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Novant Health has a strong lactation program with many ways for mother's to get help with breastfeeding. Listen as a lactation consultant explains what's available in this episode of Latch On.
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Gina DiPietro 0:00
One of the most common anxieties of early motherhood is navigating the everyday difficulties of breastfeeding. Whether you're family planning or expanding your family, our experts are here to help. I'm Gina DiPietro, your host for Latch On: A Novant Health podcast series featuring breastfeeding content for women at all stages of their journey in motherhood. Novant Health is a Baby Friendly USA hospital where we consider breastfeeding to be the norm. Learn all about the benefits of breastfeeding both for mom and baby, skin-to-skin contact, how to pick up on hunger cues and navigate your postpartum experience, plus other expert advice. Stay tuned.
Gina DiPietro 0:43
I'm here with Danette Anderson, a lactation consultant at Novant Health Pediatrics Symphony Park in Charlotte. And Danette, Novant Health has a really strong lactation program with many ways for moms to get professional support should they choose to breastfeed. Can you run through some of the ways that moms can get help?
Danette Anderson 1:01
We do have a great lactation program through Novant Health and there are several different resources. There are two pediatric offices within Novant that have lactation consultants available to do in person consultations. So Symphony Park Pediatrics, which is who I work for, and then Matthews Children's Clinic, which is who Lita Morrison works for. We do in-person consultations for patients at our offices, the mom can bring the baby in. We do feeding assessments, intake weights, and feeding plans. And we follow up with that mom, baby, and parent as long as needed. They have, you know, from the newborn until they're a year old. Until they are confident with where they are. They can reach out to us through my chart if they have any questions, but really just make as many visits as they need to with us until they feel confident. That's been very nice to work in the pediatric office, to work alongside these amazing pediatricians and support families. Having everything available in one office is very convenient for the families and it's nice seeing the baby's growth. The other resources that we have is through the Nursing Mother's Place. We have several locations Main, Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville, and Forsyth. They offer both inpatient and outpatient breastfeeding support. So whenever moms have their babies in the hospital, lactation consultants will see them every day. They'll help with latching, initiate pumping if needed, and then do discharge feeding plans. And then once they go home, they can make an outpatient appointment with them to come back to the office and do the same thing that we do here at the pediatric office. A feeding assessment, intake weight and feeding plan, and once again, follow up with that family as often as needed until they're confident with breastfeeding. Nursing Mother's Place offering 24/7 virtual visits, so those can be scheduled online through MyChart. So that is nice for the mom to in the middle of the night If she needs some assistance that can have a virtual visit to get that lactation help. We also have the Baby Cafe, which is a support group for pregnant breastfeeding moms just to connect with others in the community. It's free and the group meets once a month. They do weight checks and they get help with latching, there's a lactation consultant there, and to meet new moms and, you know, a lot of people build relationships through these support groups. And then of course, we have the pediatricians that we would, you know, recommend that you speak with your pediatrician and have any questions about breastfeeding or need any guidance with that, as well as your OB doctor. And then there are their prenatal classes, too, that moms can go to prior to delivering the baby to learn about breastfeeding and kind of what to expect. We also have recently open location in the South Park area across from South Park Mall. It's South Park Breastfeeding, it's in the Azalea building. And they are open Monday through Friday for also doing in person and breastfeeding consultations. The outpatient works the same as it does here at the pediatric office as well as the Nursing Mothers Place and families can call to schedule an appointment and mom takes her baby in hunger for feeding. They will do a feeding assessment and take away a feeding plan and a once again follow up as often as needed until that mom is confident with breastfeeding.
Gina DiPietro 4:41
That is just a ton of different resources. I know that you said in your experience over the years that moms have a lot of concerns or anxieties around breastfeeding in general. So it's really nice to hear that they have this many ways to reach out and seek help.
Danette Anderson 4:59
Right, exactly. And, you know, lactation is always available, too, for if a mom just needs a phone call. If she has a question and, you know, we can always call her back and she can reach us through MyChart. She won't be able to find the lactation phone personally through MyChart, but if she can find that provider, like I know here, the pediatric office, whoever her primary care physician is, if she sends a message to them, she may say this is for Danette, and then that message is forwarded to me and I can respond back to her, or give her a call and talk with her. So, you know, we really do offer a lot of assistance with breastfeeding, because we know that this is such an important time for families, and we really want to be there to help them through this.
Gina DiPietro 5:43
What can happen if moms don't get the support they need? I can imagine this would be a lonely time for some.
Danette Anderson 5:50
Yeah, it definitely can. And I, you know, I've talked to moms who have delivered in, you know, maybe with their first or second baby, they've delivered in different states, and they didn't have the breastfeeding support so they gave up. And I think that's what happens a lot. If the supports not there and they're not sure what to do, or they have, you know, pain from latching and, you know, they don't have resources to get a breast pump, or, you know, that lactation assistant to help them you know, latch the baby on and see what the baby's transferring from the breast, you know, that moms may give up, because they may be worried that they don't know how much baby is getting. And so that's probably one of the biggest questions about breastfeeding is how much is baby getting. And so if they're worried about that, they may easily give up without that support.
Gina DiPietro 6:42
Anything else that you would add around this topic?
Danette Anderson 6:45
The only thing I would say is that, you know, we as a health care team, I feel like have a very strong lactation support system. And I really think it takes a village for all of us working together. From the hospital stay, and the nurse practitioners, and the neonatologist, and the nurses, and lactation, and pediatricians and OBGYNs and if I'm leaving anybody out, I'm sorry, but I really feel that it's so important to work together as a as a healthcare team to support these moms and families with breastfeeding and to help them be successful. And, you know, I think we're just all grateful to have such a strong system to be there and help.
Gina DiPietro 7:35
Thank you for listening to this episode of Latch On, a breastfeeding podcast series under Novant Health Healthy Headlines. Find lots of other episodes under the Healthy Headlines channel ... everything from flu season to COVID-19, mental health advice and other great resources to keep you and your family healthy. We're on Apple, Google, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. I'm Gina DiPietro, your host, and we hope to see you back here real soon.