Lactation Consultant

A lactation consultant is a specially trained individual who can help nursing mothers overcome their breastfeeding problems. The consultants are knowledgeable and experienced in handling all types of nursing problems and can help the mothers and also the infants to overcome their troubles. There are many aspects that can cause problems for the infants and mothers during breastfeeding. Some of the common problems are – improper positioning of the baby, improper techniques adopted by the mothers, improper feeding techniques of the babies, pains, sores or lacerations on breasts, overflow of milk, less quantity of breastmilk, breast milk pumping, etc. Lactation consultants are qualified professional who can give professional advice on any of the problems that the nursing mothers may face.

Lactation consultants are important for present day mothers because they invariably do not have an experienced woman in their houses that can help and guide them during nursing. Often, young and inexperienced mothers rush to their doctors and seek advice on small and trivial issues – for the lack of proper guidance. The doctors are, of course, equipped to solve these problems for the mothers but they will need to concentrate their efforts on actual medical issues and any consultation about breastfeeding problems is a waste of precious resource time. Doctors are also costly and the mothers will have to shell out a hefty sum as consultation charges for an issue that could have been easily resolved with proper guidance.

A lactation consultant steps in seamlessly into the role of a professional advisor for these young and inexperienced mothers. They have answers and solutions to all the breastfeeding troubles and they are also relatively inexpensive when compared to doctors’ consultation. Lactation consultant is a relatively new development in the field of health care and their numbers are still in the minority. Lactation consultant can choose to work in maternity hospitals, clinics or can also have their own practice. A few years ago, lactation consultants were appointed and allowed to ply their trade based on their experience in lactation and breastfeeding realms.

Nowadays, a lactation consultant needs to have a professional certificate; must have passed a certification course before he/she is allowed to practice. There are many institutions that offer certification courses, which are recognized by the government. However, a successful lactation consultant backs up the certification with quality experience before taking up the certification. Some institutions also offer experience developing workshops along with the certification courses.