Breastfeeding Resources

Finding yourself with a million and one questions about breastfeeding? Fortunately, there are many excellent sources of breastfeeding support and information in most communities. Here are a few tips on tapping into the help you need.

Visit the La Leche League web site, look in the white pages of your telephone directory, or call the La Leche League (1 800-LALECHE) to find out the name of the closest La Leche League leader or group. La Leche League is a non-profit association run for and by nursing mothers. Meetings usually take place in members' homes, and both pregnant women and nursing mothers are welcome to attend. Some La Leche League leaders provide telephone support and/or make personal visits to breastfeeding women in need of support and information.

Contact your public health department to find out what type of breastfeeding support services are available in your community. You'll want to ask whether there is a breastfeeding buddy program (through which experienced nursing mothers are hooked up with first-timers to provide support and information) or a help line (which women with breastfeeding questions can call to get answers) available to women in your community, and whether your local hospital operates a breastfeeding clinic and/or has a lactation consultant on staff to help nursing mothers troubleshoot any difficulties.

Check the Yellow Pages to see if there are any lactation consultants in practice in your community. When you're inquiring about their services, you'll want to find out whether their services are covered by your health insurance plan and whether or not the lactation consultant in question is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)—the "gold standard" for the profession.

Don't forget to look for support within your own circle of friends. Chances are you know at least one woman who is currently breastfeeding or who breastfed a baby recently. Sometimes all you need is a little reassurance from another nursing mother that your baby's growth spurt will soon pass and that you're not really sentenced to a lifetime of round-the-clock feedings (although it may feel that way right now!).