Welcome

My name is Dana Ehman.  I'm an International Board Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).  I currently have a solo private practice called MotherBorn LLC in West Chester, Pennsylvania.  I am contracted with Aetna and Independence Blue Cross.  I see many families for lactation consulting services each day and host a Postpartum Support Group, Mothers Morning Out, Fitness Classes, TummyTime Classes, and Infant Massage Classes.  Through all of my group work, I have been able to bring families together to build community.  I spend so much time with the families I work with and I learn as much from them as they from me.

Day in and day out up to six families come to my office for lactation consulting.  The majority of women and their babies are experiencing really serious, difficult complex issues.  Like all families, my clients want to do what's best for their baby.  They have read all the books, all the blogs, all the websites, and have been told to exclusively breastfeed for six months, no bottles, no pacifiers, no formula necessary. Here's your pump so you can go back to work in 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks. Then they give birth and have babies that can't or won't latch, babies are not getting enough to eat, women are not making a full diet of milk for the baby, women are in - hit the ceiling - pain. There is no shortage of complications and no shortage of advice out there .....

Change position! * Drink blue Gatorade! * Eat a lactation cookie * Here's some lanolin * Its supply and demand! Keep nursing! * Fenugreek! * Maybe the baby is tongue tied? * Let's wait another week and we'll see if the baby starts gaining *  Feed the (4 day old) 2 oz of formula after every feeding * The baby is better than the breast pump! Keep nursing! * Pump after every feeding!

 Women are confused, exhausted, conflicted, traumatized, angry, sad, depressed, anxious, AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Then they find me....some sooner than others. Families come in, sit down, I spend ninety minutes during the first visit, listening, evaluating, assessing, planning.  I can narrow down the actual issues (in most cases, not all) and prepare a care plan for mom and baby.  Some are simple and some are super complex.  For complex cases, I may see a family a few times a week.  Many situations can be resolved, many cannot.  Many mothers must switch gears and adjust their breastfeeding goals and expectations along the way. The mother yearning to have her baby feed at the breast must pump milk for her baby that won't latch.  The mother yearning to exclusively breastfeed her child must supplement with formula, long term, since her supply will go up to eight ounces per twenty four hours and not budge no matter what she does. This is not how either of these women pictured breastfeeding but they got the support they needed, did whatever they could to remedy the situation, then had to readjust their plans but were both able to give their child their milk for the long haul.

I'm soooo proud of all the women that muster up the courage to walk through my door and trust in me to help guide them.  "No one talks about this stuff!"  "No one told me this could happen!"

We're talking about it ... We know these complicated feeding issues are happening to so many mothers and babies and MotherBorn Moms want to share their stories so you know you are not alone. Welcome to Her Breastfeeding Journey......