Meet Lactation Consultant Ellen Steinberg

It's my privilege to introduce to you the lactation consultant (LC) who helped me stick with breastfeeding when things were really tough. Every new mom who wants to breastfeed should have a good LC to call upon.

I met Ellen Steinberg when she came to my house when my son was about 10 days old. She was the fourth LC I saw, and the one who was really able to help me. Ellen spent two hours at my house consoling, reassuring, and educating me. She worked with me on technique, gave me a plan, and most importantly, gave me hope that we could make this work. She also runs a terrific support group through which I've made some wonderful mommy friends. If I have another baby, I'm not wasting any time or money - I'm having Ellen come to the hospital right after I give birth!

Ellen is a registered nurse with experience in pediatrics, obstetrics, health education and community health. She is an international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC), on the board of directors of the Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles, and a consultant to Glendale Memorial Hospital, which hopefully will soon be the first Baby-Friendly Hospital in LA County. In addition, she is a certified Lamaze instructor and a certified American Heart Association CPR instructor. She is also the mother of 2 daughters, and fluent in Spanish.

Ellen runs a private practice out of her home in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, but travels anywhere within a 50 mile radius from her home office (north to Santa Clarita, west to Camarillo, east to the San Gabriel Valley, south to Long Beach). Her lactation practice includes the following services:

• Prenatal breastfeeding classes
• Prenatal consultations for risk management of potential breastfeeding problems
• Postpartum breastfeeding consultations in your hospital room, at your home, or in her office for any breastfeeding problem or issue

She addresses the following areas in her lactation practice:

• Concerns about milk supply
• Positioning and latch education and assistance
• Helping you make sense of your baby's behavior
• Helping you organize your baby's sleeping and eating patterns
• Sore nipples
• Engorgement and mastitis
• Pumping education
• Breastfeeding your premature baby
• Breastfeeding twins and other multiples
• Breastfeeding your older baby
• How to balance breastfeeding and work
• Sales and rentals of breastpump
• Rentals of baby scales (you can actually see how much your baby is eating!)
• Sales of every breastfeeding product imaginable - nursing bras, hands-free pumping bras, nursing pillows, etc.

Ellen's other services include:

• New Mothers Support Group - Mommy and Me weekly sessions for mothers withbabies from 0-8 months old
• Infant/Child CPR classes
• Lamaze childbirth classes
• Baby Care classes

Tomorrow I'll post Ellen's advice on the most important things to know before your baby is born.