Tag: breastfeeding

Online Learning Options

Evidence-based online courses for learning about childbirth, feeding your baby, and postpartum planning.

Everything might feel upside down right now, but learning what you need to know when you are expecting doesn’t have to be a scramble! In the past few years, there has been a wealth of information for expecting families that has moved online. I know that online learning isn’t everyone’s preferred method, BUT it can be really great, not just for times when we are in the midst of a pandemic. Online learning can be a great way to work around busy schedules. It also allows you to learn about things privately that you might not want to discuss in front of a group of strangers. Learning about what to expect is a great way to mitigate fears.

I have searched the internet and found some great online courses for learning that I am honestly excited to recommend to you. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it will definitely get you started in looking at online courses. (Full disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you click through and buy things.) I am only posting links to evidence-based courses that I am happy to send my clients. I will try to keep updating this list when I find more great online classes too!

Childbirth Education

Lamaze has 6 different online courses for expecting parents:

  • FREE Labor Confidence with Lamaze Course here
  • Safe & Healthy Birth: Six Simple Steps here
  • Labor Pain Management: Techniques for Comfort and Coping here
  • Breastfeeding Basics: From Birth to Back to Work here
  • Bringing Home Baby here
  • Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC): Informed and Ready here

If you are looking for a great overview, you should check out Alice Turner’s FREE class Birth A to Z here. This is filled with videos about all kinds of topics that you might not find in every birth class.

The Birth Nurse has an entire Lamaze course already online, if that is something you have been searching for. She also co-teaches a live class called Fearless Birth, Delivered where you get a fun box of tools in the mail and live instruction. You can save money on both these courses by using the coupon code: BIRTHGEEKS. Mandy’s YouTube Channel is chock full of information too!!

If you are looking for a more comprehensive online learning class with a natural focus, you should check out the Giving Birth Naturally Courses here. I have also had clients rave about Mama Natural’s online childbirth education course that you can find here.

Thinking about trying out hypnosis for labor? Check out this course by the Positive Birth Company here. This class is inexpensive and includes printable content as well as downloadable tracks to listen to in labor.

Supporting Your Partner

Adriana Lozada, of the Birthful Podcast fame, has this great course that promises to take partners from clueless to “I got this!” Check out The Birth Partner’s Ultimate Labor Support Toolkit here.

If you loved Birth A to Z with Alice, you should definitely check out her course just for partners called Supporting Her here. She’s even added a new labor practice module recently due to the pandemic!

Feeding Baby

Bonnie Holt Logsdon is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant that I know in Louisville, & she has some great new online courses to check out here. These include a FREE 2 hour breastfeeding basics class, as well as low cost classes on back to work pumping & starting solids too.

Lactation Link has some great classes too that you can find here on brestfeeding basics, hurdles & how-tos, & pumping and storing breast milk too. You can get 15% off their courses when you use this coupon code: doulagroupofevansville15.

If you want to learn more about feeding your little humans, first of all you should go follow the Feeding Littles pages all over social media, because they are great for information! But if you want to learn more about feeding babies and toddlers the healthy way, check out their online courses here. You can use our coupon code for $10 off the courses too: DOULAGROUPOFEVANSVILLE

Postpartum

Oh yeah, there are courses for that too! Adriana Lozada has a postpartum planning worksheet that you can get just by giving her your email address here. She also has a great class called Thrive With Your Newborn: Postpartum Prep Course that you should check out here.

Online learning options have come so far recently. I hope you will consider checking these things out, especially if your planned class got cancelled recently due to COVID-19. Preparing for birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum helped ease my anxiety and take some of the worry out of it all. I hope that these classes will be able to do the same for you.

If these online learning opportunities still leave you wondering how they compare to our local options, I would love to talk to you! As a doula and childbirth educator in Evansville since 2014, I am a professional at helping people navigate the local birthing scene. Happy learning!

Meeting You Where You Are: Beacon Breastfeeding Support, LLC

Individualized feeding support now available in your tri-state home.

Today is the last day of World Breastfeeding Week 2019, and I could not let this week finish without highlighting one of the most amazing new resources we have here in the tri-state area. Holly Phillips has worked as a birth professional for the past 8 years, as a DONA certified birth doula, Lamaze certified childbirth educator, and La Leche League leader. Holly has a true passion for helping growing families, and is now branching out in a new business as this area’s only independent international board certified lactation consultant! I have known Holly for close to 6 years, and can tell you that she is fantastically warm and bubbly with an enormous heart for service, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how very INTELLIGENT and savvy she is too. Are you as curious about her new business as I was? Then read on to find out her answers to my top 5 questions:

1. Why are you passionate about helping new families
with breastfeeding? 

My passion for helping families with breastfeeding began with my own
difficulties nursing my first baby. We worked with numerous feeding
specialists in the hospital and once we were discharged. However, my
daughter was never able to breastfeed. I became an exclusive pumper and decided to educate myself so that my next attempts at breastfeeding
might be more successful. As a doula, and later as a La Leche League
leader I had the honor of assisting families with breastfeeding education, but I still wanted to do more. In January 2019, I became an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant because it allowed me to address
more complex breastfeeding situations, be more hands-on in assessing
and assisting dyads and offer comprehensive support. 

2. How are your services different than a hospital-based IBCLC? 

First of all, I want to clarify that I am extremely grateful for hospital-
based IBCLCs, they are often the first line of support in getting babies to
breastfeed successfully at the start. They work to improve hospital
protocols that impact feeding at their facilities. However, it can be
difficult for them to offer services that extend beyond the newborn
period. Because I have the ability to come to families where they are and where they breastfeed most often, I am able to create a truly
individualized plan of care utilizing the support network they have in
place. I try to look at all pieces of the puzzle when there are breastfeeding difficulties and because I set my own schedule, I can spend as much time as needed to help families work through the often multi-layered issues
that lead to problems with feeding. 

3. Are your services covered by insurance? 

I currently do not accept any insurance. I can provide a superbill for visits which families may utilize to seek reimbursement from their insurance
companies. I cannot guarantee reimbursement. 

4. What is your favorite part about being an independent IBCLC?

Working with families in their own home environment allows me to form a solid professional relationship that accounts for all the variables that
impact the breastfeeding relationship. I create plans based on these
variables and have more flexibility because I get to craft my own protocols for addressing concerns using evidence-based information. 
I get to know families on a more personal level, and there is frequent
follow up so that continuity of care is maintained. 

5. What is the biggest misconception about IBCLCs? 

I think the biggest misconception about IBCLCs is that we do not support mothers who bottlefeed or use formula to supplement babies. While my
goal is to help families provide breastmilk to their babies, I value any
amount of breastmilk babies receive and often work with families on
introducing a bottle safely. Every family deserves respect and compassion around their feeding goals. 

Holly is magnificent, and I sincerely hope that she is a HUGE success, as I know that more support for breastfeeding is a GREAT thing! You can find Holly at:

Learning Opportunities!

Greetings and salutations! I am so excited about some upcoming learning opportunities for families and professionals too!

On May 4th from 9am-noon you can come learn all about Coping with Labor Naturally in this fun class. We’ll laugh and have fun, and I promise that there will be snacks too! This is the 2nd time I’m teaching this class, and this time I am going to make sure to build in more time for ask the doula questions! I still have some spots available for interested expecting families, so email me today if you are interested to reserve your spot for this class packed with practical tips for dealing with contractions.

On Saturday May 11th, you can head over to the beautiful space of Studio 3 in Henderson, KY where I will be speaking in a special class for expecting parents! I’ll be focusing my short time on answering these questions: What does a doula actually do? What is the difference between standard and evidence-based care? What are the top 3 natural ways to cope with labor? What are 3 ways a peanut ball can help you in labor? Sign up quick, because spots are extremely limited for this exclusive class where you can also learn from other local experts about yoga, chiropractic care, and essential oils for pregnancy and birth!

Are you passionate about breastfeeding and want to learn more to better support those around you, gain some new skills and vocabulary, and maybe start a journey towards becoming a Certified Lactation Educator? Maybe breastfeeding keeps coming up in your job or life and you feel compelled to be better educated about all things lactation. Join me and my friend Bonnie (who will be featured in an upcoming blog post) for this really informative training May 16th-18th.

May is just chock full of learning opportunities! Please contact me if you have any questions about all of the above chances to learn!

Finally, just a quick note to tell you that if you wander over to the services section of my website now, you will find some links to 6 different amazing online classes that are now being offered by Lamaze! Check them out here. I know in-person classes are not everyone’s thing for lots of different reasons, and these classes are going to contain all kinds of excellent evidence-based information about each of the 6 topics: Labor confidence, safe and healthy birth, labor pain management, breastfeeding, bringing baby home, and VBAC. If you purchase the class through those links, I will get a little bit of money for recommending them to you, so don’t do it if you aren’t comfortable with that.

I am a lifelong learner, and I will always be committed to making my classes accessible to as many people as possible. I know I have a bunch of letters after my name, but I promise that I am not as scary as all of those might make me seem! Come learn with me!!

Breastfeeding in the Tristate

Photo by Dave Clubb on Unsplash


Let’s start with some information about Breastfeeding Rates among Infants Born in 2015/ Percentage of Live Births Occurring at Baby Friendly Facilities, 2018 in a lovely little table:

INILKYUS Average
Ever Breastfed78.8%80.3%73.9%83.2%
Breastfeeding @ 6 months53.5%53%48.6%57.6%
Breastfeeding @ 12 months33%33.8%28.2%35.9%
Exclusive through 3 months47.5%39.6%39.8%46.9%
Exclusive through 6 months31.7%19.5%21.1%24.9%
Received formula before 2 days old11.8%20.7%19.8%17.2%
Baby Friendly Hospital Births31%22.3%24.5%26.1%

US Averages above do not include Puerto Rico or Guam. You can find all of this information here if you would like.

These are our Indiana 2020 breastfeeding goals we are trying to reach:
-Exclusive breastfeeding through 3 months: 46.2%
-Exclusive through 6 months: 25.5%
-Breastfeeding at 6 months: 60.6%
-Special emphasis on increasing breastfeeding rates among infants of African-American descent, infants of mothers under 20 years of age, infants of low-income mothers, & infants of mothers who get little or no prenatal care.

-You can find all of these Indiana public health goals here if you want to read more.

  • Here in Indiana, we have some room for improvement on these goals:
  • Initiation of breastfeeding
  • Breastfeeding at 6 months
  • Breastfeeding at 12 months
  • Exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months
  • Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months
  • % of breastfed infants receiving supplementation before 2 days of age
  • Number of Certified Lactation Consultants per 1,000 live births

If you want to read the numbers for these, they can be found on page 5 at: https://www.in.gov/isdh/files/Indiana_State_Breastfeeding_Plan_Final_2016.pdf

I couldn’t find hospital specific rates, but that’s ok. Both local hospitals in Evansville are Baby Friendly, and we know that has been demonstrated to be a great thing when it comes to breastfeeding rates!

Breastfeeding can be complicated, and every breastfeeding journey can be different. I know mine were with each of my two babies. There are all kinds of barriers to breastfeeding that are personal, structural, and cultural. Usually the three biggest barriers to breastfeeding that I see are

1. Lack of education about breastfeeding,

2. Lack of support for breastfeeding at multiple levels,

3. Lack of time to establish excellent breastfeeding practices.

These are certainly not the only issues, but they are definitely big ones from my perspective.

For breastfeeding parents, there are resources to help you!

A lot of people like to start their research online. Kelly Mom and La Leche League are always my go-to sites for good evidence-based information about breastfeeding.

If you prefer in person support, both Evansville hospitals have excellent lactation departments (one even does remote help via video calls), all tri-state area WIC offices have peer lactation counselors, the Pre to 3 Program s available for qualified families (https://www.preto3program.com/) through the Health Department, and we have an excellent local La Leche League group that has regular meetings and a support hotline. My friend Holly Phillips is also a new independent International Board Certified Lactation Consultant based out of Owensboro and is planning to make some visits to homes in Evansville too with her new business Beacon Breastfeeding Support!

If you are passionate about teaching other people about lactation, being a peer support person, or even expanding your professional knowledge and skills to better support breastfeeding families no matter what your job is, you should think about coming to the upcoming Certified Lactation Educator training here in Evansville with the brilliant Bonnie Logsdon from The Baby’s Voice (https://www.thebabysvoice.com/)! I will be writing more about Bonnie & the class in a later blog post, but you can find more information here if you are interested.

You should also think about joining us at the Southwest Indiana Breastfeeding Coalition if you are able! You can find us on Facebook and join us for our upcoming meeting on Tuesday 3/19 at the Vanderburgh Health Department from 11:30am-1pm. It is one of my favorite meetings to attend, and certainly filled with people who all support breastfeeding in this area.

The bottom line is this: people who want to breastfeed should be supported in every way possible. There are resources to help families succeed in their breastfeeding goals no matter what they are, and I want everyone to know about them. Breastfeeding is a skill for parents and babies to learn, and everyone deserves the education, support, and time to make their breastfeeding goals a reality.