25 | Educating Families, Healthcare Providers, and Communities about Lactation

People don’t know what they don’t know about breastfeeding. As a lactation consultant, you have the unique opportunity to educate families, other healthcare providers, and members of your community about the different feeding methods. By increasing awareness and understanding for breastfeeding, chestfeeding, formula feeding, and supplementation, you are making your job easier down the road when people feel more comfortable coming to you for help when they feel they need it.“You’re building a community that values infant feeding and values continuing education about lactation…creating a connection that is fulfilling for everyone.” In this episode, we will cover:IBCLCs are the gold standard for lactation care because of the high expectations and great responsibilities that they have to their clients and communities, and part of this is being competent in educating.You may find it helpful to offer classes such as Basics, Getting Started, Returning to Work, Starting Solids and Weaning, or other focused classes to the families in your community.In online and in-person community groups, it is best to just stick to announcing your classes and not get sucked into responding to clinical questions or engaging in advocacy inside someone’s personal thread about their own experienceA great way to educate healthcare providers is to create informational resources that they can review and hand out to relevant patients.Look into creating continuing education opportunities locally and at conferences to meet healthcare providers (and medical students) where they are.Consider reaching out to local schools and groups to see if you could share with students about lactation consulting as a profession since many of them have never heard of it but might consider following that path in the future.The more we talk about breastfeeding in the community, the more comfortable people will be breastfeeding and talking about breastfeeding, and the positive impacts on the community of a more healthy breastfeeding culture are too great to be measured. This episode is sponsored by IntakeQ. Use IntakeQ to collect client information for the superbill, even if they are out of network. IntakeQ is offering Lactation Business Coaching podcast listeners a discount on their first 3 months using the service at this link. Links and Resources“Tongue-Tied” bookLactation Business Coaching websiteLactation Business Coaching FacebookSubscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membershipHave an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram and leave us a review on iTunes.  About UsLeah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.Many thanks to Stephanie Granade for her production assistance, and to Silas Wade for creating our theme music.  Thanks to our monthly supporters Emily Maize Tiffany Gillies Gina Pepe Gina Pepe Sara Huddleston Sara Huddleston Allison Walsh Allison Walsh Rebecca Leese Rebecca Leese Celia Clark-Randall Celia Clark-Randall Chanelle Andrews Denise McDonald Denise McDonald Mary Muse JOC Team JOC Team Heather Bell Heather Bell Nicole Letizia Nicole Letizia Cathleen Walker Sarah Shapiro, IBCLC Sarah Shapiro, IBCLC Theresa Hardy Heather Martin Heather Martin Susan Johnson Susan Johnson Maggie Rezende Maggie Rezende Elizabeth Stapleton Elizabeth Stapleton Heather Mastro Heather Mastro Melanie Tarr Melanie Tarr Molly McMillion Molly McMillion Morenike Tyehimba Morenike Tyehimba Margot Hodes Margot Hodes Denise McDonald Denise McDonald Audrey Thompson Audrey Thompson Beth Brownstein Beth Brownstein Zee Ifan Zee Ifan Maria o Sullivan ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★