highly
recommend that you book a prenatal consultation because every person
(15:50):
is different. We can help you to determine if you
have any underlying root causes that might impact milk supply.
We can do that for land sizing, which I mentioned
all ready. We can help you come up with a
baby feeding plan that is specific to how much support
you will have or how little support you will have,
or what your home environment is like, or how quickly
(16:11):
you will be going back to work, or whether or
not you have other kids at home, or if you
have any neurodiversity, or you have mental illness that needs
to be addressed. There are situations that are specific to
you that can only be addressed through an individualized appointment.
(16:32):
And of course I would love to be the person
that does that prenatal consultation with you, even if you
need to see somebody in person down the line, I
would love to be the person who sees you virtually
or in person for that prenatal consultation, and then spend
some time once you've had your prenatal consultation, and once
you've gone through what your feeding ideals would be, spend
(16:56):
some time educating yourself with resource that will be there
to support you and support your goals instead of confusing you.
And if you go to my website www dot Coobynbirthservices
dot com, you will see.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That I have a whole list of approved books about
breastfeeding that you may want to check out, either buying
them through my website there are links there, or getting
them on audio to listen that way.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
But choose the books that you know are going to
support your goals and not ones that are going to
make you feel confused about baby feeding biology, because so
many baby feeding books out there do not present biologically
accurate information and it's more culturally relevant information. And then
(17:50):
you may want to go online and watch some videos
of baby's feeding, or you may want to attend an
in person support group where you can see baby's feeding
and asking people in that support group what has been
your biggest challenge? What was surprising to you about babyfeeding,
what was awesome to you about babyfeeding? What was your
(18:12):
birth setting like, Especially if they live in your area,
they may have birthed in a place that you will
be birthing in, and you can ask questions about what
the support was like. There some of the places that
you can check out to see if they offer in
person support groups or La Leche League International, which most
people know about breastfeeding USA. And then also call your
local hospitals and your local ibclc's to see if any
(18:36):
of them offer support groups that you can attend prenatally.
Most of the time they're going to be very welcoming
to somebody who is trying to prepare in the prenatal period.
So at that those are the things that you can
do to prepare for breastfeeding right now while you're still pregnant.
I am so glad that you were here with me
(18:58):
listening to this, and I cannot wait to see your
name pop into my inbox as you have booked a
prenatal consultation. Have a great week,
Nurses who struggle to breastfeed may show bias towards breastfeeding
in the hospital, and that's not necessarily their fault. They
might not even know they're doing it, but it is
important for you to know because that does affect the
quality of care that you get. So how many different
providers are available to help you reach your goals? And
(00:20):
then think about are there pumps available in your birth
setting in case there is a reason for you to
pump right away, because we know that sometimes milk supply
gets delayed in situations where baby and mom are separated
in the beginning and feeding doesn't happen right away. Before
we begin, I want to share something special with all
(00:40):
of you expecting parents out there. As an internationally board
certified lactation consultant, I've seen firsthand how a little planning
can go a long way to helping you achieve your
baby feeding goals. That's why I'm offering you my free ebook.
It's called Birth Practices to Support Breastfeeding and it's a workbook,
(01:02):
so check out the link in the description below. Hi,
welcome back to Low's Lactation Lab. I'm Low Nigrash, an
International Board certified lactation consultant, a birth doula, and a
certified childbirth educator, and I am on a mission to
make feeding your baby easier and filled with more joy
(01:23):
and less frustration. Today, I want to tackle the topic
of how you can prepare for breastfeeding your baby while pregnant.
So many people while pregnant are doing everything they can
to prepare for their new baby to come. Often these
preparations look like buying things, getting the crib set up,
(01:47):
painting the nursery, buying the clothing you'll need, making sure
you have diapers, getting your gift registry prepared, figuring out
which bottles you want, ordering your breast and these are
all really important things. However, I might argue that the
most important thing that you can do is set yourself
(02:10):
up for success with feeding your baby, especially if you
feel very strongly about wanting to breastfeed or at least
providing your milk to your baby. If pumping feels like
the better option for you, and if you're here, then
that must be something that's on the top of your mind.
(02:30):
So I'm so glad you're here. Let's go over what
you can do right now to set yourself up for
success once your baby is born. When I am able
to meet with a patient pre natali, I hear from
them that they feel so much better about what to
expect once their baby is born. When it comes to
(02:52):
baby feeding. Conversely, I hear from so many patients who say,
I had no idea that breastfeeding was going to be
as hard as it is, or I had no idea
that breastfeeding could be so complicated. I thought that this
(03:14):
was just a natural process, that I would get it,
that my baby would get it, or I hear from
people who say I knew it was going to be
hard because I have friends or family members who had
difficulty with breastfeeding, or for whatever reason, we're not able
to and that plant seeds of doubt on whether or
(03:35):
not you will be able to do it. So let
me tell you right now. You can feed human milk
to your baby. And we know that any amount of
human milk that you feed to your baby can only
affect their short term and long term health outcomes. Positively,
(03:57):
we know that one tea spoon of breast milk has
millions of antibodies that help protect the baby, and especially
when we think about colostrum, which is the very first
milk that your body produces. It is the milk that
is in your breast right now while you are pregnant,
(04:18):
which is so crazy to think about. So even if
you are only able to feed colostrum to your baby,
that's a win that sets your baby up for long
term positive outcomes. So being prepared pre natally can do
so much to set you up for success in both
(04:40):
physically being able to provide breast milk to your baby
and in being able to pivot when the need arises
when your baby's unique situation dictates that you need to
make a different decision. So the first thing I like
to discuss when thinking about baby feeding is thinking about
(05:06):
what your days look like now, what are the things
that you need to get done on a daily basis,
and how much time does that take? Because honestly, so
much time is devoted to feeding your baby. If you
think about the fact that a baby feeds every two
(05:30):
to three hours on average, Some babies more frequently than that,
especially in the beginnings, and very rarely will babies newborn
babies feed less frequently than that, that is a lot
of time devoted to feeding your baby. From getting set up,
getting all your pillows ready, which can take a while
in the beginning, finding the right position, helping baby get
(05:53):
latched when baby is learning a new skill as well.
And let's say feeding takes anywhere between twenty and forty
five minutes. If you're feeding twelve times a day, which
is every two hours, then that's twelve hours or so
devoted to feeding your baby, not to mention the time
(06:14):
that you need to sleep, and the time that you
need to shower, and the time that you need to eat,
and the time that you need to prepare for other
household tasks. So if you think about that, how much
time is devoted to feeding, the very first thing that
you and your partner can do when preparing for breastfeeding
is to talk that through. Write out every single feeding
(06:35):
on a piece of paper. Go from from eight am
on one day to eight am the next day, and
notice how little time you have for cooking, for washing dishes,
for doing laundry, for taking a shower, for feeding yourselves,
for caring for your pets. And come up with a
plan with your partner about how you are going to
(06:58):
get that done, include hiring a postpartum doula or inviting
a close family member to come and stay for a
week or two while you get acclimated to feeding and
all the time that it takes freezing meals and advance,
or switching to a meal delivery service for a few
weeks during that early postpartum period, or asking somebody to
(07:20):
create a meal train for you, or choosing to do
grocery delivery instead of doing the grocery shopping yourself, changing
the types of foods that you eat. Maybe you do
mostly home cooked meals now, but you may need to
do more frozen foods or more pre prepared foods just
in the beginning, so that you can get nutrition into
(07:41):
your body while you are also feeding another human from
milk that your body is making. And then I would
like you to think about what your ideal feeding situation
looks like. So this is something that you make a
decision on yourself, and then you discuss with your partner
(08:03):
or whatever support people that you have so that they
know what your ideals are. And just because you name
your ideal does not mean that you cannot pivot to
a different scenario once your baby is with you and
you have started trying to feed your baby and you
(08:25):
come across difficulties or you find that your feelings towards
body feeding are different than what you expected. So coming
up with an ideal does not mean that you have
to stick to that ideal, but having an ideal helps
you to prepare in the right way. So are you
(08:46):
dead set on exclusive body feeding if at all possible?
Are you wanting to do a mix of body feeding
and pumping so that partner can provide bottles to the
baby maybe? Are you not really sure which of those
is ideal for you? Are you wanting to do a
(09:08):
mix of breast milk and formula? Do you feel adamantly
against formula? I have lots of clients who answer these
questions in very different ways. So talk through that with
your partner and decide what feels right for you based
on the information you have right now, and then, once
you have come to that decision, be sure to talk
(09:31):
with your care providers about that decision. If you've chosen
your pediatrician, check with your pediatrician, do a nurse visit
and ask how they respond to these various goals. Who
do they refer to when you're having difficulty, What is
their response when you don't want to feed formula? How
(09:52):
do they work with you to make sure that you
can reach your goals with supportive providers. And then I
think it's a good idea to look at the place
where you will be birthing, whether it's a hospital or
a birthing center, or perhaps you're planning on a home birth,
check with the stats of your particular setting, and try
(10:18):
to determine what sort of help is available within that place.
Are there IBCLCs that are there to support you. That
stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultants, which is the
gold standard and lactation care, or if there aren't, what
is the credential for the supporters that are there. Are
(10:40):
those supporters there full time twenty four hours a day,
seven days a week, or are they only there for
certain hours, Because it's important to know going into your
birthing situation how hands on the breastfeeding help will be.
Is the hospital a baby friendly hospital? Have all the
(11:02):
nurses been trained on breastfeeding? We know that some studies
show that however a provider fed their baby, they are
more biased towards that type of feeding, So nurses who
struggle to breastfeed may show biased towards breastfeeding in the
hospital and that's not necessarily their fault. They might not
(11:25):
even know they're doing it, but it is important for
you to know because that does affect the quality of
care that you get. So how many different providers are
available to help you reach your goals? And then think
about are there pumps available in your birth setting in
case there is a reason for you to pump right away,
because we know that sometimes milk supply gets delayed in
(11:48):
situations where baby and mom are separated in the beginning
and feeding doesn't happen right away, and milk removal using
a pump does not happen right away, So check to
see what's available there or do you need to bring
your own pump. The other thing that you want to
do is get an idea of what your fulange size
will be going into your birth situation. So most pumps
(12:12):
come with a size twenty four and a size twenty
eight millimeter fu lange, and the vast majority of people
use anywhere between a size ten millimeter and a size
seventeen millimeter breastfulange, So that is a really huge difference.
And we know that fu Lande size matters when it
(12:33):
comes to both comfort while pumping and milk output. So
getting the right size in advance, at least an approximate size,
is going to be really helpful to be able to
go into the hospital knowing that if you need to
pump that you will be able to and be able
to do so as efficiently as possible. And the way
(12:53):
that you can get your falanges sized is through a
prenatal consultation with an IBCLC who offers falandizing as one
of their services. And of course I am a provider
who does that. I would love to help you with falanchizing,
whether that's in person or virtually, I'm happy to do
(13:13):
that for you. And then you also want to make
sure that you know who your supporters are going to
pee when it comes to feeding your baby. So you
were in the hospital, or if you give birth in
a hospital, you're there anywhere between three and five days,
depending on what type of birth you have. If if
(13:35):
all goes well, and then you're sent home. And one
of the times that I hear from clients the most
when they're freaking out and their stress levels are really
high is those first few days when they get home
and they had all this around the clock support while
they were feeding their baby and then suddenly it's not
there anymore, and so who are you go to when
(13:58):
you are struggling? Now? This can be peer supporters. This
could be a sister who has fed, or a neighbor
who has breastfed, or a friend who you really trust
and feel confident in who can help you. But sometimes
this needs to be a professional. This needs to be
an IBCLC. You want somebody who can either meet with
(14:22):
you virtually or come to a home visit, especially in
those first few days when it's still really hard to
move around. You're still recovering from the birth process itself,
you still might be very sore, and getting baby in
and out of the car seat and into the car
is more challenging. And you want this person to support
(14:45):
you in whatever your goals are. And when you speak
with them, you want to feel like you're receiving a hug,
that you're being comforted, that you're getting really good information
that is specific to your individual situation. And if you
don't feel that way, then find somebody else. It's okay
(15:08):
to call a few providers and to see who matches
most with your personality, who's training most matches your desired
feeding outcomes, and to go with the person who your
gut tells you is going to be the best supporter
for you. Because you can have the best laid plans,
(15:29):
you can read all the right books, and still you
may encounter difficulty once you decide who you want to
be your supporter, your professional supporter, your IBCLC. I highly
recommend that you book a prenatal consultation because every person
(15:50):
is different. We can help you to determine if you
have any underlying root causes that might impact milk supply.
We can do that for land sizing, which I mentioned
all ready. We can help you come up with a
baby feeding plan that is specific to how much support
you will have or how little support you will have,
or what your home environment is like, or how quickly
(16:11):
you will be going back to work, or whether or
not you have other kids at home, or if you
have any neurodiversity, or you have mental illness that needs
to be addressed. There are situations that are specific to
you that can only be addressed through an individualized appointment.
(16:32):
And of course I would love to be the person
that does that prenatal consultation with you, even if you
need to see somebody in person down the line, I
would love to be the person who sees you virtually
or in person for that prenatal consultation, and then spend
some time once you've had your prenatal consultation, and once
you've gone through what your feeding ideals would be, spend
(16:56):
some time educating yourself with resource that will be there
to support you and support your goals instead of confusing you.
And if you go to my website www dot Coobynbirthservices
dot com, you will see.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That I have a whole list of approved books about
breastfeeding that you may want to check out, either buying
them through my website there are links there, or getting
them on audio to listen that way.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
But choose the books that you know are going to
support your goals and not ones that are going to
make you feel confused about baby feeding biology, because so
many baby feeding books out there do not present biologically
accurate information and it's more culturally relevant information. And then
(17:50):
you may want to go online and watch some videos
of baby's feeding, or you may want to attend an
in person support group where you can see baby's feeding
and asking people in that support group what has been
your biggest challenge? What was surprising to you about babyfeeding,
what was awesome to you about babyfeeding? What was your
(18:12):
birth setting like, Especially if they live in your area,
they may have birthed in a place that you will
be birthing in, and you can ask questions about what
the support was like. There some of the places that
you can check out to see if they offer in
person support groups or La Leche League International, which most
people know about breastfeeding USA. And then also call your
local hospitals and your local ibclc's to see if any
(18:36):
of them offer support groups that you can attend prenatally.
Most of the time they're going to be very welcoming
to somebody who is trying to prepare in the prenatal period.
So at that those are the things that you can
do to prepare for breastfeeding right now while you're still pregnant.
I am so glad that you were here with me
(18:58):
listening to this, and I cannot wait to see your
name pop into my inbox as you have booked a
prenatal consultation. Have a great week,
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