A lactation consultant is a certified professional who can help a mother with all breastfeeding difficulty. It is a new field that has been created due to a lack of proper training and support for breastfeeding needs in the medical community. The India has extremely low breastfeeding rates in comparison to the rest of the world, this is why lactation consultants are of utmost importance in the medical field to help mothers begin breastfeeding and maintain it. Most mothers stop breastfeeding because they find it painful or are afraid they do not have enough milk supply. Breastfeeding should NOT be painful and a lactation consultant can find the reason behind the painful breastfeeding and fix it. A breastfeeding consultant can also help you assess if your milk supply is enough and help you increase it if it is not.
An IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) will be able to assess the babys latch, the babys weight gain, and the mothers milk supply. There are times that the IBCLC will have to work with other health care team members to ensure the babys weight gain/loss is not due to medical reasons or anatomical problems such as tongue tie and lip tie in the baby.
