Booking with an online lactation consultant can be a game-changer for moms who need help right away, don’t have local access to quality care, or want to enjoy the convenience that online consults bring. There are many benefits to booking an online breastfeeding consult, but many moms have a hard time deciding who to book with. Here are 7 must-know tips for choosing an online lactation consultant for breastfeeding help.

Online Lactation Consults Are Helpful For Many Different Problems

Here are a few common reasons parents book an online lactation consult:

• Prenatal breastfeeding education
• Help with latching and positioning
• Increasing milk transfer for sleepy babies
• Working through possible causes of nipple pain and solutions
• Treatment for engorgement, blocked ducts, mastitis
• Assessing whether overactive letdown and oversupply vs undersupply
• Creating a plan to increase milk supply
• Exclusive pumping and increasing output
• Storing & handling breast milk
• Bottle feeding the breastfed infant
• Using other forms to supplement baby (lactation aid, finger-feeding)
• Safe formula preparation
• Relactation
• Mother-led and infant-led weaning

“Lactation Consultant” is Not a Protected Title

This is super important. Anyone can call themselves a Lactation Consultant. If you are booking an online lactation consult, make sure that you know what that provider’s breastfeeding training and designations are.

An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is an expert in infant feeding. Whether you need help with latching and positioning, exclusive pumping, weaning, or bottle-feeding, you will want a good IBCLC in your corner.

IBCLC’s must have a background in health (either licensed in a health field or have taken the required college courses), hundreds of hours of breastfeeding support experience, and hours of specialized breastfeeding education. Once these requirements are met, they must pass a rigorous 4-hour exam and maintain continuing education credits to stay certified.

Your Online Lactation Consult Should Be Completely Secure and Confidential

Lactation consultants are certified, health professionals. As such, they have a responsibility to protect their client’s personal health information. IBCLC’s providing online lactation consults should use a HIPAA/PIPEDA secure platform in which all of your personal health information will be stored securely.

Video consults must be done using HIPAA/PIPEDA compliant software to protect your information. During the video consult, the lactation consultant should remain in a private location such as an office to maintain your privacy.

Choose a Lactation Consultant Who is Experienced

As in any profession, there is a wide range of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. Some work in public health/ WIC offices, hospitals, health teams, or in private practice. While the IBCLC designation is the gold standard for infant feeding support, each IBCLC has his or her own background, philosophy, experience, and specialization.

If you are booking an online lactation consult after you leave the hospital, you will want to book with someone who has lots of experience working with moms and babies during the postpartum period, comes highly recommended, and will be supportive of the mother’s feeding goals, no matter what.

Private practice lactation consultants often have the most experience working with families after the initial days postpartum and can help with many different types of breastfeeding challenges.

There are so many reasons why booking with an online lactation consultant is helpful. A high-quality IBCLC will use critical thinking and assessment skills while observing the latch and milk transfer during a feed to create a plan of care consistent with your feeding goals. Breastfeeding and bottle-feeding techniques can easily be explained online through guidance and modeling.

Remember – a great IBCLC can support you to reach your breastfeeding goals from afar! It isn’t very helpful, for example, having an IBCLC latch the baby during the consult when they won’t be available for the middle of the night feedings!

Online Lactation Consults are Worth the Investment

“You get what you pay for” – I’m sure you have heard this saying before, but it really suits breastfeeding consultations. When it comes to your and your baby’s health, spending a bit, in the beginning, can end up saving you a lot of time, money and frustration in the end.

Breastfeeding is as complex as you and I and really requires a full assessment (think a full hour) to get to the root of the problem, no matter if the consult is in person or online. This is why breastfeeding advice in support groups can be challenging. If the lactation consultant is not invested in your consult and hasn’t spent enough time assessing your history and latch, I’m not sure you should trust their suggestions.

I can’t count how many times I have been asked to have a consult for a specific reason, only to realize that the problem was about something else entirely! Booking a lactation consult with a higher-end IBCLC is worth the investment.

Look For a Lactation Consultant That Offers Secure Messaging

Unfortunately, lactation consultants do not have a magic wand that makes all the breastfeeding challenges go away in an instant. Oh, how I wish we did!

As with learning any skill or overcoming challenges, it takes time. It is really important that you have someone that you trust in the weeks after your online lactation consult that you can ask questions and vent your frustrations to.

Online Lactation Consultants Should Be Transparent About Their Limitations While Working Online

There are many excellent reasons to book a virtual lactation consult. However, tele-lactation does have a few limitations that are important to note:

1. Lactation consultants cannot complete a full infant oral assessment during an online consult. If a mom is experiencing ongoing nipple pain, difficulties with milk transfer that isn’t corrected with positioning, or if the baby has a physical impairment, the family should be referred to a local qualified IBCLC who can assess the baby’s sucking and gag reflexes, palate, tongue/ lip movements, and facial/ jaw symmetry.
2. Online lactation consults cannot weigh your baby on a scale. This may seem obvious, but it’s important to point out. If your baby has had faltering weight gain and needs to be weighed regularly, you will want to get breastfeeding support locally.
3. Online consults require a stable internet connection. This goes without saying, but the quality of the consult is dependent on the quality of the internet connection, adequate lighting, and the ability to maneuver the device you’re working on. It is super helpful to have a support person nearby to help you with these things.

If your online lactation consultant is suggesting that she can diagnose a tongue-tie online – be wary! (another important note: IBCLC’s and nurses cannot diagnose, only assess). Tongue ties need to be assessed in person to be able to fully understand tongue function. I do provide online clients with an assessment tool to help walk them through the process of checking their baby’s oral function. If there are red flags, I always recommend in-person follow-up.

Need some breastfeeding help online? Book a one-on-one session with me!