Lactation Consultants and Breastfeeding Support

You and your baby benefit from breastfeeding. That’s because breastfeeding:

• Helps protect your baby from getting sick
• Helps you recover from childbirth
• Promotes bonding
• Provides your baby with nutrients needed to grow and develop

Start your breastfeeding journey in your last trimester of pregnancy with a free class at Stamford Health. The class is led by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®). In this class, you and your partner may learn about:

• Benefits of breastfeeding
• Breastfeeding after you return to work
• Medication safety while breastfeeding
• Nutrition while breastfeeding
• Ways to prepare for breastfeeding

After your baby arrives, a lactation consultant will visit your room within the first hour. You’ll receive help getting your baby to latch and assistance with positioning. A lactation consultant will visit your hospital room each day to help you feel confident breastfeeding.

Work with a lactation specialist to help you:

• Create a feeding schedule
• Give your baby a full meal
• Keep up your breast milk supply
• Pump effectively
• Relieve engorged breasts
• Soothe sore, cracked or dry nipples
• Store breast milk properly

If your baby needs care in The Cohen Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), feel confident that our team will help you and your baby breastfeed. we will work to meet any challenges for you and your baby to successfully breastfeed. Spend time with your baby and a lactation consultant in our NICU transition rooms before you go home.

Before your baby leaves the NICU, we will schedule his or her first well visit with a Stamford Health neonatologist or doctor who specializes in the care of newborns.

• This one-time “bridge” appointment gives more specialized attention to your baby before building a relationship with your pediatrician. At this visit, we’ll address any concerns you may have.
• We also offer additional testing for jaundice, a common concern among parents, with results ready to discuss before you leave the appointment.
• If your baby is eligible, the visit may eliminate the need for any additional bloodwork.