During your pregnancy consider taking the following two steps to prepare for breastfeeding:
Connect with a lactation consultant whom you can phone after your baby’s birth if necessary. Doing this research is the last thing you’ll want to do when you’re a brand new parent and desperate for help. An appointment with a lactation consultant in the comfort of your own home can make all the difference in the world for building a strong foundation for nursing. I wish I had called my lactation consultant earlier; in a matter of minutes, she corrected my latch and taught me how to break suction without feeling like I was ripping my nipple off. It was worth every penny (and our insurance reimbursed it when I sent in a retroactive prescription from our midwife).
Find your local La Leche League. If possible, attend a meeting while pregnant so that you can ask lots of questions and observe nursing babies. At a minimum, locate the phone number for your local LLL leader. She is an excellent resource to call upon if you have basic questions not requiring the expertise of a lactation consultant, or if you are unable to afford a lactation consultant. She also provides an excellent place to start when researching your options for a lactation consultant.
