The Do’s of your visit

Fill out the online forms to the best of your ability and send them back to us as soon as possible

Make a list of your questions and concerns for us.

Expect us to be in the room where you spend most of the time nursing your baby. It can be anywhere from your living room, bedroom, nursery etc.

If you have questions regarding pumping, using bottles, or a nipple shield please have these things available for me to see and to make sure you have the proper fit, settings, and flow rates.

If you are pumping (either exclusively or supplementing with pumped milk) please have up to 2 oz pumped and ready for our visit. That way it will be available if we need it during the visit.

Normally during our visits we will want to work with you and your baby during a feeding (exceptions would be a prenatal visit, a NICU baby, or other special situations). Due to this, you will want your baby to be hungry enough to want to nurse (not too hungry to where s/he becomes frustrated or to upset to latch). Normally we recommend that your baby eats well about an hour and a half before our visit and if needed a short snack session is ok. After the feed keep your baby skin to skin on you or a loved one until we arrive because this will keep him/her in the best mood and mindset for our visit.

Please make sure that YOU are well fed, hydrated and comfortable for our visit. This is so you can feel as relaxed as possible. We know how difficult it can be sometimes to remember to eat. Sometimes keeping a small snack box next to where you normally nurse and some water bottles can greatly help this as well.

It is absolutely ok if you have visitors or family over at the time of our visit. It is most important that you feel as comfortable as possible with whoever is in the room during the visit. As long as everyone that is there is supportive of you and your breastfeeding journey we love to inform them on ways to support you and your baby. Please also let them know about the visit and that it is pertaining to you, your baby and the feeding.

When it comes to pets, we love them! They are amazing. We do not mind if you and your family pet greet us at the door. If however, they are territorial towards the baby, towards strangers, or if they will be a distraction during our visit, please have them outside or in another part of the house for our safety and/or your comfort during our visit.

Siblings are welcome to be home during our visit, please have something planned to keep them as occupied as possible or have someone be there to help distract them. This is just so we can talk as freely as possible and you are able to concentrate on feeding your baby and any help we am trying to give you.

Contact your insurance company BEFORE scheduling our visit (if this is possible) to see what kind of documentation they will require you to send to them for possible reimbursement. You may be surprised that your insurance company covers our visit and will reimburse you all or part of the consultation fee.

Think about how you will want to pay for the consultation. When we have finished, we will ask for payment. It makes it easier to know how you want to pay. We have a card reader if you want to use a credit/debit card, we can also use PayPal, Venmo, Zelle etc. For now we will provide you with a super-bill with all of the information needed to receive reimbursement from your medical insurance. (If you have Tricare or Medicaid please contact us privately to talk about insurance questions). Please visit https://nwlc.org/resources/new-benefits-breastfeeding-moms-facts-and-tools-understand-your-coverage-under-health-care-law/ To help you receive the reimbursement that is required by law. (Click on the toolkit pdf and go to page 8 for sample script for phone calls with your insurance and page 9 is sample letters, we find these incredibly helpful!)