BF support / lactation consultant recommendation

[Annie456]

Good afternoon,

My little fella is just over 2 weeks and we're having some trouble breastfeeding.

I've been to a breastfeeding cafe and asked variOus midwives who all feel that the latch is fine...but it can't be because I'm now down to only being able to feed one one side and pump on the other while it heals...it's a little earlier than I hoped to be expressing but it should just be for a few days. His weight is up on the 91st centile so not worried from his point of view...more the pain issue for me.

I have contacted a lactation consultant who was recommended to me but she has so far not responded to my emails or calls so I wondered if anyone had used anyone they would recommend. I feel like I've exhausted the NHS resources and am at crisis point but don't want to give up so any recommendations for private specialists would be massively appreciated!

Thanks! X

[bluesuperted]

Sorry to hear you are in so much pain :(

I don't have a personal recommendation but have noticed the same couple of names coming up on here. This thread mentions at least two of those names (Verona Hall and Katie Fisher).

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,691449,692042#msg-692042

Has your baby been checked for tongue tie? Again, no personal experience but I have loads of friends whose babies had this issue and needed it correcting before bfing was comfortable.

There is another really useful thread by Knomester which is worth a read re: struggles and pitfalls of the early weeks breastfeeding:

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,570543,580290#msg-580290

Sure lots of forumites will have other lactation consultant thoughts and recommendations too. Hope this is of some help and you are ok - it does get easier I promise!!

X

[bluesuperted]

Also - have you left a message for Claire Kedves or Joanna (surname escapes me) at Kings? Worth a try as they come very highly recommended... X

[Kate123]

Karen Powell or Paula Blanchette are absolute legends! I owe them my very sanity.

They do private one on one sessions but used to work in the Neonatal unit at Kings and are superstars.

http://breast4baby.co.uk/contactus.aspx

hope things get easier soon x

[mrs f]

sofie jacobs (has a website so you can search for her contact details) I did antnatal classes with her & i know of a few people who have used her for bf support...

[reneet]

Lynda is great. Don't have her number but she runs a BF cafe at Cherry Tree Children's Centre on Tuesdays from 1 to 3pm. She will also come to you if you call her and she is free. The BF cafe is also very good and sociable although very popular and therefore can be very busy. Sorry just finished reading your post and you asked for private, anyway she can help too.

[childsleepsolutions]

Clare byham cook is amazing. She does consultations which I have heard are excellent but I just used her dvd and it really helped! Good luck

[Pickle]

I used, and have recommended before, Jill Dye. She is excellent.

[Saffron]

A second vote for Jill Dye! Her contact number is on this old thread, and more BF info too.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,501988,503894

Even if Baby's latch is fine, other things can cause pain. My daughter had a high palate and short tongue (though not tongue-tied). This was causing me a lot of pain, even though she was getting milk. Babies do outgrow this. A nipple shield can help some (I liked mothercare ones the best). Lily Padz silicone breast pads don't stick to cracked nipples and can be reused (order from NCT website). And a Lac consultant can help you position baby to minimize the pain.

Also I had/have Reynaud's syndrome, which can cause the nipples to blanch and be very painful. You would usually see Reynauds in the fingers and toes, but it does sometimes affect the nipples too. If this is the case, avoid anything cold on your nipples and don't let yourself get a chill.

If one side is affected more than the other, you can feed Baby successfully on just one breast. Good luck!!! xx

[Yak]

No suggestions to add to those above but I wonder if it could be a positioning issue? I remember in the early days it was far easier to position the baby on one boob than the otherr and that we ended up in a cycle of favouring one more than the other which temporarily affected the supply in the unfavoured boob. If it's painful it's definitely worth getting it checked out sooner rather than later.

Good luck!

[ladyruskin]

I can second the recommendation for Claire Kedves at King's. I have also encountered Katie Fisher at the Tongue Tie clinic and she has also been helpful.

[hellosailor]

Claire Kedves only works Tuesdays and Wednesdays I think, so if you leave her a message tonight she will hopefully pick it up in the morning. She is a something of a legend, wonderful woman!

[nsm]

I went to a breastfeeding cafe run by midwife Anna Cannon- who was excellent. her post was cut, so the cafe doesn't run anymore but she seems to have gone private.

Her website

http://www.annacannon.co.uk/index.php

hope you find good support. take care x

[Annie456]

Thank you wonderful people of East Dulwich!!! I left many a desperate voicemail for all these people you recommended and Claire Kedvers at Kings called and told me to come in today. She confirmed that the Tongue tie was the cause for such painful feeding and has written me a referral to have it snipped as soon as my nips have recovered enough to do the 3 hourly feeds afterwards. The NHS can't do it for another couple of weeks but I called Katie Fisher and she will do it privately and I'll continue to see Claire at kings for follow ups. I'm so relieved but also pretty annoyed that it's taken so long for someone to recognise that the TT was the issue, especially as it was spotted at birth. Claire also spotted a thrush infection so I imagine by the end of this week I'll be feeling a whole lot better about it all!

Anyway, thanks so much for all your help and I apologise in advance for all my future rants on the EDF about tongue tie...!!

A x

[sophiechristophy]

Annie456 - that is great news, good luck with everything!!!!!!

[bluesuperted]

Tongue tie has a lot to answer for!!! Best of luck with the next few days and fingers crossed everything goes smoothly from now on. So glad you managed to get through to Claire, what a star.

x

[reneet]

Surprised that they did not check the tongue tie, when I initially had problems with BF despite a good latch the first thing my midwife checked was if the baby was tongue tied, which he was not. It just happened that since he was a big baby I needed to position him differently. Good luck and glad you got it sorted.

Annie456 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thank you wonderful people of East Dulwich!!! I

> left many a desperate voicemail for all these

> people you recommended and Claire Kedvers at Kings

> called and told me to come in today. She confirmed

> that the Tongue tie was the cause for such painful

> feeding and has written me a referral to have it

> snipped as soon as my nips have recovered enough

> to do the 3 hourly feeds afterwards. The NHS can't

> do it for another couple of weeks but I called

> Katie Fisher and she will do it privately and I'll

> continue to see Claire at kings for follow ups.

> I'm so relieved but also pretty annoyed that it's

> taken so long for someone to recognise that the TT

> was the issue, especially as it was spotted at

> birth. Claire also spotted a thrush infection so I

> imagine by the end of this week I'll be feeling a

> whole lot better about it all!

>

> Anyway, thanks so much for all your help and I

> apologise in advance for all my future rants on

> the EDF about tongue tie...!!

> A x

[Knomester]

As bluesuperted says, tongue ties have a lot to answer for... I'm so pleased that you have managed to find the help you need Annie456 after what seems to have been an uphill struggle. Clare Kedves is amazing in my view and hopefully she will be able to help get you and baby back on track.

If it helps at all, I wrote the post bluesuperted posted a link to early on in this thread and am still breastfeeding my baby twice a day at 13 months. You can do it.

[anna_r]

reneet Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Surprised that they did not check the tongue tie,

> when I initially had problems with BF despite a

> good latch the first thing my midwife checked was

> if the baby was tongue tied, which he was not. It

> just happened that since he was a big baby I

> needed to position him differently

My midwives checked for Tongue tie several times but never picked ours up. Some are very obvious but some, esp posterior Tongue tie, require an expert (ie Claire kedves) eye. What will they do when she retires??

Good luck! It may not seem like an immediate fix after the op (although it is for some) but you should see some improvement soon. Can you express while you let damaged nipples heal before the 3 hourly feeds? It helped for me although the week with obligatory 3 hourly feeds was very tough. We had Tongue tie plus thrush plus two bacterial skin infections but got through and have just stopped breastfeeding at 13 months

X