Nancy and Barbara are celebrating that LactaLearning, Inc is now 3 years old! It is hard to believe that what started out as a dream for Barbara has evolved with Nancy into a thriving business. This podcast shares how Barbara and Nancy became colleagues over forming a book group with Breastfeeding Answers, 2nd Edition in 2020 (now offered as a self-study program), then developed a self-study …
Podcast
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 99: Interview with Kimberly Seals Allers
Kimberly Seals Allers words, "I’m a femtech founder, writer, speaker and maternal and infant health strategist with a bold vision to transform the experience of motherhood for all and to eradicate racial disparities in birth and breastfeeding." Kimberly is someone who sees an issue and works on solutions! She gets things done! Barbara was lucky to be able to catch up with Kimberly on All Things …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 98: Relactation and Induced Lactation
In this episode Nancy and Barbara discuss the latest findings on relacation and induced lactation. According to University of Western Australia’s LactaPedia, an online comprehensive glossary of human lactation terms freely available to professionals and parents (https://lactapedia.com/lactapedia-site/homee), relactation is defined as the re-establishment of lactation after the immediate …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 97: Interview with Kay Hoover
Barbara first meet Kay Hoover at her favorite conference, Lactation Consultants in Private Practice about 18 years ago. Kay and her dear friend Chris Mulford, created the conference to help private practice folks improve their skills. Kay has been in the field for years, in many different roles, working in private practice, at the hospital, and in public health. From the introduction to The …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 96: Interview with Dr. Anne Eglash
Wanting to get to know some of her favorite mentors who are the leaders in the field of lactation, Barbara Robertson is creating a series of podcasts to share with all of you! The first is with Dr. Anne Eglash. Barbara did an interview with Dr. English in 2015 about pain that is published here. Since that time Barbara became an advid fan of IABLE, the Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 95: Lipase
What's the deal with lipase? There was a recent paper published called Food-Derived Compounds Extend the Shelf Life of Human Milk. Nancy and Barbara found this very interesting and discuss the merits of the findings from this paper, what we actually know about lipase and human milk, and what should we be doing about lipase, if anything. They had many questions about this paper including the …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 94: How to Become an IBCLC – Common Questions
How to become an IBCLC.... The answer to this is not as simple as we would hope! In this podcast Nancy and Barbara answer some of the most common questions people ask about how to become an IBCLC. Below is a description of the process. You can also join us for our monthly "How to become an IBCLC" Zoom meeting on Monday, August 25 at 7 PM ET. Email barbara@lactalearning.com to join! How …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 86: Emily’s Returning to Work and Breastfeeding Story
In this parent interview episode, we focus on Emily's experience with returning to work and breastfeeding, specifically going back to work after maternity leave, pumping and continuing to breastfeed her baby. She worked as a hospital pharmacist in a fast-paced and high-pressure role, the type of job where taking a "break" to pump meant leaving extra work her team needed to cover. This is a …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 85: Alicia’s Returning to Work, Travel and Breastfeeding Story
We have another parent interview episode! We were thrilled when Alicia reached out to us from across the country to offer to share different parts of her feeding journey with baby Grant, especially factors related to returning to work and breastfeeding. We discussed Grant's week-long nursing strike soon after Alicia returned to work, the intense emotions involved, and what helped resolve that …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 83: The Power of Words and Breastfeeding Success
How important are our communication skills as lactation professionals for our families' success? This episode is all about the power of words as lactation supporters to boost or undermine our nursing families self efficacy. Barbara and Jessica discuss how the social emotional state of breast/chestfeeding families plays a huge role in the postpartum period and whether or not a family will achieve …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 82: All About Formula Feeding
Lots of families are using formula to feed their babies, either partially or fully, short-term or long-term. But there’s not a lot of info shared with parents on how to feed formula in the healthiest way. In today’s episode, we share some guidelines and ideas on bottle feeding techniques, appropriate amounts based on age and baby’s size, preparing formula bottles, and more. We also discuss the …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 80: Tara’s Story Pt 2
This is part two of Tara's breastfeeding story! This one got really long, so we made it into two parts. That's what happens when Jessica's best friend is the guest. They just kept going! Tara's original vision was to exclusively breastfeed Evie for at least a year. But as she says, even though these were her "best laid plans," the reality ended up quite different. She struggled with low milk …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 79: Tara’s Story Pt 1
This one got really long, so we made it into two parts! That's what happens when Jessica's best friend is the guest. They just kept going! Tara's original vision was to exclusively breastfeed Evie for at least a year. But as she says, even though these were her "best laid plans," the reality ended up quite different. She struggled with low milk supply, and Evie struggled with feeding at the breast …
All Things Breastfeeding 73: Doulas and Breastfeeding?
Yes! Yes! Yes! We say birth and postpartum doulas are the front line defenders of breastfeeding along with nurses and midwives! I believe that the explosion of doulas in Detroit, MI is one of main reasons for this incredibly, too long time in coming change: "According to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data, Detroit's infant mortality rate plunged from 16.7 deaths per 1,000 …
All Things Breastfeeding 70: Anna’s Breastfeeding Story- Breastfeeding Twins!
Breastfeeding twins? Yes! Sometimes you feel like breastfeeding one baby is almost impossible but then you have TWO babies! Anna shares her story about how she is successfully breastfeeding her twins. It was not easy but also achievable with the right help and support. When you have babies who are early, even a little bit, it can make the process harder. Although Anna's babies were born "term" …
All Things Breastfeeding 69: Becoming an IBCLC- Jessica’s Story
Becoming an IBCLC is not easy! Many people are surprised to find out that to becoming an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) is hard. You need 8 college courses, 6 continuing education courses, 300-1000 clinical hours working with breastfeeding families, a 90 hour professional lactation course, and THEN you can qualify to take a four hour exam. It is a true profession! If …
All Things Breastfeeding 68: The Beauty of Hand Expression!
What is hand expression? Great question! Basically it means getting breastmilk out of a lactation breast without a baby or a breast pump. At The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor, hand expression is a typical tool we review with most of our families because you never know when you might get caught with no baby, no pump, and a full breast! Literally a life saver. Practice does make perfect …
All Things Breastfeeding 67: Breastfeeding Book Groups!
Breastfeeding book groups? What on earth do I mean by breastfeeding book groups? So, fall of 2019 I had just finished helping Lisa Marasco with some final edits of her and Diana West' new edition of Making More Milk, 2nd Edition. The holidays were coming and I ordered a copy of the book for each of my interns. I thought to myself, we should read this together as a book group. Let me explain a …
Episode 66: Karen’s Breastfeeding Story
OMG. It has been too long! Karen and I recorded this back in June but due to Covid I haven't been able to get this to move to the top of my list to publish. Thank Jessica for pushing me (in the nicest way) to keep after this and get it done! We love breastfeeding stories. Karen's is very interesting because she is actually part of the health care system herself. She did great with breastfeeding …
Episode 65: Interview with Nancy Mohrbacher- New book group!
Barbara Robertson chats with Nancy Mohrbacher about her new edition of Breastfeeding Answers, 2nd Edition and their upcoming project. Do you want to unlock the secrets of Breastfeeding Answers, 2nd Edition? Barbara D. Robertson will be joined by Nancy Mohrbacher, the author of the book, to discuss their upcoming venture and break this down for you. Having a structured format of a book group …
All Things Breastfeeding 64: Oversupply!
Oversupply? Too much breastmilk? Is that really a problem? The answer is, YES, oversupply is a big problem for people who are struggling with this. Milk everywhere, choking babies, are there answers? For sure! Listen to this podcast to get more information. Symptoms: Baby choking Baby clucking at the beginning of feed (when the milk is flowing fast) or during let downs Fussy babies Milk …
All Things Breastfeeding 63: Melissa’s Breastfeeding Story
Another breastfeeding story! This one is particularly dear to Barbara's heart. Melissa came to see Barbara after the birth of her first baby and was struggling with her rate of breastmilk production. Although Melissa was able to increase her supply a bit, she still needed to supplement her baby. Second baby When Melissa was pregnant with her second baby she called Barbara to set up a prenatal …
All Things Breastfeeding 62: Updated COVID updates
Here are our COVID updates! Barbara accidently published the unedited version of this podcast! Here is the edited version. Sorry! Jessica COVID updates Jessica is at home with her two your children trying not to miss a beat while being a full time parent and having her and her partner continue to work full time. This sadly, is a common theme. Although this is very challenging, Jessica is very …
All Things Breastfeeding 61: Conversation with Laurel Wilson IBCLC!
A conversation with Laurel Wilson IBCLC! Yes, we were lucky enough that Laurel Wilson IBCLC reached out to us to do a podcast. We have been big fans of Laurel for a number of years. I attended a talk to hers in Grand Rapids a number of years ago and was hooked! Don't know Laurel Wilson IBCLC yet? Laurel has the site Mother Journey. "Tens of thousands of research articles are published each year …