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Mellanie Sheppard,
IBCLC, RLC
I am a board-certified,
registered lactation consultant and member of the International
Lactation Consultants Association (ILCA), as well as the United
States Lactation Consultant Association (USLCA). I am the proud
mother of 3 breastfed children and have been assisting breastfeeding
mothers for more than 10 years. After much hard work, I became
an IBCLC in 2004. I have supported breastfeeding mothers and babies
in many situations, including low milk supply, tongue-tie, mothers
returning to work, adoptive mothers, mothers and babies struggling
with latch issues, babies with special needs and multiples. I love
to work with moms in difficult situations that may seem unsolvable to
others, so if you have been through other health care providers who
have not been able to help with your difficult situation, give me a
call. I constantly strive to stay current in breastfeeding research
and am constantly gathering new information and techniques to assist
breastfeeding mothers and babies.
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Deirdre Cannon, IBCLC, RLC
I have been working with nursing moms since I became a La Leche League
Leader in 2005 and became a board-certified lactation consultant in 2009.
I am the proud mommy of three beautiful breastfed children. My first son
and I struggled greatly to establish our nursing relationship. The
struggles I had with him taught me a lot and gave me a desire to help other
mothers in similar difficult situations. Nursing was and is one of the
most gratifying experiences in my life and I strive to help other moms have
similar wonderful experiences. I have assisted moms in all kinds of
situations from basic latch issues, low milk supply, returning to work,
tongue and lip ties, and even emotional support. Always keeping in mind
that every nursing couple is different, I continuously strive to learn as
much as I can to help moms and their nurslings. My goal is to help you have
the best nursing experience you can have.
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Kara Rosales, IBCLC, RLC
After the
birth of my first child I felt intuitively that breastfeeding them was the way
we were designed not only to feed our babies, but also to mother and parent them.
Seeking support, I attended the For Babies' Sake support meetings when my
children were babies, and was constantly in awe over
the way Mellanie and Deirdre helped the mothers and
babies that came to them. Inspired to support mothers in a similar way, I became a La Leche
League Leader and sat for the IBCLC board exam a few years after that. I
feel so fortunate to have learned so much through the mentorship Mellanie
and Deirdre have graciously given me. I would not be where I am today
without their support and guidance. It's a gift for me to be able to help
moms overcome any obstacles they may face to reach their own goals in
breastfeeding and mothering.
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When might you call
a lactation consultant?
- if you are
experiencing persistent nipple pain, cracked or
blistered nipples
- if you have or
suspect you may have a breast infection
- if baby is not
able to latch
- if baby is not
gaining an appropriate amount of weight
- if you have been
told to supplement with formula but want to
preserve breastfeeding
- if you want to
develop a plan for returning to work
- if you need a
quality, personalized prenatal breastfeeding class
- if you feel that breastfeeding is just not going well, or you are not enjoying breastfeeding
- if you suspect baby has a tongue or lip tie
- if you are planning on inducing lactation for an adoptive baby or a surrogate baby
A visit with a
lactation consultant is generally cheaper than the cost
of just one month of formula. It is well worth the
investment to seek the help that will allow you to
continue to breastfeed, not only to save the cost
of formula, but also for the money you will save in
doctor visits, dental care and the priceless emotional
and psychological advantages of breastfeeding for both
mom and baby.
Why should you trust us with your breastfeeding journey?
We know it can be confusing, CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor), LLLL (La Leche League Leader), CLEC (Certified Lactation Educator and Counselor), CBE (Certified Breastfeeding Educator), Lactation Nurses, Baby Nurses, Postpartum Doulas, or others.
Those supporters can be very helpful in the normal course of breastfeeding by
telling you what's normal or giving invaluable support. Many of those
designations have 2-5 days of training, and usually no hands on clinical
experience is required. Some people want to rely on their Pediatrician or OB,
but breastfeeding is really not their primary concern or expertise. They also
may be looking at just the baby, or just the mom and not the two together.
IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. IBCLCs
are required to have specific college credits including Nutrition, Anatomy &
Physiology, Sociology, Child Psychology, and others. We are also required to
have 90 hours of Lactation specific education, and medical courses like Ethics,
Medical Documentation, and Medical Terminology. That also includes 500-1000
hours of clinical, hands on experience with mothers and babies. Each of the For
Babies' Sake IBCLCs spent 3-5 years earning our certification.
We also have to re-certify with continuing education credits every 5 years. We
personally invest our time and income to our continuing education, by choosing
conferences and workshops that we feel will benefit the families we serve.
Even if you have seen another IBCLC, we have completed Advanced Level IBCLC
courses so that we may be able to offer another perspective. We all have
different experiences in our backgrounds that help shape our knowledge base and
specialties. Different IBCLCs are able to offer different perspectives and
often times a second opinion leads to new solutions. Breastfeeding problems are
not always straight forward and are often multifaceted so many issues can be
easily missed. Just because your problem persists does not mean breastfeeding
is not possible for you; it just means maybe you need to add someone else to
your troubleshooting team.
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