Breastfeeding Consultations
I refer to ‘baby’ throughout, however, it all equally applies to twins/triplets.
Home Visit Before Your Baby Is Born
An antenatal consultation usually takes around 90 minutes. It can be helpful to have your partner or support person there too.
We will talk over anything you want to discuss and what is important to you. I can answer questions you have and give you information about how to get breastfeeding off to a good start and some simple early days troubleshooting tips. I will leave you with a personalised folder of information you can refer to.
If you have had a previous difficult experience of breastfeeding, we will look at what happened and try to understand why.
Depending on your circumstances, we might discuss writing a feeding plan as an extra paragraph following on from your birth plan. I can help you write this. The feeding plan can be shared with health professionals caring for you and help you feel prepared for I will follow up with an email with a summary of what we talked about and links for further reading.any eventuality.
Home Visits £120
Home Visit follow up £90
Online video call 30 mins (Skype) £50
For home visits more than 30 miles from Northampton - mileage at 45 pence per mile is charged.
Price includes phone or email follow up for two weeks.
Payments by bank transfer, cash or cheque at the time of the consultation
Home Visit After Your Baby Is Born
Your partner or anyone else who is helping you, are welcome to attend the consultation.
We will talk about how feeding is going, and I will take a full history including your health and any issues baby has had.
When your baby is ready to breastfeed, we can explore different positions finding what works for you and your baby. I can support you to help you recognise effective feeding and how to use breast compression and switch nursing if appropriate. We may explore the use of breastfeeding aids such as an at breast nursing supplementer or nipple shields.
I will do a full breastfeeding assessment, looking at how your baby feeds. As part of this assessment, I can do an oral assessment and identify if there is any tongue restriction which may be impacting on the way your baby feeds. I do not carry out tongue tie divisions but I can discuss this with you and make suggestions for further evaluation.
It may be that your baby isn’t able to take all the milk he needs at the breast. We will look at different ways of feeding extra milk, maybe by cup, spoon, bottle or nursing supplementer.
I can guide you to find quick, effective ways to express your milk to build your supply and give your baby as much of your milk as possible.
Understanding your baby’s behaviour and feeding cues can help you adjust to life as a breastfeeding mother and build your confidence. If your baby seems fussy we can talk about possible reasons for this and I can share tips and ideas to help.
Maybe you have concerns about mastitis or blocked ducts, we can discuss strategies to help and prevent them recurring. If your nipples are sore, I can help you with information about nipple healing.
We will talk through next steps, giving you the opportunity to make informed decisions, considering your goals and time commitments. Any plan needs to ensure you can get some sleep and enjoy time with your baby too. I can give you a written summary of what we have discussed and your plan. As part of the ongoing support you will receive, we can continue to discuss how things are going and keep everything under review.
I can include a brief report of our consultation in baby’s Red Book for your midwife/health visitor/GP.
When you book your consultation, I will send you an email or text confirming everything and with some information ahead of the consultation.
I will encourage you to keep in touch by email/telephone/text. Included in the fee for your home visit is two weeks follow up support by email, text, or telephone. Some mothers may feel a second consultation would be helpful.
I also offer 30 minute, online video-call consultations via Skype. This is a useful option if you have a couple of questions and don't need me to observe a full feed in person.