lactation consultant but not breastfeeding center

[Anonymous]

Can anyone recommend a lactation consultant other than the breastfeeding center in downtown dc? I live in dc and need an alternative. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if you meant you wanted one in DC proper, but Kathy McCue helped me a ton back when she was at our peds office, and she has a private practice now. She does home visits.

http://www.bethesdabreastfeeding.com/

[Anonymous]

I only ever used the ones at my peds office (covered by insurance - yay!) - does your ped have one?

[Anonymous]

Sorry I don't have any suggestions but I'm just curious, OP, what you didn't like about the BF Center. From what most people say those people hung the moon

[Anonymous]

I"m curious too. I used the BF center and was amazed at how much I learned. We had stupid, multiple challenges...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry I don't have any suggestions but I'm just curious, OP, what you didn't like about the BF Center. From what most people say those people hung the moon

I'm not the OP but Pat rubs me the wrong way and I have tried to get past that but can't. You need to be comfortable with your choice. I'm glad Pat and her crew help so many but they're not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

10:23 here: Never met Pat. I used "Margaret".

[Anonymous]

10:29, I'm 100% with you. I give her credit for all the help, but she also rubbed me the wrong way and I was never comfortable with her. And frankly, it kind of bugs me that anyone who criticizes her even in the slightest always gets jumped on.

I found Margaret to be even worse. The one appointment I had with her (out of 3 or 4 total at the Breastfeeding Center) was a complete, total waste of time, effort, and money.

OP, here are a few others. I've seen flyers for Gwendolyn West at our pediatrician's office, but I have no personal experience with any of them.

[Anonymous]

Oops, forgot the link: http://www.dcbfc.org/lactation.php

[Anonymous]

And more at Georgetown: http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org/body.cfm?id=1583

[cmkeough]

I had someone come out last week from Northern Virginia Lactation Consultants (I'm in Arlington), and the woman who came for the home visit (Kim) was excellent. It's not cheap, but well worth the money spent IMO.

Their number is 703.425.2229

[Anonymous]

Not OP but there are scores of posts on these boards about Pat -- and not all of them are positive. She can apparently be a life-saver for some women, but she is often described as brusque at best, down-right judgmental and sanctimonious ("You should have come to me sooner" is a remark she said to a friend who had the utter cheek to see another LC before Pat). She also suggested that four of my friends have their babies frenulum clipped. Two of them did and said it made a huge positive difference to breastfeeding, and two of them declined to do so and managed to breastfeed just fine. Another friend had Pat stop by the hospital or her home (can't remember which) when baby was tiny and was told by Pat that baby had "a high palate" that would probably give the mom trouble. The mom had no trouble. Another friend had a prenatal breastfeeding assessment by Pat, who told her she may have hypoplastic breasts and would not be able to breastfeed (she was able to breastfeed, but not without serious worry for the rest of her pregnancy). I heard all of this from friends directly, not friend of friend of friend stuff. Sooooo.....suffice it to say when I had a breastfeeding issue I did NOT go to Pat. I went to the LC at my ped's office.

In fairness, my LC does say that she refers the very hardest cases, ones that she cannot crack, to Pat. It is my understanding that Pat is often able to save the breastfeeding relationship when no one else can, but it does seem to me that, for some cases, she might invent trouble and reasons to criticize a mom, when none exist.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I've been to the BF Center multiple times and am still having problems. I am looking for a fresh approach or something like a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

Try Gaye, the RN, at Chevy Chase Pediatrics. She is absolutely awesome. CC Peds # is 202-363-0302.
I'm a speech-pathologist, and know a lot about BF'ing, and Gaye is a wonderful resource. She is so kind, and not judgmental at all. I breast fed both my kids for a year, each, and hate the BF center (their return to work class was a slap in the face...the video they showed basically said, 'try to bring your baby to work so you can breast feed' and 'try reverse cycling (feeding the baby every 3 hours at night via breast and have him go long stretches during the day) to avoid bottle feeding the baby. A load of horse shit.)

[Anonymous]

What exactly is your problem? I'm wondering if your BFing issue could be solved by talking to other BFing moms. Crunchiness aside, I've found lots of advice on websites like www.mothering.com and others. Also, don't discount the La Leche League. That's free. DC Chapter meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.