A Letter to My Birth Professional Colleagues

Do you ever look at declining community breastfeeding rates and wonder how on earth we’re going to turn this ship around? So many factors influence our clients likelihood of reaching their breastfeeding goals. Most of these factors are outside of our control (culture, systemic challenges, misinformation etc etc) so it can feel like we’re not making a difference in the big scheme of things. It can feel overwhelming when you consider how much needs to change. Scientific knowledge of how to make breastfeeding more comfortable and fulfilling has evolved significantly - why hasn’t breastfeeding preparation?

Let’s focus on what we can control - providing our clients with the most effective resources available.

The truth is, how breastfeeding is being taught today just isn’t working (and many breastfeeding experts agree). So many of my IBCLC colleagues spend a huge amount of time scaffolding emotional regulation in parents - they know better than anyone how thoughts and emotions can make breastfeeding more difficult.

Traditional breastfeeding preparation is making breastfeeding more challenging, both physically and emotionally for your clients and their newborns. Your clients and their newborn are missing out on the multitude of health benefits of exclusively breastfeeding for at least one year.

Standard breastfeeding education is not evidence based. It’s also creating additional unnecessary work pressures in your business. You know it’s true.

As birth and breastfeeding professionals we invest a considerable amount of time and resources on our professional development. Yet sometimes our support and information just isn’t enough. With alarming rates of labor inductions and cesarean births the odds are stacked against so many of our clients. If they’ve only been exposed to traditional breastfeeding preparation they are at a significant disadvantage when these additional barriers are present.

Traditional Breastfeeding Support

There is so much we do to support new moms. We can help with positioning and latch, we can help set realistic expectations, provide information on safe sleep guidelines, provide a sympathetic listening ear, give reassurance and encouragement. But there’s so much more we can do to empower parents to prepare for that tsunami of emotions that WE know are coming in the very near future. The more empowered and confident parents become in the prenatal period the less they’ll struggle.

Clients Want to Learn

Parents are motivated to learn. But if you’ve been doing this work for a while you’ll already know that facts and figures (knowledge transfer) makes little difference to a distressed mom with an unsettled newborn at 3 am on Day 4. (Maybe you’ve personally experienced this too).

The rest of the world is asleep and that new mom feels exhausted, isolated and emotionally distressed. As a birth worker you’ve probably told your clients to call you ANYTIME in that first week of postpartum (I know I have) but that’s not a sustainable solution.

Breastfeeding is considered a right brained activity - engaging the thinking/problem solving part of the brain about positions and steps inhibits the very maternal behavior moms and babies need. Research also suggests that mom’s recall is likely to be inhibited on Day 2 due to changing hormones.

The Missing Link - A Mind/Body Approach

Misinformation about breastfeeding from hospital staff certainly makes our work more challenging.

Imagine how much of your time would be freed up for you and your client to focus on other important aspects of postpartum instead of spending so much energy on breastfeeding ‘triage’ with new parents just home from hospital. Wouldn’t it be nice if moms needed less hands on support and you experienced less muscle strain learning over moms and babies for long periods.

We all remind clients ‘not to give up on a bad day’ or ‘this too shall pass’ - and those nuggets of advice can be so helpful on the tough days and nights.

Now you can help your clients regulate their own emotional state in a structured program that increases breastfeeding self-efficacy and confidence as well as physiologic breastfeeding. Your clients will learn how to cultivate the emotional resilience and confidence to cope with the intensity of postpartum emotions with mindfulness and self-compassion exercises taught in my Mindful Breastfeeding Program.

These are skills your client will rely on, long after you’ve finished working with them and long after their breastfeeding journey comes to an end. If you teach your own breastfeeding classes this resource will compliment not duplicate your work. (Did you know in 2021 a group of US Obstetricians recommend that every woman be taught mindfulness skills in pregnancy?)


My Vision for the Future of Breastfeeding Preparation

  • To provide parents with a toolkit of skills and strategies to make the first few weeks of postpartum considerably less stressful.

  • I want your clients to have access to evidence based meaningful breastfeeding preparation.

  • I want you to personally experience my Mindful Breastfeeding Program at no cost.

  • I want your clients to feel empowered to reach their breastfeeding goals while also protecting their mental health.

If what you’ve read so far resonates with you and my Mindful Breastfeeding approach aligns with your goals let’s talk. I’ll have an affiliate program launching in March. Start feeling excited about breastfeeding preparation again and let’s make a difference together.

Let’s shake up the breastfeeding preparation paradigm and give parents the tools they need for this next step in their journey.

Are you in?

Tracy