Breastfeeding Outside The Box

How wonderful when a family includes a breastfeeding mother! Well how about if a family includes two of them?  For same-sex female couples, both mothers can share in the nursing of their baby.  This is called co-nursing.  Co-nursing can be such a gift for families, but it also has its challenges.  Rachel is a lactation consultant with personal experience with co-nursing.  She shares her amazing wisdom and insights with us on this podcast episode!

Chrissy is an intended mother, in other words she became a mother via surrogacy.  She tells us of her inspirational journey to nursing her son, from the surprising way she discovered induced lactation to her current breastfeeding relationship with her now 9-week old son.  

In this podcast, we catch up with Alyssa Schnell, co-host of the Breastfeeding Outside the Box podcast and author of Breastfeeding Without Birthing.  We heard a bit about Alyssa's personal story in episode #2.  Now we connect with Alyssa professionally as she shares some of her expertise on breastfeeding-without-birthing ... or breastfeeding in situations of adoption, surrogacy, foster care, co-nursing, relactation, and more.

Some babies seem to be born knowing exactly what to do at the breast.  And for some others...well, latching comfortably and getting milk from the breast isn't so easy.  Lots of times, mothers feel that they have done something wrong when this happens, when in fact their babies are born with some extra challenges.  That was certainly the case with Becca's baby.  But Becca was resourceful and determined, and with the help of some amazing local professionals she gradually and lovingly transitioned her baby from exclusive bottle-feeding to breastfeeding.  We are so grateful that Becca has shared her amazing journey with us!

Becca didn't give up.  When breastfeeding got off to a tough start and her milk production dwindled, she knew in her heart it wasn't too late.  With time, hard work, and determination Becca brought her milk back after she had lost it -a process called relactation.  She used a breast pump, medications, herbs, and the help of a myriad of local professionals.  And one pump at a time, one ounce at a time, she eventually built her milk production up to a full supply.

If there was a queen of breast pump flanges it would be Dee Kassing.  I'm serious.  Dee knows A LOT about breast pumps and their flanges. What is a breast pump flange?  The flange is the clear plastic funnel-like piece that a mother places on her breasts to draw in the nipple and some of the areola in order to extract and collect milk.  But why does using the right flange matter very much?  Dee explains that using the right flange for you results in the most comfort and milk output.  If you are regularly using a breast pump to provide milk for your baby, this podcast episode is a must!

Hearing from Bridget and her husband Shawn will blow you away.  This incredible couple shares their touching journey through a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy, cancer treatments that did not allow mom to breastfeed, and a baby who would not accept his wet nurses or a bottle, Together this mother, father and baby discovered a solution that helped heal them all. Finger-feeding ended up not only being a way for this couple to nourish their baby, but a way to nurse their baby when traditional nursing was not available.  No milk production required.  No breasts required.  Just a finger, a feeding device, and love.

We are so thrilled to have the wonderful Diana West on Breastfeeding Outside the Box.  Through her writing, speaking, and individual work with breastfeeding families, Diana has opened the doors to breastfeeding for so many parents, starting with mothers breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery.  Her influence then grew to supporting mothers with low milk production for various reasons.  And she is now expanding the understanding and support for breastfeeding/chestfeeding for the transgender community.  

We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to interview Jo Lockhart, nursing mother, doula, and creator/moderator of the Supply Line Breastfeeding Awareness Project Facebook page.  In this interview, Jo shares her early struggles with breastfeeding and how using a supply line (a.k.a. at-breast supplementer) has been a key element in her successful nursing relationships with her two youngest children.  Jo is now a pioneer for supply line feeding for mothers with low milk production all over the world.   Cry and celebrate along with Jo as she shares her inspirational journey in this monumental podcast episode.   

Domperidone is a pharmaceutical medication that can help increase milk production.  In this interview, Frank Nice gives us the scoop on "dom".  He tells us who might benefit from domperidone and who shouldn't take it.  He tells us about common - and some not-so-common side effects.  We learn what dosage is ecommended, and how to safely and effectively discontinue using domperidone when the time comes.  And of course we discuss the big controversy around domperidone - why it is not currently FDA approved and where we are in the process of getting  it approved.  ​   Listen to Dr. Nice's interview:   Here are a few highlights from our interview: General dosage of domperidone is 10-20mg 4 times per day or 30mg 3 times per day.  Increasing the dosage can further increase milk supply, but dosages greater than 120mg per day rarely result in additional milk production (although a few mothers have found dosages up to 240mg per day are effective).  Although most mothers who will get a boost in milk production fro

It was great to hear from our show's co-host, Hope, about her inspiring journey to nursing her daughter by adoption.  Hope originally learned that breastfeeding in adoption was possible during her doula training.  Armed with the knowledge that breastfeeding would be possible for her even though she   was unable to conceive, Hope found resources on adoptive breastfeeding to be pretty scarce at first.  Fortunately, more information and support continued to emerge.  Here are some of the top resources that Hope found: The asklenore website* got her started with a step-by-step approach for inducing lactation, called the Newman-Goldfarb Protocol.  The Newman-Goldfarb Protocol primarily consists of pumping and the use of pharmaceutical medications to induce lactation. Several months later, Hope discovered additional options for inducing lactation in the newly released book, Breastfeeding Without Birthing.  Using some ideas she read about, she choose to enhance the steps in the Newman-Goldfarb protocol by adding so

Alyssa shared with Hope the breastfeeding story that inspired Breastfeeding Without Birthing.  It has been 10 years since Alyssa became an adoptive parent who nursed her baby, and she has been working hard ever since to grow information and support around breastfeeding without pregnancy and birth.     Alyssa's passion for breastfeeding grew out of her experience nursing her first two (biological) children.  When she and her husband planned to adopt, she knew that breastfeeding would be a very important part of that plan. Building a Full Milk Supply when Inducing LactationWhile many mothers who induce lactation hope to build a fully supply, few of them do.  Alyssa was one of the fortunate ones.  Why are some mothers able to produce a full supply and others much less?  We really don't have all the answers, just as we don't have all the answers why some mothers by birth cannot produce a full supply.  But we do have some inclinations: Mothers who've birthed and breastfed before tend to make more milk. Mothers w

Alyssa and Hope are hard at work preparing to serve you with some inspiring and hugely informative podcasts to guide you along your journey to feed and care for your precious little one.  We will be talking with experts in the field - both lactation professionals and parents who've nursed their babies outside typical definitions of breastfeeding.  We will cover topics such as helping a non-latching baby, inducing lactation, exclusively pumping, bottle-feeding and bottle-nursing, nipple shields, at-breast supplementers, chestfeeding, co-nursing, relactation, IGT, tongue-tie, herbs and medications for increasing milk production, and more.