Lactation consultants are relatively new members of the healthcare field.
We are professional breastfeeding specialists trained to help mothers with a variety of issues. A lactation consultant may work at a hospital, clinic, or doctor's office. She may have a private practice. Typically, she helps mothers and babies with latching difficulties, painful nursing, low milk production, or inadequate weight gain. She is a teacher as well as a counselor and helps mothers understand the fundamentals of lactation as well as supporting their efforts to learn how to feed their babies.