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Read what our clients are saying about us.
- Not breastfeeding my child never entered my mind. I grew up in a home where La Leche League
meetings were held. My brother and I and
my 4 step-siblings were breastfed. And
of course, I knew it would be best nutritionally for my child. After a four hour unmedicated labor and the
birth of a beautiful, healthy little boy (three weeks early), I was rushed to
surgery to have my placenta removed.
Unfortunately, I spent the first night of my son’s life in recovery with
only a Polaroid of him and my husband for company. At my doctor’s insistence, my son was finger
fed with formula by the nurses. Once I
arrived in my room the next day, I waited a couple of hours until they brought
my baby to me. After gazing in wonder at
my miracle, I tried to bf without much success.
Latching on was definitely a problem and I started getting worried as
the day wore on and evening arrived.
Exhaustion overwhelmed me and when the nurse suggested taking the baby
overnight, promising to bring him in every couple hours, I agreed. Every two hours became six hours and I really
started feeling like a failure when the nurse informed me my son took two
ounces of formula. The hospital had
lactation consultants and classes, so I attended the class and requested a
meeting with the LC all the while continuing to try to get my son to latch on
and feed.
We left the hospital with an
electric breast pump, syringes and formula compliments of the hospital. The next couple of weeks are a blur of taking
care of a newborn while pumping and bfing with a syringe, breast shields, and
getting no sleep while suffering from anemia from the surgery. We needed help and so called on a LC who came
out to the house twice. She provided our
first glimpse of hope with bfing. We
continued trying to bf using the suggestions our LC gave us getting to the
point that we were bf exclusively.
The
baby’s weight gain was lower than I was comfortable. I had a horrible case of sore nipples to the
point where I dreaded bfing and my baby wanted to bf every 1 ½ hours. At this point I contact Debbie and she was
able to see us right away. As soon as I
walked into her office (more of a sanctuary) I felt relief and knew Debbie
could help us. Debbie’s kindness and
comforting demeanor put me even more at ease.
Her expertise was evident in the questions she asked and the advice she
offered, which included supplementing for a time to up the baby’s weight.
I walked in ready to give up because of the
excruciating pain I was in and left with the hope that maybe we could continue. Even when I considered weaning my baby,
Debbie provided a sympathetic ear.
She
always said “you know your baby best” and I needed to hear that. Now my baby is eight months old and we
continue to bf without pain (with no plans to wean) to the amazement of my
husband, my doctor, and myself! He is
extremely healthy and happy and weighs 19
lbs. 6 oz.
at his six month well baby visit. He
went from the 25th percentile to the 85th in height and
weight.
My doctor gives me an “A” for
breastfeeding. I give my baby and myself
an “A+” thanks to the help of Debbie. We
couldn’t have done it without you! Thank
you!
K & W
April 2008
- I am very thankful to Debbie for her
knowledge and encouragement. My daughter was about 3 weeks old when we
first met with Debbie. I had not been instructed correctly in the
hospital and having delivered on a weekend did not have an opportunity
to meet with the lactation consultant. My nipples were cracked and
bleeding; due to the pain I was ready to give up on breastfeeding. I
did not want to throw in the towel; I contacted Debbie and had an
appointment the same day. Even though I was in pain, the visit went
beautifully and she helped us immensely. I was nursing my daughter the
way I had envisioned breastfeeding to be! Debbie was very accomodating
a few days later when my confidence began to subside and I felt
helpless once again. A last minute visit in the evening boosted my
confidence and we were back on track. Debbie's praise and support made
me feel like a great mother.
I would strongly recommend Visiting
Lactation Consultants to any new mother experiencing difficulty
with breastfeeding.
It is possible, with a little help, to be
successful and feel confident that you are doing the right thing!
C & C, Worcester
March 2008
- Debbie, I think of you so often and have so much to thank you for since Benjamin is still nursing and he's 4 months old.... Nursing is so easy now and Ben is always comforted with it. My testimonial to you is after desperately seeking to nurse with my first two and not succeeding for more than 5-6 weeks, my third one (Ben) is still nursing at 4 months and we both love it! My wish, having my last baby, was to just nurse long enough for him to smile up at me while nursing and thanks to Debbie's unconditional support and care, my son and I have had many of those moments.
I am so grateful to Debbie Page for teaching me so much about the art of breastfeeding and helping me to experience nursing which I will cherish and savor for as long as I can.
- Visiting a lactation consultant was the single best thing I did for
breastfeeding. Debbie was wonderful, the encouragement and
affirmation she offered was invaluable. My daughter was born almost a
month prematurely and I had/have an oversupply with fast letdowns
(discovered thanks to Debbie).So breastfeeding was, to say the least
a challenge at first. Debbie encouraged me to stick with it, giving
suggestions for different positions, and ways to nurse. She was also a
big help with controlling my recurrent mastitis, offering information
that neither my midwives nor pediatrician did. I am so thankful for
all her help, and she is a big part of the reason for my continued
breastfeeding success.
I would encourage every new mom to seek help
with a lactation consultant, it made all the difference for me.
A & L
Leominster MA
- Debbie, thank you for all of your help and support. I feel very fortunate
to have your help. I know I would not have continued breast feeding
because of the way things were going initially. It is one of those things that
you don't want to look back later and say I should have done things
differently. I am so happy I found you and was able to get help.After having my daughter, I left the hospital thinking that I was all set
with the breastfeeding. I went to the class in the hospital with their
lactation consultant and really had no problems until I got home. Once my
milk came in, I had lots of problems. My baby was screaming, I was tired and I
knew this could not go on much longer. I considered using the formula samples
they gave me in the hospital. I really did not want to do it because I knew the
breast milk was best for my baby. Fortunately, the doula who helped with the
delivery knew of you. If I did not get to see you right away, I would have
given my daughter formula. But thankfully you saw me right away and helped
me.I feel very lucky because many of my friends did not find help and now
regret that they were not able to breast feed their baby. After a number of
sessions, I felt much better because you were tracking my baby's weight and I
knew she was getting enough food & nutrition. One session was definitely not enough. There were so many things I needed help with. Plus each week brought a new set of questions. The other big benefit for me was the weighing at each consultation. This helped me figure out how nuch milk to leave with my daughter at daycare. Now she is 11 weeks old and things are going really well. I know I am doing what is best for my daughter.
Thank you Debbie for all of your support and expertise.
N & J
Shrewsbury, MA
December 2007
-
I
just wanted to send a quick thank you and update. B. had her 8
week check up today and weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 15 ounces and is
at the 50th percentile for height and weight. She has come leaps and
bounds from the tiny girl who was losing too much weight and on
supplements and mandatory 2 hour feedings. [Now] our instructions from the
Dr is "whatever you are doing just keep on doing it" What a relief!
We remain completely off of any supplements and are just breast feeding.
She is even sleeping through the night (which makes it necessary to
pump in the am but for the exchange of sleep I will gladly do it). I want you to know how much I
appreciate all of your help. As I mentioned to you, I never thought I
would be contacting a lactation consultant, I thought the idea was "out
there" until I could not seem to get my girl to eat and she was losing
weight almost as quickly as I was losing hope. I was within hours of
completely giving up until I met with you and you saved the day. Your
guidance and understanding is what got us through the most emotional
and stressful of times. Now we are pros and are going strong. We
would have never made it this far without you.
Thank you again and please keep doing what you are doing....we would have never made it without you!
K & B
December 2007
-
I am so grateful that I was referred to Visiting Lactation
Consultants (VLC) when I experienced trouble with breastfeeding my newborn son. He was not gaining weight adequately, and I
was in pain with sore, cracked and bleeding nipples. I was so upset, and thought about giving up
breastfeeding, but did not want to.
Within twenty four hours of calling VLC, Gail arrived at my house with
the help I needed. She not only was very
knowledgeable, she was gentle, kind, and understanding of my needs. She also recognized that my son was having
difficulty nursing. She helped me find a
physician that easily corrected the problem.
Throughout this process, both she and Debbie were supportive, frequently
called to check in, and answered any and every question I had.
I feel that without [Gail and Debbie], I would never have
been able to continue breastfeeding. I
thank God for their help.
A & J
Spring 2007
- Debbie Page was referred to me by my pediatrician, after my
newborn son was failing to gain weight.
I was nursing him round-the-clock, and we could not figure out why he
wasn’t thriving. He was the first child
that I breastfed, so besides being extremely naïve to the process, I was
paranoid that I was doing something wrong.
Within minutes of my visit, Debbie noticed that Jamie had a
tongue-tie, which was most likely impeding his ability to nurse correctly. She also worked with me on various nursing
positions and gave me plenty of tips on keeping up my milk supply. Once Jamie’s tongue-tie was clipped, we were
able to get into a more comfortable nursing routine and he thrived! I continued
to see Debbie on a biweekly basis until Jamie was about 5 months old. I am happy to say that I nursed Jamie until
he self-weaned at 9 1/2 months, and there is no way that I would have stuck it
out this long had Debbie not been there for me.
She is a walking book of knowledge, and was always quick to respond to
any of my emails.
Nursing a newborn can be an extremely intimidating process,
particularly in front of a stranger, but Debbie put me at ease right away. She has a very gentle manner which makes her
clients feel comfortable. Her vast
wealth of experience, resources and knowledge are exceptional.
I would highly, highly recommend her services
to any nursing mother.
R & J
Winter 2007
- My baby,
Autumn, and I had trouble breastfeeding from the start. We learned some positions for breastfeeding,
and I learned how to ease my breast into her mouth, but breastfeeding really
hurt, and after a few rounds of nursing, my nipples were badly bruised and in
pain. Nurses tried to help – taking a
few minutes here or there to help us find a better position for nursing,
helping Autumn get a better latch. But
nothing helped.
By day 3, my breasts were
engorged and in pain, and my nipples really hurt each time Autumn nursed – even
for just a few minutes, so I stopped nursing.
That afternoon, I connected with Debbie Page, a lactation consultant,
who got us on the right path. By the
time I saw Debbie, mastitis was developing in my breasts, Autumn was not
drinking enough to put her on schedule to regain her birth weight, and my
breasts were very uncomfortable.
In our
first visit, Debbie reassured me that what I was experiencing was common, and
she took over 2 hours to help Autumn and I work together to find better nursing
positions, to help us reduce the pain, to
teach me about pumping extra milk, and to share techniques for healing my sore
and damaged nipples. Leaving Debbie’s, I
cried with relief.
Enough of parenting
is new and lacks support, so to have found warm, supportive, reassuring support
for one of the most trying parts of early parenting was such a relief. I visited Debbie every other day for ten
days, by which time we were breastfeeding successfully. Autumn had regained her birth weight, she was
waking up to nurse every few hours, my nipples were healing well, Autumn was
able to drink enough milk to keep my breasts soft and comfortable, and Autumn
was latching on well for effective nursing that is now enjoyable to us
both.
Now I always recommend to my
pregnant friends that they contact a lactation consultant right away!
L & A
January 2008
- Debbie Page is the reason I'm still breastfeeding. I called her
the first week I was home because my son kept losing weight. She saw
me the next day and spent a couple of hours going over a correct latch,
feeding positions, milk supply, etc... I saw her every week for
months, sometimes even twice a week.
Every week there seemed to be a
new set of concerns, and every week Debbie helped me through each of
them. She identified my son's suck issues almost immediately, but I
waited to see if maybe with some exercises and practice we might be
able to get through it. That wasn't the case. Just when everyone
else was telling me I might have to switch to formula, Debbie kept me
going week after week. I went to several doctors before I finally found a doctor who understood my son's sucking issues and in a few weeks the issues were gone. He was sucking
efficiently and gaining weight. He went from nursing an hour, only
getting a couple of ounces, to nursing 20 minutes and getting around 4
ounces.
If it wasn't for Debbie's reassurance, I never would have
continued breastfeeding. She always responded promptly to my emails and phone
calls. Even after months of not seeing her I called because I was
worried about my son's weight again. She had me come right in to watch
him feed and to do a weight check. Turns out he was fine, just
mother's nervousness!
I highly recommend Debbie to anyone who is hesitant about
breastfeeding or who has already started and is questioning whether
they can do it. I honestly thought it wasn't going to work for me, but
in the end it did. My son is now 7 months and the breastfeeding
couldn't be going any better!
I can't thank you enough for your support and
expertise. Books and websites are helpful, but there is nothing like
having someone observe you and your baby. That one on one is really necessary!
Laurie, Templeton, MA
January 2008
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