A Unique Holistic Approach to Lactation
Our founder, Lena, is trained as a lactation counselor, clinical herbalist, and licensed massage therapist with experience in breast / chest massage, along with a decade of experience as a birth doula.
She has supported the early start of lactation and the first latch and witnessed firsthand how the birth experience itself affects lactation. She’s also a certified childbirth educator with over a decade of experience teaching chest- / breastfeeding and newborn care classes. In addition to more than a decade as a lactation counselor, she also has over 6 years of her own personal experience breastfeeding two daughters, and all the valuable insight that comes with it!
Lena’s Integrative Lactation Support focuses on the following specific concerns:
- Postural issues associated with lactation: One-on-one support for making positional/postural adjustments during nursing when experiencing pain or discomfort. Ex: numbness in hands/fingers caused by nerve compression, neck/back/shoulder pain and headaches, sleeping positions, trouble finding a comfortable position for nursing that still allows baby to latch appropriately, etc.
- Breast / chest issues that can be supported via herbal medicine & massage: along with her knowledge as a trained lactation counselor, Lena’s background as an herbalist and expert in breast/chest massage informs her approach to supporting a variety of lactation concerns. This includes recurrent “plugged ducts” or mastitis (we will make referrals to appropriate physicians for acute mastitis)
- Supporting healthy milk supply via a holistic approach. Everything from feeding patterns & baby’s latch to health issues including hormonal imbalance and metabolic health can impact milk supply. We use an integrative approach with herbal medicine, nutrition and daily habit changes to improve supply. We may refer to another IBCLC for a team approach if other issues present.
- Support for microbiome health of lactating parent and baby (especially following cesarean or antibiotic use during birth)
- Navigating ongoing sleep + chest-/breastfeeding relationship (including safe and posturally appropriate set-up)
- Optimal nutrition for lactation
Services & Rates
Support may take place in your home (Brooklyn & lower Manhattan only), in our office, or virtually.
- Prenatal Preparation for Chest- / Breastfeeding – Private Consult: $159/hour (2-3 hours)
- Integrative Lactation Counseling Visit: 2 hours $379
Some issues may require a full clinical herbal consultation instead of or in addition to a lactation counseling visit.
Issues we do not directly address:
We’ll generally refer out to our network of IBCLCs, pediatric oral surgeons, feeding specialists, myofunctional therapists, and other specialists for issues primarily related to assessing newborn weight gain and feeding adequacy, tethered oral tissues (aka, tongue tie), feeding or swallowing issues related to introduction of solids, bottle refusal, or any newborn issue that is highly time sensitive in nature as we do not take urgent appointments. Please note Lena does not diagnose tongue tie nor does she assume this is the reason for all feeding issues. When she deems it appropriate, she will make referrals to trusted experts to assess for tongue tie or tethered oral tissues.