What to Expect at Nourish?
When you walk through our doors, you’ll sense that we are different. The friendly faces of our mother-daughter duo, Ellie and Dovie, will greet you at arrival. Since little hands touch out floor, we kindly ask for you to leave your shoes at the door. Feel free to bring some fuzzy cozy socks to wear while visiting us, and make yourself at home. We always have extra socks or shoe covers just in case. On a typical busy day, several families are being cared for at once, and our waiting room is buzzing with car seats, small feet and crawling knees enjoying the space, cooking up something in our play kitchen, interacting with the wooden toys or reading a book. Through the waiting room towards the back, you’ll find our classroom, changing table, bathrooms and the coffee/snack bar. Our bathroom is equipped with toddler-sized seats and stools, and our coffee/snack bar is stocked with healthy snacks, water, teas and coffee for everyone to enjoy. Each IBCLC has decorated their individual office space, so each room will feel unique and relaxing. Our goal is for you to walk through our doors and feel like family. While at Nourish, don’t worry if something was left behind! We keep diapers of all sizes, wipes, and important baby essentials on hand.
Welcome to Nourish!
During all consults, we typically:
Require that the feeding questionnaire, consent and HIPPA forms need to be completed electronically and submitted prior to your appointment starting.
We will disinfect or wash our hands before we touch you or your baby.
We will ask you to undress your baby down to a dry diaper. If breastfeeding, we will take two different weights in our medical-grade scale: pounds and grams. If bottle feeding, we will only take on weight in pounds.
We will sit and talk for a few minutes, unless baby is hungry and ready to feed. We'll go over your health history, your baby's history, your challenges and concerns.
If breastfeeding, we will observe a feed in whatever position and manner you use most. During the feed, we will make latching and positioning recommendations, assess your nipples before/after feeding and measure how much baby is transferring.
If bottle feeding, we will assess bottle and nipples to ensure correct product to match baby’s anatomy and ability. We will feed baby to assess transfer effectiveness and oral function.
We try to be as physically hands-off as possible. We will always ask for permission before we touch you, your breasts, or your baby.
Once the feeding session is complete, we will put on latex-free gloves and perform an oral motor functional assessment of your baby’s mouth.
You will receive a Care Plan via our private client messaging portal within 24 -48 hours with a summary of the consult, the recommendations provided, oral motor functional evaluation results and a copies of any pictures taken. When requested, we can provide a superbill or send a written report to your OB, physician, and/or your child's pediatrician.
During in-home consults, we typically:
During in-home consults, our lactation consultants perform the same observations and evaluations as if they were in our office. We bring the same same equipment, scale and products to you. What makes in-home consults unique is that we can assist you and your family in your home environment. We limit home visits to the first two weeks after birth. Please remember to:
Have your baby ready to feed, but not super hungry. If needed, just feed enough to hold them over.
Make a list of all of your questions so you can get the most out of your consultation.
Our lactation consultants will be with you in the room of your choosing. If breastfeeding, we love to teach the side-lying position to maximize your rest.
If you have questions about the breast pump, bottles or any other gear you are using or have chosen, try to have them available.
We have no problem with pets! However, if you have a pet who is particularly loud or overly friendly when people come over, you may want to plan to have that pet in a different part of the house for our visit. Also please be aware that some pets may be very territorial over "their" baby when strangers arrive. If a pet seems anxious or upset by the presence of a stranger, please remove the pet from the consult area.
Older siblings are always welcome to be playing nearby during a consult. You may want to plan an activity or distraction for them so that we can chat freely.
Don't worry about cleaning your house or changing what you are currently doing.
Don't kick everyone else out of the house. Your support system is welcomed to stay if that’s what you want.
Tell us if something doesn't feel right, both physically and emotionally. We really DO need to know what's working for you so that we can come up the plan that best allows you to meet YOUR feeding goals!