Palo Alto Lactation - Andrea Levesque, IBCLC

Happy Earth Day

Parents who are positive for covid should continue breastfeeding. Practice good hand hygiene and wear a mask.

As a parent, you will hear a lot of advice from friends, family, even strangers. Sometimes even advice from experts or authors of baby books won’t sit well. In that case, seek a second opinion. You know your baby best- trust your instincts. You know what works for your family whether it be feeding method, sleep routines or the plethora of other things people have opinions about.

Some fun facts about
This is your first which is present from mid . It lines your baby’s gut to help keep out germs/allergens. Its full of to keep your baby healthy. It helps baby clear (the first poops). Your body makes small amounts, perfect for teeny tiny tummies!

This is such a great reminder from
Reconsider any parenting or feeding advice that has you holding your sweet baby less, or not being responsive to their needs. Trust your

Join us for an IG live today at 10:30 Pacific time when Ali and I discuss common breastfeeding problems. See you there!

Parenthood is a whole new thing. Be patient with your baby. Be patient with yourself. You’ve got this.

Please join me for my first ever Instagram live with
I look forward to talking about all things babies!

Got extra (breast)milk? The Alameda County Breastfeeding Coalition is sponsoring a Milk Donation Drive to benefit Mothers' Milk Bank. It's free, safe, and easy! The milk bank can accept milk that's been frozen for up to six months, so in addition to pumping more now, you can use the stash you already have.

To participate, contact Mothers' Milk Bank directly to register (and be sure to mention the Alameda County Milk Drive!). https://mothersmilk.org/donate-milk or call 877-375-6645, option #3.

Then, there are TWO options:

1. From home: Send your frozen milk in the pre-paid container provided by Mothers' Milk Bank.

2. In person: Bring your frozen milk to one of our Drop-Off events:

Wednesday, August 11, 1:30-5:30 PM NATIVE AMERICAN HEALTH CENTER, 3050 International Blvd, Oakland. (Parking lot at corner of Derby).
Wednesday, August 18, 10:00-2:00 WASHINGTON HOSPITAL WEST, 2500 Mowry Ave, Fremont. (Parking lot across from hospital).
Wednesday, August 25, 10:00-2:00 HIGHLAND HOSPITAL, 1411 E. 31st St, Oakland (Emergency entrance - horseshoe).

Need help with infant feeding? As an IBCLC, I can help you with both breast and bottle (expressed milk or formula feeding).

Further information is available concerning the Covid vaccine and breastfeeding.

We know more about and , so we've updated our statement: https://www.infantrisk.com/covid-19-vaccine-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding

Great news for our athletes!
Now let’s keep working for better rights for all our parents and babies!

www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31736840/nursing-mothers-allowed-bring-children-olympic-games%3fplatform=amp

How can a new parent set themselves up for a full milk supply?

Most importantly is frequent milk removal. The more milk you remove, the more milk you will make. A full breast makes milk more slowly.

Lots of skin to skin is important! This helps you to be responsive to your baby. Wiggling, hands to mouth, and rousing from sleep are all early feeding cues.
If your baby is close to you, you will notice these early feeding cues that you may miss if baby is swaddled across the room in a bassinet.

Also, make sure that breastfeeding parent gets rest! Other helpers can make food, do laundry, bathe baby, change diapers!

Palo Alto Lactation - Andrea Levesque, IBCLC updated their phone number.

Repost from We need to do better for@our families.
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We’re just a few days away from celebrating one year of nursing together ♥️ There were certainly times it didn’t feel easy and natural, and I’m so grateful for the lactation support I was able to access. It’s really upsetting to me that so many mothers don’t have access to the same support or don’t know about the options available. If you feel like you failed with breastfeeding, please know that it’s NOT your fault.

Moms in this country are gaslighted into believing breastfeeding issues are a result of some kind of deficiency or incapability of their own— that they didn’t try hard enough or their bodies are broken.

In many regions around the world— like Africa, for example, over 95% of all infants are breastfed. In the US, barely half of 6 month-olds are breastfed. Why? I can think of some reasons. Sh*tty, inadequate paid maternity leave. A total of 15 minutes of rushed lactation support in the hospital. Inter-generational trauma. Lack of support and community… But certainly not personal failure or inadequacy.

In the 1950s, breastfeeding had come to be viewed as something that was only practiced by uneducated and low-class communities. Nearly a whole generation of western mothers were influenced by cultural beliefs, predatory advertising and inaccurate information to forgo nursing altogether. Think about the ripple effects of this era… the older women in our families were stripped of the breastfeeding knowledge passed down for generations.

Throughout history and still in many parts of the world, new mothers are surrounded by the ancient wisdom and knowledge their mothers, aunts and grandmothers carry. They are truly supported, not expected to figure out the difficult art of breastfeeding with the help of a couple youtube videos.

For so many people, it is NOT easy, and it is NOT natural. To be isolated without support and guidance is unnatural. What I’m getting at is please, PLEASE don’t beat yourself up if nursing was difficult for you and didn’t happen as you expected. This is not your personal failure, it is the failure of our society’s structure. You deserve more. You deserve better.

A great visual on a comfortable latch from Dr. Jane Morton at Stanford.

How do I latch my baby correctly?

‼️Getting the latch right is absolutely ESSENTIAL for comfortable effective and efficient breastfeeding for both mom AND baby!

Think of how you drink as an adult:

✅Ears, shoulders, hips are all aligned
✅You tilt your head back just enough to get flow that you can easily control, not so much that you drown 😉

❌You don’t turn your head to the side (keeping your upper neck cervical vertebrae aligned is key!!)
❌You don’t twist your hips and your body out of alignment (that would just feel weird!)

Now look at the second picture on the right hand side of this poster from the amazing Dr Jane Morton (I have a little MD crush on her, not gonna lie 😂🥰).

Notice how the second baby has an almost stressed look about her.
➡️Her lips are pursed like a baby on a bottle.
➡️Her shoulders are not aligned
➡️Her left hand is tucked up against her chest, causing her to rotate away from mom and interfering with her postural stability

The solutions?

❤️MOM get comfortable FIRST! Put your feet up, lower your shoulders and lean back about 45 degrees.

❤️Turn that little body tummy to mommy!

❤️Bring baby to breast, not breast to baby!

❤️Don’t activate babe’s startle reflex! Maintain control of their body positioning at all times so they don’t feel like they are “falling” which activates their stress response (fight or flight) and they can’t concentrate on feeding. All they can concentrate on is keeping themselves safe and not falling. This often leads to lip pursing, shallow latch, muscle tension, and lack of control over milk flow which can lead to gas, fussiness, clicking, gulping and both mom and baby getting into “fight or flight” at the breast.

❤️When you’re all stressed, take a break and do some things to help bring you both back in to “rest and digest”: sucking for baby (clean fingers are a great suck trainer 😉); skin to skin; humming (Dads! You have great big deep voices that are perfect resonance for helping babies to relax skin to skin with you while mom gets ready to latch!);white or pink noise;meditation and deep breathing; change your environment (Go outside!!!), then try again when you’re ALL more calm.😘

When both mom and baby start in a position of stability and comfort, and when parents understand the basic position and latch logic, things go so much more smoothly ❤️

How were you taught to latch? Does this logic resonate with you?

Maternal is a strong predictor of success. Find . Seek from an

One in eight couples struggle with . Sending love and hope to those still waiting for their babe. 💕natural.tap

is great for the !

It’s an absolute honour to work with mamas and babies.

is accepting new !

Tips for gentle from from an

The most common cause of is not enough. A healthy will feed at least 8-12 times in 24 hours!

What to your should you look for in ?

doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Whether you breastfeed for one day, one month, one year.... it all counts and it’s all . Great job !

and : the more you remove, the more you will make!

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