Physically assessing a baby is a critical skill for a lactation care provider to have. Depending on what background experiences brought you to the profession, this may be a familiar role for you — or it may feel very new. Either way, there are a few key points to remember to make your infant physical exam as helpful as possible for you and as comfortable and stress-free as possible for families. Below, Sarah Stilling, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and IBCLC, shares some advice from her years of experience examining babies. Always ask permission. It sounds obvious, but it’s often skipped: Ask the parent’s permission before you begin examining their baby. Just because a parent and baby are in a clinic or hospital setting, don’t assume consent ...

Pharmacy students study hard in their education programs. By graduation, they’ve mastered a wide range of gritty scientific details and topics that leave lay people shaking their heads – but grateful that the person providing their medication knows the facts! However, one important topic is conspicuously underrepresented, filling just one lecture in most pharmacy programs. The topic? Human lactation. Fortunately, there are effective, accessible ways to add to your lactation education. If you’re a pharmacist, expanding your knowledge of human milk and breastfeeding/chestfeeding is one of the best career choices you can make. Here are three reasons why. Reason #1: You serve many lactating people — whether you realize it or not. How many ...