Need breastfeeding help? Book a Home, Office or Virtual Lactation Visit.
We know that breastfeeding can be challenging, especially in the early days and weeks at home with your new baby. Our International Board Certified Lactation Consultants know to how to help. We have supported and cared for thousands of families with feeding challenges of babies of all ages for more than a decade. We can help you too.
Our goal is to help you feed your baby however *you* want to feed your baby. Our lactation consultants are dedicated in helping you work towards your feeding goals; whether you want to exclusively breastfeed, exclusively pump or combination feed your milk and formula, we are here to support you.
We know that issues related to breastfeeding feel urgent. In most cases we can arrange for your private lactation visit to happen within a few days of when you reach out to schedule your consult. We aim to respond to your request for a consult within 12-24 hours.
Virtual or telephone consults are also available and often work well for follow-up visits. These consults generally last 60 – 75 minutes. Virtual consults do have limitations, as there can be no oral exam of your baby, no physical breast exam, or weighted feeds. There is still a lot that we can assess through your feeding history and current feeding routines to help you create a feeding and care plan to help you work toward your feeding goals.
How to know if you need an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant):
Our lactation consultants are experienced with and can help with any of the following issues, and more:
Our lactation consultants work with hundreds of families each year. We take the needs of the whole family, your birth experience, your medical history and your mental health into careful consideration when we support you. We deeply understand how all of these factors play into your feeding experience and choices. Feeding your baby is often a whole body experience and we are happy to walk with you as you learn more about your options, get to know your baby, help you understand and navigate decision making with your long or short term feeding goals in mind. It is our aim to help you never feel pressured to do anything other than exactly what you want and need to do for your baby, yourself and your family.
We are also delighted to meet with you even if you feel like breastfeeding is going well, but you have questions about feeding or would like an assessment and reassurance that what you’re doing is working for you and your family. We are happy to support you through your feeding journey and help you learn more about what to know and expect as your baby grows.
What to expect in your lactation visit:
Home or office lactation consults typically last about 75-120 minutes. We will do our best to work together to arrange a time to meet that works best for you and your family and will stay until all your questions have been answered.
We will provide answers to your questions and always aim to offer you kind, compassionate, confidential and respectful support. We aim to offer judgement-free guidance and education and want to help you make informed feeding decisions that are right for you.
History, Exam & Guidance
We will take a thorough medical, birth and feeding history for you and baby, as they pertain to breastfeeding or lactation. This often includes an oral exam and suck assessment of your infants. If you are latching your baby, we typically utilize pre-feeding and post-feeding weights to determine how much milk is your baby is transferring at the breast to help inform and guide our recommendations for you.
If you are latching your baby or working toward latching your baby, we will offer a thorough evaluation and make suggestions for comfortable latching and positioning. We offer gentle hands on help only with your clear consent.
Feeding & Care Plan
By the end of your visit will have co-created a feeding and care plan that addresses your breastfeeding goals, your needs, your baby’s needs and your family’s needs. We are to happy to make referrals to carefully vetted providers in our area (feeding therapists, chiropractors, cranial sacral therapists, tongue tie release providers) to further support on your feeding journey.
We will send our lactation report to your and your baby’s care provider(s). You are welcome to reach out with follow up questions by email, text or phone as needed. We are always happy to offer follow up visits and may suggest a follow visit up based on the nature of your questions, needs or desires.
Lactation Fees & Insurance
We are not in-network with any insurance providers. Charges for our lactation services need to be paid for out of pocket. We can accept credit/debit cards, checks or cash. Most HSA/FSA cards are accepted too. We do not work directly with your insurance company but we can provide you with a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company for potential reimbursement.
INITIAL CONSULT: $150 in your home (or at Beautiful Birth Choices) or $130 at Alison’s home office located in the Highland Park Neighborhood, 14620.
VIRTUAL (VIDEO) OR TELEPHONE CONSULTS: Sliding scale $60- $80; pay what you can afford, no questions asked.
FOLLOW-UP IN-PERSON CONSULTS: $100 in your home (or at Beautiful Birth Choices) or $90 at Alison’s home office located in the Highland Park Neighborhood, 14620.
VIRTUAL (VIDEO) FOLLOW-UPS: $50
RETURNING TO WORK CONSULTS: $90
PHONE CONSULTS: $40/hour
Travel outside Monroe County: Additional $40
Prenatal lactation consults are also available.
If you’re not sure about the kind of support you need or if you would like to find out more about our private breastfeeding consultations, we welcome you to reach out to us at breastfeeding@bbcroc.com and we will be in touch!
Home Office Visits
Alison's home office is equipped with a couch, extra pillows, reclining chair, nursing stool, breastfeeding pillow, infant scale and bathroom with a changing table. Her office is on the first floor, immediately inside the front door. There are 5 outdoor stairs to get inside and two cats who you may or may not see upon arrival or departure during your visit. They will not be allowed inside the office during your visit and can be put in a separate room if needed, please let us know if you have any concerns about this.
You partner or support person is welcome to accompany you to your visit. You can bring your own breastfeeding pillow, breast pump or anything else you'd like or need to use or look over during your visit. Alison's home office is located in the Highland Park neighborhood, 14620. You will be invited to park in the driveway.
MEET OUR ROCHESTER LACTATION CONSULTANTS
Our lactation team is committed to bringing you kind and caring support as well as accurate and up-to-date evidenced based breastfeeding and lactation information. We are honored to serve you and your family and are delighted to help you reach your breastfeeding goals.
ALISON SPATH
Alison is a lactation consult, birth doula, prenatal yoga teacher and co-owner of BBC.
Alison began working with breastfeeding mothers in 2008 as a La Leche League Leader in Rochester. She joined BBC as a birth doula and prenatal yoga teacher in 2014 went on to beomce a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) in 2015. Today, Alison is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) (2018) and loves supporting new families.
Alison is honored to help you work toward your feeding goals; whether you want to exclusive breastfeed/chestfeed, exclusively pump or to combo feed your baby, Alison cares deeply about the importance of personal and informed decision-making and aims to provide all of her clients with evidence-based information in all things related to pregnancy, birth, feeding and early parenthood. Alison’s own birth and breastfeeding experiences along with her work with hundreds of families over the years has taught her that there are often unpredictable bumps and turns on this journey. What’s most important to her is that you were informed of your options and feel supported, heard and respected throughout all the many decisions you will make during this time in your life.
Alison is a seeker of knowledge and is continuously furthering her education around all things birth and lactation. She also feels passionate about health and wellness, she likes staying active through walking, hiking, biking, yoga and contra dancing. Alison loves being a mother to her three children and has always enjoyed talking and learning with other parents about all the joys and challenges of parenthood.
At BBC, Alison teaches our Intro to Breastfeeding class for expecting parents, facilitates our weekly breastfeeding support group Breastfeeding Cafe, offers private lactation consults in your home, in her home office or at BBC and manages our yoga studio.
HEATHER HERSHELMAN
RN, LACTATION CONSULTANT, IBCLC
Heather Hershelman is a Registered Nurse (2008) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (2019).
At BBC, Heather offers private lactation consults in your home or at BBC.