Help With
Breastfeeding:
Information and Support
Lactation Consultants
It can be helpful for newly nursing mothers to arrange a meeting
with a lactation consultant a day or two after birth to obtain personal,
professional assistance about breastfeeding. A lactation consultant
(LC) is a specialist who is trained in helping mothers by providing
accurate breastfeeding information and solving common problems.
The name of a LC can be obtained from your local La
Leche League, pediatrician's office, or the yellow pages.
Mothers may want to meet with an LC before birth as well, to prepare
themselves mentally, physically and emotionally for breastfeeding
an infant.
Founded in 1956 by seven women who had learned about successful breastfeeding while nursing their own babies, La Leche League International is the only organization with the sole purpose of helping breastfeeding mothers. It now has 8,000 leaders and 3,000 local groups in the United States alone. La Leche groups meet regularly in communities worldwide to share breastfeeding information and mothering experience. Telephone counseling is available 24-hours a day, along with access to an extensive library of breastfeeding literature. When a woman joins the La Leche League, she enters into a mother-to-mother helping network, a priceless resource for breastfeeding and parenting help, support, knowledge, and inspiration. The information that couples or single parents can receive and the friends they make often carry over into helpful support during the early years of parenting.