Looking for a Pediatircian That Is a Supporter of Breast Feeding

M. -

I don't know where you live. But we go to Peadiatric Care North on Barry Rd in Kansas City. They have lactation consultants on staff that are AMAZING and all the Drs there are very knowledgeable and supportive. Hope that helps.

where are living? in kc northland pediatric care north has a lactation consultant in office and st lukes has one

My daughter just had her 4th child 3 weeks ago. She has tried to breastfeed each time. Her children were all born at different hospitals (St. Joe, Menorah, Research), but this time I was so impressed with the hospitals teaching of breastfeeding! The other places tried, but these people actually showed her more, helped her more and even had breast pumps available so she wouldn't get too full for a newborn to handle! What a difference it made! I breastfed 2 of my kids and was never given any help, I was so impressed and learned some things myself! I'm hoping she can stay with it this time. She gave birth at St. Luke's on the Plaza, nothing was fancy about anything else, but they both got excellent care and the lactation people were the best!!

I used the lactation consultant at Women's Heath Care Group weeks after I gave birth because I was having trouble. Depending on where you are delivering, the hospital should provide you some free consultation there. The lactation nurses at Overland Park Regional were so helpful.

Not sure where you are, but we go to Dr. Wichman at Pediatric Care Specialists. They are in the doctor's building by St. Luke's South in OP. They have a lactation consultant, Mindy, who is fabulous. You are very smart in looking for this kind of support. I have a friend who just had a baby whose ped and lactation consultant told her she didn't produce enough milk and never would! Not saying that's not possible, but shouldn't they have at least suggested supplementing, not just replacing it with formula? It's not like she didn't have any milk at all.

Anyway, another suggestion I would make is to read "The Complete Book of Breastfeeding" by Marvin S. Eigerand. It's long and detailed but I felt much more confident with my decision to stick to breastfeeding despite the initial struggles. And of course, there's always La Leche League. Best of luck to you and congratulations!

I would recommend the Lactation Consultants at St. Luke's on the plaza. Even though I had my second son at Research, I went to the St. Luke's LC's when I was having trouble breastfeeding.

For a pediatrician, we see Kristen Jacobs at Northland Pediatric ssociates, ###-###-####. She always asks me how the breastfeeding is going and guides me. Your pediatrician should always inquire how bfing is working for you, not just the baby.

Lastly, you should start going to La Leche League meetings before the baby is born and make some connections with some leaders. I tried to bf my first son and had major (bloody) problems, so I stopped after 3 weeks. I knew how hard it could be, so the second time around, I was prepared. I knew some La Leche League leaders. They CAME TO MY HOUSE to help me several times when I was desperate. They were so helpful and supportive. I would have quit bfing if it were not for Jennifer. Go to their website to find the section nearest to you. All of their help is free, although you can join if you want. And don't worry, my babies have flat tongues, so they smash my nipples flat and cause lots of pain and damage, but it's very rare. The LC I saw said she hardly ever sees that problem. You'll be fine!

We go to Charles V. Moylan, M.D. at Pediatric Associates on the Plaza (they also have an office in Lee's Summit). He is very supportive of breast-feeding; he and his wife have 4 sons, all of whom were breast-fed. Good luck!

Dr. Patty Daniels with Childcare Limited. She is a supporter of breast feeding and is a trained lactation consultant too. Her office is out at St. Joseph in the Chrondelet medical offices. ###-###-####

Good luck with your search.

M.

Pediatric Care North off of Platte Purchase and Hwy 152. They have two lactation consultants and several pediatricians! It is a new building and everyone if very sweet!

Hey M.,

Your question is so important and I think you got some great answers. I just also wanted to let you know of another resource to support moms. I am a postpartum doula. I had never even heard of postpartum doulas when I was a new mom or I would have used one. We help in all areas of new motherhood-breastfeeding, baby care, infant soothing, baby massage, referrals for you and your family, light housekeeping, running errands. A doula will work with you on YOUR agenda for your family. They are a support service that is out there to help make the transition a joy instead of a hardship. If you would like to know more check out www.kcdoulas.org for a list of birth and postpartum doulas in our area. I am also a Certified Breastfeeding Educator. That is something I felt was important to futher educate myself on because it can frustrate a lot of new moms when it doesn't go well. Some of the other doulas are also chiropractors, massage therapists and so on. So check it out and feel free to ask me any questions you have about the whole doula thing.

I love the doctors at the Pediatric Care Clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital. They also have a WONDERFUL lactation department. My son had a really hard time learning to eat when he was born because of a bad case of jaundice, and everyone was so supportive and helpful. Even months later when I had questions and concerns about breastfeeding, I could call the lactation team and they had no qualms meeting with me at our doctor appointments. Some names of doctors we've liked are: Ben Rubin, Lindsay Malloy, Jennifer Goodall. We only saw several because of his jaundice - not because we didn't like them. Good luck, and congratulations! :)

Hi M.,
Well if you are due in September you can't really change OB/GYN now, but if you just happen to be at Saint Luke's on the Plaza that is great. I had my Daughter there and they strongly encourage breast feeding. It would probably help to know where you are but, I think most hospitals have lactation consultants that you can talk to. I found the lactation consultant to be wonderful, my daughter did not want to breast feed at all, and the lactation consultant was so encouraging and even told me I was doing such a great job because most new Mom's would have given up and went the easy way. She called for like 3 or 4 weeks after I had my Daughter, just to make sure we were doing ok. Generally I think the Pediatrician's tend to respect the Mother's wishes. I know we went to Pediatric Associates on Broadway on the Plaza and they have a Lee's Summit location as well, and they were good with the Breast feeding except that she had Jaundice and while she had the Jaundice they wanted me pump and mix half formula and half breast milk until the Jaundice was gone just to make sure she got proper nutrition. My OB recommended that office. I would talk to your OB about it. Most of the time Doctor's offices have a list of other Doctor's in other area's that they refer they have successfully referred their patients to. The name of that Doctor that we first saw, we switched insurance is the reason we quit seeing him by the way, is Dr. Holleman can't remember his first name but I think there is a lady named Vargas in the same office helps with insurance to know the Doctor's name. I also liked the fact that the have a sick waiting room and a not sick waiting room. Made me feel better about taking my newborn in there. Good luck!

M.

I haven't had good luck finding a pedi that makes that big of a deal about breastfeeding. It is a big deal though. The best suport you can find is probably through the local chapter of La Leche League. There are a lot of very informed people that can be great support. Its usually free and they will even send someone to you if you need any help. Much better than most hospital programs I've found. Hope this helps.

If you are up north, Pediatric Care North has two full time lacation consultants and the Doctors are very supportive of however long you want to breastfeed!

Dr. Nelson is our pediatrician at Johnson County Pediatrics and he is wonderful, as are other doctors we have seen during their walk-in hours. I am not sure what exactly his views are on breastfeeding, because I was not able to do so, but I do know that his wife is a nurse there, and also a lactation specialist...so I would guess he's pretty supportive of it!

Hope this helps, please feel free to let me know if you have anymore questions about the office.

I would think most pediatricians would support breast feeding. The important thing is that you are educated on the topic, which it sounds like you are. You can set up a meeting, an interview of sorts, with prospective pediatricians so you can vet them yourself. We go to Pediatric Professional Associates and see Dr. Belzer, but all the docs there are great. http://www.ppadocs.com

Your OB might be able to refer you to a lactation consultant, and the hospital where you deliver should probably have one on staff. I delivered at Menorah Medical Center and the lactaction consultant was on staff and came by to check on me a few different times during my two day stay. She gave me her phone number so I could call if I had any questions or concerns. The hospital also has (many probably do) a breast feeding support group that meets pretty often, I think weekly, but not sure.

You can also find a lactation consultant through the Le Leche League website: http://www.llli.org/WebUS.html

Also, if you haven't found it already, http://www.kellymom.com is a fantastic breastfeeding resource.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!