Blog – Page 4 – In-Home Lactation | Physical Therapy

FAQ

What is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)?

A healthcare professional who specializes in the clinical management of human lactation and breastfeeding. An IBCLC is certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners, which is considered the “gold standard” in the field. This certification requires rigorous education, hands on training, and re-certification every 5 years. Learn more here: International Lactation Consultant Association, United States Lactation Consultant Association

Why choose an IBCLC?

An IBCLC is trained to help establish and sustain breastfeeding, create a care plan for complex feeding issues, and remain sensitive to each individual’s unique needs and goals. The benefits of breastfeeding to baby, mother, family, and the environment are well known. Strategies for overcoming difficulties that can sometimes arise with breastfeeding are not always well known or identified by other health professionals. An IBCLC has the expertise to help with these specific challenges.

What are some difficulties Lactation Consultants help with during a visit?

Lactation Consultants address persisting painful latch, slow weight gain, clogged/plugged ducts, mastitis, low milk supply, insufficient mammary tissue or hypoplasia, inverted/flat nipples, tongue tie, and many more complications. An IBCLC can help identify underlying causes to these problems and provide you with an effective plan for moving forward.

Does insurance cover the cost of a Lactation Consultant?

As part of women’s preventative services, coverage options made possible by the Affordable Care Act are required to cover breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling. Learn more here: Breastfeeding Benefits. For Nurture Columbus Insurance options click here: Navigating Insurance. For any out of network plans, Nurture Columbus will provide you with a Lactation Visit Receipt (LVR) for you to submit to your insurance company or if you provide your insurance information on your intake for we will submit your insurance claim on your behalf for possible reimbursement depending on your plan’s coverage; however, Nurture Columbus is not responsible for reimbursement.

What is Craniosacral Therapy for Infants?

Allyson Wessells, PT, MPT, IBCLC

What is Craniosacral Therapy (CST)?

Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on on therapy guided by touch and intention. CST can optimize space and cerebrospinal fluid circulation within the cranium and throughout our spine where our nervous system is originating and directing our bodies to move. It has origins in osteopathic medicine which values respecting the body as a whole but with intricate structure and function relationships. It is a treatment that can be helpful throughout the lifespan but especially in infancy when bones and ligaments are continuing to form with direction from muscles and the nerves that guide them. Sensory or touch input can create a better motor or response output. Parents are doing this inherently all day long as they caress their new babies! Those trained in craniosacral therapy will often provide additional exercises and methods of touching to promote comfortable movement.

Reflections on Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Allyson Wessells, PT, MPT, IBCLC

Breast Function:

Breast Cancer Awareness Month continues to be important for awareness of the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States. Understanding the function of the breast and its relation to disease prevention is equally important. The breast can be considered an organ of the immune system uniquely transforming beyond pregnancy to nourish a new human with vital nutrients and antibodies, among thousands of other protective factors.¹ Longer duration of breastfeeding is associated with optimizing a child’s physical and mental health for a lifetime ahead while also reducing a mother’s risk for many diseases, including breast cancer.^2,3,4Awareness of human milk as species specific nourishment that equips our immune systems to better defend our bodies is something everyone should promote. Mothers who choose to breastfeed should have easy access to skilled lactation care and community support proven to help meet breastfeeding goals, improve maternal and infant health outcomes, and contain healthcare costs.^5,6,7

Making Milk & Accessing Human Milk

Caring for an infant can be stressful at times, but the recent formula shortage has really amplified all the normal infant feeding stressors. We see you all struggling with the extra pressure to make milk or know where you’ll find the formula your baby tolerates best.

Here are some tips for making milk and accessing human milk:

Breastfeeding is Confidence!

Allyson Wessells, PT, MPT, IBCLC

Breastfeeding is visual, breastfeeding is movement, but probably more than anything, breastfeeding is confidence! We see it daily in the families that call on us as lactation consultants to help them through basic to complex challenges. The look on a parent’s face is confidence as they discover how to hold their baby, help their baby move, know that their baby is getting enough, and learn about the biology that has propelled us through time.