Do you pay for the lactation consultents?

Question

I live in Japan and I gave birth to my first child here..And Breastfeeding was nightmare to me..Becouse hospital staff and the docters are trying to force me to bottle feed..even they give formula samples ..cans for free..its so frustrating..and i try to contact a lactation consultent and they say we have to pay her 250$..And finally i had to give up..But this time im trying to breast feed my second and i need information..

Thank you

12 weeks pregnant

Answer 1

I live in Canada. It should be free and was free in my city until a few years ago. Our hospital decided to cut the lactation consultant program from the budget. I found I had the same issues. The nurses REALLY pushed formula. They sent me home with a whole case of ready-to-feed samples. They also went as far as telling me that my daughter was losing too much weight too fast and needed formula. She had only lost 3oz at 2 days old. They even took my daughter in the middle of the night and gave her formula behind my back. I didn't even know until the next morning when they brought her back and said "Oh, and she got hungry in the night, so we fed her". I flipped. They should have brought her to me.

Because they cut the lactation consultant program, we now have to pay. I don't know if yours is a one-time rate or if it's per session, but here it is now $60 for the initial consultation and $45 for every session afterwards, but it's also for as long as you need the lactation consultant there. It can get pretty expensive.

There are other ways, as the first answerer suggested, the La Leche League. They are a group of breastfeeding supporters, ranging from trained consultants to breastfeeding moms and even grandmas, who will come to your house and answer your questions, send you information and help you to get breastfeeding down at no charge. We also have the health unit's nurses available to us to help with breastfeeding, if needed.

But to answer your question, yes, in my city, we do pay for a lactation consultant. The sad part? It's free in other parts of Canada, and even other parts of my province.

Answer 2

It depends where you are. In my city, lactation consultants are free if you see one where you give birth. Is there a La Leche League around you? They don't charge money and many of the leaders are very qualified to help you with breastfeeding. Also, kellymom.com is  agreat resource for questions and help. If you go to ivillage.com, there is a messge board under the pregnancy section. It is called Breastfeeding/Lactation Consultant. There is an internationally certified LC there who checks in a few times a week and can answer your questions. Breastfeeding can be confusing at first, and I am so glad to hear that you are going to do it with your new baby. There is a lot of help available. If you post where you are, I can look up help in your area.