Report Broken Link

Lactation consultancy in New Zealand

Abstract:

Why lactation consultants? The promotion of breastfeeding is a success story with breastfeeding numbers generally continuing to rise until they reached a plateau in the early 1980s. Along with the increase in the number of women initiating lactation goes an increase in both the number experiencing difficulties and the complexity of the nature of those problems. The percentage of women who start out breastfeeding is good but, alas, the statistics show a rapid fall off in the breastfeed rate in the first three months. Clearly, these women are not receiving the support they require when problems arise. Many of them discontinue lactation because of a lack of information at a crucial time. Generally, standard advice is all that is required, but increasingly more skill is needed in diagnosis of problems and management of the mother and baby.

 view online article View Document

breastfeeding support, certification, role of the lactation consultant