Dana Chang Lactation

With sadness, I will no longer be providing lactation support in Taipei. My family and I are moving back to the United States in November, where I will be resuming my career as a Certified Nurse-Midwife. Thank you to everyone I have encountered in my brief time as an IBCLC in Taipei! This has been a truly tremendous and rewarding experience.

I'll leave this final post with my top 3 tips to initiating breastfeeding in the immediate postpartum period:
1) 💕 lots of skin to skin (baby with diaper only on mom's skin)
2) ⏳ initiating breastfeeding within the 1st hour after birth (if not medically possible because baby need medical assistance, then as soon as medically possible)
3) 🏓 thinking of each breastfeeding session as not only giving food to your baby, but also as practicing the skill of latching/sucking effectively. All babies will lose weight in the beginning. They need practice to become effective at removing milk, just like you need practice at learning a new sport!
Jiāyóu! 加油！

Thank you! 謝謝！

I often get asked many infant sleep questions while doing lactation consults. This is no surprise, as sleep & feeding are the top 2 discussion topics for parents with newborns.

I am a big fan of swaddling! As you can see, my 5 and 3 yo still love it!**
Why does swaddling help with sleep? It mimics their most recent home (inside the uterus) and also prevents their startle reflex from them waking up.
Lots of babies will wiggle while being swaddled, but don’t confuse that with them not liking it. See how they respond once you have the art of swaddling mastered!

(**just kidding, I don’t still swaddle my children to sleep unless we are playing pretend baby! Check out the other Safe Sleep Tips below!)

Being pregnant, having a baby, & going through the newborn period with COVID-19 is likely nothing like you imagined these experiences would be.
With Taipei at Level 3 Alert, I would like to offer free phone/video consults to anyone that has a question, or just needs someone to talk to for few minutes. Please send me a message here if you want to set up a time to chat! Stay safe! 💕

Happy Mother’s Day! Mothering comes in many ways/shapes/forms throughout our lifetime. May today be filled with at least some rest, even if it involves multi-tasking.

📷: Stone Crop Farm

An official day late for a World Maternal Mental Health awareness post, but never too late to talk about maternal mental health.

The baby feeding journey is strongly related to maternal mental health. Did you know?
* 1 in 7 mothers have postpartum depression/anxiety
* 1 in 10 fathers have postpartum depression/anxiety
* Symptoms may appear in pregnancy or any time within the
first 12 months of your baby's life.
* Symptoms may be felt internally (worried or intrusive
thoughts, heart racing, lack of interest, etc) or external
(headaches, shortness of breath, etc)
* most people think "Having a newborn is hard...I'm supposed
to feel this way!" And it is hard, but having a newborn plus
these extra symptoms is much much harder than it should be.

There are many well-researched ways to help you or your partner/friend/relative feel better.
* Make an appointment with a healthcare provider you trust.
* Consider therapy, medication, or increased social support.
* If you have used therapy in the past, make an appointment for
a follow-up in the postpartum period even if things seem to
be going smoothly
* See an IBCLC (like me!) to help address any feeding
questions/concerns
* Check out this amazing online resource: PostPartum Support
International
https://www.postpartum.net/learn-more/

*For Taipei based people - join a Facebook group (Taipei
Breastfeeding Support, Taipei Parents, Expat Mamas, Taipei
Ladies are just a few) and make
connections with those around you.

You are not alone. Together we can make each long day seem a little brighter.

Be sure to share any other great resources below!

Learn More | Postpartum Support International (PSI) Learn about the symptoms of perinatal mood or anxiety disorder, such as postpartum depression.

Happy Children’s Day! Thankful for these two kids who have given me firsthand experience with the challenges and joys of the pregnancy/delivery/nursing/parenting journey.

Gathering some of my favorite supplies to bring to home visits. I found it challenging to buy these products at local stores, so this was a recent Amazon purchase (thank you free shipping promo!).
What else should I get?
What were/are your go-to supplies?
Where do you shop for nursing products in Taipei?

Testing out my new baby scale! I think baby “Lulu” is gaining weight just fine.

Special thanks to Bethany for the crocheted baby weight sling, and to my home birth midwife friends for recommending Dr Meter digital hanging scale.

I can't believe I forgot to share this episode of Kungfu Momma that I was recently on! Is it obvious I ❤️ talking about all things related baby feeding?

Did you know that as long as there is demand most women can breastfeed?

In this week’s podcast: “The Magic of Breast Milk, Breast Pumping, and Lactating” Dana drops several interesting facts about breastfeeding and breast milk I had no idea about!! 👀 👀

Check it out in the link below:
Anchor: https://cutt.ly/tj2rSOX
Google Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/njRw5o5
Apple Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/pjReenp
Spotify: https://cutt.ly/RjReaux
Breaker: https://cutt.ly/QjRebqd

各位功夫爸媽知道只要有需求，大多數的婦女都可以哺乳嗎？
在本週的Podcast節目中：“母乳，擠乳和哺乳的魔力” Dana在節目上提到了一些我從來都不知道有關哺乳和母乳的趣聞。

點擊以下連結收聽：
Anchor: https://cutt.ly/tj2rSOX
Google Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/njRw5o5
Apple Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/pjReenp
Spotify: https://cutt.ly/RjReaux
Breaker: https://cutt.ly/QjRebqd

Happy Lunar New Year! I hope this means 2021 will be a good year of milk production!

Excited to be a part of the Kungfu Momma Show!

Check out this week's episode: How to Start and What to Expect.

This week, Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) Dana Chang Lactation gave us the lowdown on breastfeeding right from the start! Right after that placenta drops, most mothers are able to lactate and feed their babies in their first few days with what many experts call liquid gold. For new mothers it can be a daunting task; Dana shares her knowledge on what you can expect in those beginning weeks, what hurdles you may face in breastfeeding, and how to overcome them.

Anchor: https://cutt.ly/HjPfQ4G
Google Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/njRw5o5
Apple Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/pjReenp
Spotify: https://cutt.ly/RjReaux
Breaker: https://cutt.ly/QjRebqd

各位功夫媽媽們記得收聽本週的新集數，哺乳：新手爸媽們的注意事項以及如何開始
本週，我們邀請到國際認證泌乳顧問（IBCLC）和 專業接生員（CNM）Dana Chang！她來幫大家降低餵養母乳的門檻！當胎盤娩出後，大多數的媽媽們可以在剛開始的前幾天分泌出許多專家稱之為液態黃金的液體，並用這個乳房分泌液體餵養嬰兒。對於新手媽媽來說，這可能是艱鉅的任務。Dana分享了媽媽們在頭幾週內會發生什麼事，餵母乳可能面臨的障礙以及要如何克服這些障礙

Anchor: https://cutt.ly/HjPfQ4G
Google Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/njRw5o5
Apple Podcasts: https://cutt.ly/pjReenp
Spotify: https://cutt.ly/RjReaux
Breaker: https://cutt.ly/QjRebqd

Hello & welcome!

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) based in Taipei, Taiwan. I practiced for 6 years as a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) in a busy hospital practice in the United States, providing prenatal/labor/postpartum/lactation care, before moving to Taiwan and specializing in lactation.

Motherhood can be an empowering but also overwhelming & isolating experience, especially if you are living far away from your family/friends/native culture. My goal is to provide you with evidenced-based education and support to help you nourish your baby and self, in whatever part of the journey you are on!I

I am a native English speaker, with some basic Spanish and Mandarin knowledge.

Outside of women’s health, I enjoy hiking, drinking coffee, & exploring Taiwan with my husband & two young children. I hope to meet you soon!