Anyone See A Lactation Consultant BEFORE Birth? Especially re Flat Nipples?

Breastfeeding DD was a bit of a shermozzle for a whole lot of different reasons and I ended up expressing for two months instead.

Now I think I'm far better educated this time in terms of feeding on demand and much more relaxed too. Happy to get books/videos and all of that.

However, one of the things that sticks in my mind is that the lactation consultant in the hospital told me I had flat nipples and would find it difficult to BF. I find it difficult to believe that a LC would give such negative advice but it is playing on my mind a bit and I'd like to see another one so she can have a squizz and give me some advice.

So ... has anyone seen an LC before the birth and was it helpful?

I haven't... but the ABA breastfeeding classes are designed for pregnant mums to go along to, and I'm sure a LC would be more than happy to give you tips on getting bub on right from the outset. I would say either of these would be the way to go, just to get some tips and a confidence boost. It would also be good to have an established relationship with counsellors or a LC so you're not hesitant to contact them for help.

I'm sure you'll feed just fine with the right advice and support :)

Yup I had a consult with Pinky McKay when I was about 36 weeks.. found it really helpful as I was totally unprepared for motherhood and the whole idea of breastfeeding was rather overwhelming.
She brought along her woolly knitted boob and gave me demonstrations of feeding techniques, answered all my questions and gave me lots of written info. I highly recommend her. It was definitely a great introduction of things to come. I'm sure most LC's would be happy to see you before your baby is born, especially if you have some concerns.

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She brought along her woolly knitted boob ...

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Do all LCs have a woolly knitted boob? I went to a breastfeeding class, and the LC there had one too. She dropped it a couple of times, and had people crawling under the table to pick her boob up. Funny! I wonder if there is a special pattern or if there are multiple patterns made by different LCs?

(i think i must be tired)

Yes, the hospital we went to did a bfing class run by a LC. I'm not sure if she was IBCLC qualified, but I'd be surprised if she wasn't. She was spot on with her info and advice and great support after the birth too. I was able to go back and see her until DD was six weeks old, had I needed to. We had one visit when I got my first bout of mastitis. :(

The ABA's bfing class would possibly be just as useful, bfing counsellors will be there and they'll probably know a good LC to recommend (not one who's quite so negative - if you didn't like her vibe I'd see someone else).

LOL Kate I'm not sure....Pinky's was hot pink and purple, very stylish!
Kazbah posted something the other day about women knitting boobs for parenting classes....so I'm guessing it's not too uncommon for them to be used.

I liked having the one on one time with her rather than a BFing class as I could ask her anything and everything (not have to wait my turn) and we had a good long chat. Money well spent that's for sure.

Yep, I don't want to do a class - they're too generic for the questions I have re my particular situation - possible flat nipples (I want someone to have a squizz and talk about pros/cons of nipple shields), taking expresser to hospital incase of emergency instead of using formula, gestational diabetes and what this means in terms of BFing and positions that won't exacerbate my pelvic instability.

Fiona, I think it's great that you are thinking about this now. Preparation does help. I have had a couple of friends see an LC while pg, and they did find it helpful. The ABA classes are fantastic too - I have even heard second time mums say how much they got out of it.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that nipples often look flat until a baby has been able to attach and draw them out. When DS1 was born, he had a tongue-tie and was unable to attach. Over and over I was told that the problem was that I had flat nipples and even the MCHN told me I would never be able to feed without nipple shields. When DS1 was 2 weeks old we found out by accident that he had a tongue-tie, and at 3 weeks had it snipped. He was then immediately able to attach without the shield. We went on to successfully feed for 14 months. When DS2 was born, he latched straight on without a problem and the midwife told me what great nipples I had for bfing!! I think the message here is that it is quite possible that your nipples are just fine, but because your DD was unable to attach they just were never drawn out. Some hospital LCs are fantastic and others are not!

If you decide to see an LC, I would definitely stick to an IBCLC one. This way you now they have done loads of training, and had to pass stringent exams every few years.

ETA - There really are no "cons" to nipples shields, except convenience. The modern ones do not affect supply and there is no problem using them if you need to. However, life is usually easier if you don't need to, as it is extra work to wash them, and most of all, remembering to take them everywhere with you.

All the best!!

By and large *flat* nipples pose no problem for a baby. He is born wide eyed and primed to feed on *his* nipples - whatever the size and shape. He doesn't know about the other sorts of nipples out there. In the first hour or so, in the first feedings your baby will "imprint" a sucking pattern.
Babies need to form a part of the breast tissue and nipple into a teat in their mouth. It's not just about the nipples.
Women are extremely anxious about their nipples I find. We clearly all need to sit around together more with our tops off. At one stage I was seeing so many women who were told that their nipples were flat and that was why they had breastfeeding problems that I had to go up to the maternity ward and offer to take my top off so they could see my nipples unless they ceased and desisted passing this message on to women. Because the women I was seeing had perfectly fine nipples - pretty much like mine and everyone elses - not flat at all.
IMO breastfeeding problems are more likely caused by lack of early feeding, lack of skin to skin, drugs in labour etc.
I think an LC visit and an ABA class would be fabulous.
Regarding knitted breasts - my next door neighbour, Beryl, in her 80s is one of aBA's champion titty knitters. She knits boobies (as do a team of other titty knitters around Australia) and they are sold through ABA - check them out at Mothers Direct

Good stuff thanks mantaray. Yep the hospital one I had last time was a doozy
even told me that she could not understand why some women had probs bring when animals didn't. Wrong job methinks! Sounds like overkill but I think I will try to see two. One through new hospital and one through mchn centre in town we are
moving to. That way if I get conflicting advice I can be prepared beforehand rather than trying to Wade through things while sleep deprived.

Good to hear barb. So given that I'm having a Caesar and I have pelvic instability which last time meant that even holding dd while sitting in bed was pretty painful what would you advise?

I'm not so worried about the gd as presumably them doing a heel ***** test won't delay things too much?

The nice midwife I had did this a couple of hours after DS was born by CS.
put a folded towel over my cut tummy
helped me lie on my side
put him on his side next to me and helped him find a nipple

That was our first and easiest feed - after a few days of hopeless feeds trying to hold him I went back to that method, which worked really well. If you are very small-breasted you might need to pop bub on a pillow to bring him/her up to your level, but other than that it should work.

I had a phone chat with an LC before DS was born to try and work out how to feed without using my arms too much. She suggested I talk to the arthritis foundaton - who were lovely and found me a lady with arthritis who was weaning her older bub and had been there done that, and was a huge help. She's now even written a book about it: Arthritis, pregnancy and the path to parenthood by Suzie May | VIVID Publishing!

good luck!

my bestest friend had 2 flat nipples and a nipple shield became her best friend. for memory she used them for about 3 months. brilliant thing. ABA wrote had an article about them maybe late last year in Essence. they raved about them!
good luck :D

Yup I saw an LC just before my first was born and it was great to have all that info stored up ready to use. I don't know why it isn't a routine part of pregnancy care. It'd be a great public health investment. So many people I know have given up due to lack of info/preparedness.

Fionas will you have support with you at the hospital so you don't have to rely on the midwives to pass baby over? First c/s I skimped on painkillers and needed help for baby lifting, but the second I took the painkillers that were offered and was totally fine to lift her myself on the second day. Not sure how much the SPD will impact on you mobility though..? I guess it's hard to get any solid answers about that..

I had major issues with my first due to flat nipples. We did get there in the end but it was a very stressful first 4 weeks.

Anyway I recently discovered that the Lactation consultants at my hospital see women prenatally who had problems in the past or suspect they will due to other factors. I have an appointment in a few weeks. From what I've been told they will go over the notes they took last time (I was at the same hospital) and create a plan for when this baby is born. I'm hoping this will make things a lot less stressful this time around.

So it's worth contacting your hospital about it :D