Once the baby is here, you may need more support than ever. The Midwives of New Jersey offer several programs intended to get you off to a good start postpartum. Each time a new baby comes into the family, there are adjustments to be made and difficulties to overcome. For most women, their OB/GYN practice offers little or no postpartum support. After weekly office visits and trips to the chiropractor, childbirth, breastfeeding and BabyCare classes, Welcoming Birth and the first few weeks after the birth with extra help from friends and family, you are now home alone with baby. You may feel like your nursing relationship is still fragile (nursing your baby is still a tenuous experience) especially if you have encountered any obstacles to a comfortable, successful breastfeeding relationship.
Join our Lactation Circle along with other clients and women from the community. The Circle meets weekly in both offices at no cost. Our incredible Lactation Consultants are present to answer questions, assist with actual latching, teach how to use your breast pump or nipple shield, weigh your baby, offer reassurance and moral support and even help at the end of nursing when you need advice about weaning.
The other people in the Circle offer their experiences for possible solutions to your struggles. While the lactation consultant chats with one person, you can socialize with other moms and then go home with the encouragement to get through another week.
Our plan is to support the normalcy of nursing and boost your confidence. We discuss your different options and encourage your autonomous decisions. We give evidence-based advice steeped in MNJ philosophy. The Midwives and staff at MNJ understand that offering our individual opinions rather than facts leads to confusion and mistrust. We want to be a trustworthy, safe harbor for new moms both in our practice and in our community.
Why do You Need Lactation Circle?
The benefits of breastfeeding are irrefutable. However, most nursing couplets encounter multiple obstacles to a successful breastfeeding relationship. Between family, friends, nurses, providers and even Dr. Google, people are overloaded with advice and information and left to decide what is true and what applies to their situation.
Exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months a baby’s life is associated with fewer ear infections, respiratory infections, and less asthma, RSV, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, celiac disease, type I and II diabetes, leukemia, and SIDS. The importance of exclusive breastfeeding has been known for decades and yet we still see an appallingly high number (25%) of NJ breastfed babies given formula in the first 2 days of life. Only 41% of NJ breastfed babies are nursed exclusively at 3mo. The Midwives of New Jersey are fully committed to being supportive breastfeeding advocates for our clients.
Infant feeding should not be considered a lifestyle choice but rather, a basic health issue.” American Academy of Pediatrics 2012
Families need resources and care providers that advocate for proper breastfeeding initiation and continuation. That is almost impossible to find. Hospitals have continued to recommend formula over watchful waiting of breastfeeding. At times, families are coerced with threats to not discharge the baby or to do extra medical interventions so the parents choose formula as a lesser evil situation. After the birth clients are exhausted, hormonal, and anxious. They are easily manipulated if they do not have a trustworthy supporter to help them make a decision based on evidence-based practice and their particular case. Britt Sando along with our lactation team, our nurses and our Midwives offer that reasonable sounding board for which our clients are looking.
We have found that Lactation Circle is an effective way to support our breastfeeding clients in a comfortable environment. We hope you will join us. Remember to register ahead of time and maybe bring a friend!
To register click on the link at the bottom of this page
Our Lactation Consultants
Britt Sando, CD(DONA), LCCE, IBCLC has been attending births as a DONA- certified doula since 2002 and teaching childbirth classes for The Midwives of NJ since 2012. She became an IBCLC in 2018. Working with people during the childbearing year has made it clear to Britt that many families are unable to achieve their breastfeeding goals, sometimes due to serious issues but also to a simple lack of information and support. By teaching breastfeeding classes, facilitating our weekly Lactation Circle, and providing one-on-one lactation consults, Britt hopes to help parents have a positive experience providing optimal nutrition and bonding with their baby.
Sophia Viamonte, BSN-RN, IBCLC, grew up watching the women in her family breastfeed their babies from an early age. By the time she was in 4th grade she knew she wanted to work in the birthing field. She has been supporting breastfeeding families since 2015 as a postpartum nurse, and attained her IBCLC in 2017. She has a passion for helping families achieve their feeding goals, and feels that families are able to do so when they have a strong support system. Sophia leads our weekly lactation circle at the Madison office and hopes to facilitate a peaceful environment where parents feel empowered.
