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 …
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All Things Breastfeeding Ep 81: Julie’s story resolving ongoing breastfeeding pain
Breastfeeding/chestfeeding should not be painful! Ongoing and significant breastfeeding pain is a sign that something is wrong. Unfortunately, Julie's feeding journey was full of pain for the first few months! She was in a lot of discomfort both while the baby was feeding, later in between feeds and throughout the day as well. It turned out this was from multiple causes. If you are a lactation …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 78: Liz’s Breastfeeding and Induced Lactation Story
This one is so special! Liz shares her journey of growing her family via a gestational surrogate, and how she induced lactation to bring in her own milk supply! Jessica hosted, and said "beautiful" and "oh my gosh" more times than you can count throughout this amazing story of strength, support, and love for baby Eve and Liz's family. (Apologies that Liz's microphone was a bit crackly during our …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 77: Plugged Ducts and Mastitis New Protocol
New Mastitis protocol? Yes, the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine has added a new protocol, #36, the Mastitis Protocol. Actually, it is updated but the ideas in it are so revolutionary, it may as well be new! Dr. Katrina Mitchell was a major force behind these changes. She had noticed in her clinic as a Breastfeeding Medicine Doctor, that parents with recurrent mastitis tended to be …
All Things Breastfeeding Episode 76: Sarah’s Breastfeeding Story
Sarah's breastfeeding story Sometimes it is so nice to just hear a positive breastfeeding story! We tend to hear more about the how things went wrong instead of right. Sarah is lucky enough to have a lot of family support and access to lactation help when she needed it, so guess what? She reached her infant feeding goals! This doesn't mean that her journey was easy but she was able to …
All Things Breastfeeding 75: Best Education Principles
Barbara is joined by Nancy Mohrbacher to talk about education, particularly about professional lactation education. In the field of education, the traditional method of lecture and Power Point stills dominates the trainings that are available. Research has show over and over again that this is one of the most non-effective ways to help people learn. The purpose of education is suppose to …
All Things Breastfeeding 74: Our North Stars
My work is extremely important to me and is a perfect fit for all of my beliefs and my personality. To me, what we do here at the Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor is to help families either become more attached to their babies (hopefully through breastfeeding but sometimes this isn't possible) and also help professionals learn how to best help families. Jessica, my colleague, has joined me …
Relactation Basics: For Parents and Professionals
Right now in Michigan we are experiencing a crisis in formula availability. This is leading many families to think about the idea of "relactation" so they can rely on their bodies instead of outside resources. This often comes from a "Desire to have a safe way to feed an infant during uncertain times, such as emergencies from natural disasters or disease outbreaks." Right now families in Michigan …
All Things Breastfeeding 72: 7 Must Know Changes in the Field of Lactation–A Conversation with Nancy Mohrbacher
In 2020 Nancy Mohrbacher published her latest book, Breastfeeding Answers, 2nd Edition. We jokingly call this book BA2 and it is one of the most important books in the field of lactation. I was honored that Nancy was willing to co-host a professional book group with me. I had hosted two other book groups before, Making More Milk, 2nd Edition with Lisa Marasco and Supporting Sucking Skills with …
All Things Breastfeeding 71: Miriam’s Story- Exclusively Pumping
So sorry for the delays in podcasts! COVID has done a real number on me and I have been struggling to get tasks done that are not critical. Jessica and I are committed to recording and releasing more often! Thank you for your patience. Barbara Back in May 2022 I got this email: "I don't expect you to remember, but 2 years ago we corresponded about writing a clinical perspective essay for …
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 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 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 …
All Things Breastfeeding 59: Lauren’s Breastfeeding Story
A new breastfeeding story! Lauren is a very experienced breastfeeding mother. She joins us today with baby Luke today to talk about her breastfeeding story. She has nursed four children! When you have more than one child it is important to remember that each breastfeeding experience will be different. Each breastfeeding journey is a unique journey. In her breastfeeding story you will hear how …
All Things Breastfeeding 58: Part 2 Jessica’s Story- Not latching baby!
Caleb not latching? Oh no! We continue Jessica's breastfeeding story. Please don't worry, it has a happy ending! We ended with Jessica in the pit of despair and Caleb not latching. Even with all the support and knowledge that Jessica has, she is ready for the final hoop to become an IBCLC, taking the exam, she really struggles with what her instincts tell her to do to help with a not latching …
All Things Breastfeeding 57: Part 1 Jessica’s 2nd Breastfeeding Story
Jessica's second breastfeeding story is a dozy! When we have our second baby we think, well this has to be easier than the first time. Right? In Jessica's case this was not true! Her breastfeeding story is powerful! Yes, those baby worries weren't there (you rarely worry that you might accidentally kill your second baby like you do your first), you know the signs of a well fed baby, and your …
Haakaa Survey: For Parents, For Professionals
The Haakaa The Haakaa is new tool for breastfeeding families and our profession. The research on this tool does not exist at this point in time. The purpose of these surveys is to get a sense of how and why the Haakaa is actually be used by families and how lactation professionals play into this data. Here are the links to the survey: Parents: …
All Things Breastfeeding 55: Is it time to wean your baby?
Know when it's time to wean your baby is not always easy. When is it time to wean your baby? Only you get to decide! Once a baby is over six months of age you can start to get pressure from others. Is that baby STILL nursing? Yes! Remember, the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding for at least 2 years! Here at The Breastfeeding Center of Ann Arbor we think the longer the …
Differences between breastmilk and formula
People often ask me what are the differences between breastmilk and formula? The short answer: a million. The long answer: are you ready for a whole lot of science? Often I will write about the benefits of breastfeeding but often people will say, "but I was formula fed (or I formula fed my child) and I (they) are fine!" But are they really? For one thing, I think we have to turn this whole …
All Things Breastfeeding 54: Jamie’s Breastfeeding Story
Jamie's Breastfeeding Story In this podcast episode Barbara and Jessica talk to Jamie about her breastfeeding journey with her little one Zelda. Each breastfeeding story is very different and Jamie's is no exception. She struggled with unexpected infertility which made her story very different than she planned before getting pregnant. Take a listen and enjoy! At The Breastfeeding Center of …
All Things Breastfeeding 53: Partners and Breastfeeding
Partners and breastfeeding? How do partners fit is with breastfeeding? This can look many ways, there is no one size fits all. In this podcast Jessica and Barbara talk about options for how this can look for families. The sound is a little wonky in this podcast so please forgive us! Many times if a family is breastfeeding, we think of the partner as the one who changes the diapers. Literally …
All Things Breastfeeding 52: Nipple Shield Survey Results!
Nipple shield survey results! Our nipple shield survey is discussed in this podcast. We had a whopping 4500 families and 500 lactation professionals fill out the survey! We got so much interesting information from this survey. Of course there are some limitations from the information we gathered. First of all, this survey was only distributed from Facebook. I put an announcement on …