Seven Lactation Consultants with one phone call!

Seven Lactation Consultants with one phone call!
We’re here for you during the Coronavirus crisis
Following current Government and Public Health England guidance, we are now able to offer home visits for urgent cases. In order to minimise person-to-person contact and therefore risk of exposure to Covid-19, we are carrying out consultations virtually as much as possible. If it subsequently emerges that a visit is essential, we are permitted to follow up with a home visit, in appropriate PPE. This may of course not be possible for areas where distance/transport is problematic.
Key information regarding breastfeeding and coronavirus
From the available evidence, here are the current key messages for breastfeeding mothers:
- Breastfeeding isn’t just about food. Breastfeeding mothers produce antibodies and other immune factors in their milk, which helps to protect their babies and enhance their babies’ immune systems. This continues as long as breastfeeding does. (UNICEF – Infant feeding during the Covid-19 outbreak, March 2020)
- Stopping breastfeeding will lead to a decrease in immune factors being available to a baby to fight any infection
- Breastfed babies will always have a supply of food – whether the shops are open or not
- There is currently no evidence that Covid19 can be passed on via an infected mother’s milk (Public Health England, March 2020)
- Generally increasing breastfeeding rates even moderately would save 53,000 GP visits and 9,000 hospitalisations with childhood illnesses: keeping our babies and young children out of high-risk medical settings, and reducing the load on the NHS (UNICEF- Preventing disease and saving resources: the potential contribution of increasing breastfeeding rates in the UK, October 2012)
This website has an excellent summary of the international health organisations’ statements on coronavirus and breastfeeding:
Re-starting breastfeeding
Some mothers who have recently stopped breastfeeding are seeking help with starting to breastfeed again (re-lactation), which is possible depending on the age of your baby, the length of time the baby was breastfed before ceasing and how much time has passed since stopping. In addition, mothers who are mixed feeding may wish to get support with increasing their milk supply and reducing their need for formula. Here is some good information on re-lactation:
https://breastfeeding.support/tips-for-relactation/
https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/relactation/
https://kellymom.com/ages/adopt-relactate/relactation-resources/
London Lactation Consultants can offer online consultations to support mothers wishing to re-start breastfeeding, or to discuss questions around mixed feeding, in addition to the full range of breastfeeding-related issues we have supported mothers with for many years.