Christy Smith-Baxter, IBCLC

06/02/2023

Today marks the first day of Pride Month! Happy Pride everyone! 🌈

Celebrating ALL families enjoying all kinds of ways of feeding our babes, today and everyday.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍

03/11/2023

Kangaroo Care: the importance of skin-to-skin for you and your babe!

Skin-to-skin, also known as Kangaroo Care, is so important for you and your baby. We are made well aware of the great importance of direct skin-to-skin in the hours right after birth. However, research has shown the value in continued, intentional skin-to-skin sessions as your baby grows. And that skin-to-skin has big benefits for parents, too.

Skin-to-skin:

*regulates baby’s body temperature, breathing and heart rate

*helps to regulate baby’s blood sugar levels

*gets the good bacteria transferring between baby and primary caregivers

*supports the development of stronger immune systems

*naturally soothes crying and tension

*improves brain development

*supports parental attachment 

*helps with initiating breastfeeding/chestfeeding

*reduces postpartum bleeding

*lowers risk of perinatal anxiety and mood disorders

So practice skin-to-skin as often as you are able. Research has shown that even two, one hour sessions a day will help boost milk supply and will aid in connecting, calming and relaxing both you and your baby.

03/01/2023

It's IBCLC Day 2023!! Feedback from my clients like this makes me love my job even more!

“Christy assisted us with weight concerns and provided an at-home consultation. Christy is very knowledgeable and worked with us to develop a plan that we were comfortable with and that met our needs. She continued to check in after the consult and answered any further questions. Christy is professional and respectable of all family dynamics and pronouns. We felt safe having Christy in our home and will continue to work with her as our family grows.“

Thank you for this beautiful review! 🙏🏻❤️

02/25/2023

From a client...
“Hi Christy! I wanted to say a big thank you! The doctor was thrilled with L’s weight gain at our appointment yesterday and gave us the green light to follow our plan and continue weaning off the supplementation. We’ve made so much progress over the last month and thank you so much for your help!!!”

I really do have the very best job!!

Feeling so very grateful to have been part of this family’s feeding journey ❤️

08/08/2022

Did you know?

On day 1, your baby’s stomach is only the size of a cherry! On their first day of life outside the womb, babies only need between 2-7 mls (or about 1-1.5 tsp of colostrum) each time they breastfeed, or you or a caregiver feed expressed milk alternatively (for example by cup feeding or syringe feeding your hand expressed colostrum).

On day 2, baby is still getting a similar amounts of colostrum at each feed.

By day 3, your baby's stomach is roughly the size of a walnut. Milk may or may not be “in” but some babies will be taking in as much as approx 20-30 mls at each feed (transitional milk). Lots of range of milk amounts is so normal.

By day 4, some lactating parent's milk will be “in” (it is still okay if it’s not totally there yet!) Baby ought to be getting around 30 mls at each feed.

By day 5, most lactating parents’ milk will be “in”, and baby's stomach is around the size of a small apricot and is beginning to be able to expand. Baby should be transferring between 30-50 mls per feed.

By day 6, baby should be transferring 45-50 mls per feed, and by day 7, their stomach has expanded to roughly the size of a plum. Baby may transfer between 45-60 mls at each feed.

Feeding your baby frequently in these early days will allow more prolactin receptor sites to form in your breast tissue and will help to build a good supply of breastmilk. So keep your baby close, get lots of skin-to-skin in, and give them that liquid gold. 💛

08/02/2022

Happy World Breastfeeding Week 2022!

The theme this year is...
Step up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support🤍

07/30/2022

Colostrum, often called liquid gold, is a baby’s first food. It is a complex biological fluid with some pretty important tasks!

Among its important jobs, colostrum:

*coats baby’s digestive system and closes the infant’s gut

*helps to block out dangerous pathogens that could enter into baby’s body systems

*contains lymphocytes and antibodies, and activates the development of the newborn’s immune system

*clears bilirubin, helping baby to clear jaundice.

The transfer of colostrum from baby’s first latches in the first days after birth triggers the lactating caregiver’s transitional milk to be produced, starting the process of bringing in mature breastmilk. Even if you choose not to breastfeed, your body will still go into milk production mode. You may want to consider hand-expressing colostrum and giving it as your baby’s first food. 💛

07/15/2022

What exactly is an IBCLC? And what do we do?

An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is a lactation professional who has completed courses in many different areas of study, including psychology, anthropology, sociology, nutrition, infant and child development, human biology, anatomy and physiology, statistics, research methodology and practices. In addition, 95 hours of lactation specific coursework needs to be completed to qualify to sit the IBLCE exam. To complement this coursework, IBCLCs must attain hundreds of hours of clinical practice, working with breastfeeding dyads and families, to gain necessary practical knowledge and experience. We must prepare for and pass a 4 hour exam to gain certification, and then must continue learning throughout practice as an IBCLC needs to stay current on the most recent evidence-based research guiding best practices. Importantly, all IBCLCs must follow the Code of Professional Conduct and the Scope of Practice set out by the global governing body, the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners.

An IBCLC is skilled in many areas, including:
*prenatal lactation education and support
*initiating breastfeeding
*strategies to increase or manage supply
*optimal latch and positioning
*breast and ni**le care/treatment
*exclusive breastfeeding/chest feeding  
  management
*mixed feeding/supplementation
  management
*use of supplemental nursing systems
*pumping strategies, comfort and support
*bottle feeding strategies and support
  (expressed breastmilk and/or formula)
*ankylogossia (tongue tie) assessment,
  support and management
*weaning strategies and support
*tummy time strategies and baby care
*postpartum care and PMADs (Perinatal
Mood and Anxiety Disorders) support.

Reach out if you need assistance. I will meet you where you’re at 🤍

 

07/15/2022

This is me and my team. My family. The ones I live my everyday with. This photo was taken after the birth of our third child. We worked so hard for her! She completed our family, and now she is six!

I feel like motherhood has made me real. It has been the most staggering learning curve. The ups and downs, highs and lows, the twists and turns. But there is always LOVE.

My team. They make me nuts sometimes... but they feed my soul and lift me up. They are everything. 🤍

07/15/2022

During the summer months, it is normal for caregivers to worry about their baby’s hydration. But did you know that exclusively breastfed babies DO NOT need any more fluids than breastmilk alone? Breastmilk is 88% water! Let your baby tell you when they need some additional feeds to quench their thirst! Many exclusively breastfed babies will feed more frequently in the hotter weather, and its important that caregivers allow them to take the lead on additional feeds, and to watch baby’s cues closely.

If you are a breastfeeding parent, you should drink to thirst. You may feel more thirsty while breastfeeding in the hot weather, so continue to drink water, enough so to avoid feeling thirsty. Research has shown that you do not need to worry so much about how many millilitres or litres of water to drink to stay hydrated. However, you need to avoid becoming DEHYDRATED. Dehydration will affect your overall physical health, including your mood.

References:

Kelly Bonyata, 2022. kellymom.com

Donna Murray, 2020. The Composition of Breast Milk: Explore the Nutritional Benefits and Components of Breastmilk. Verywellfamily.com

07/15/2022

Here's the thing…I'm a planner. Maybe you can relate? So what if your birth plan doesn’t go as planned? What if the little voice in your head is saying “I didn’t even give birth to my baby…I had a c-section.”

Real Talk...

This is how I felt when I had my first born. He came out perfect…red faced and wailing. Just not the way I had imagined. The way I had planned. But life does not always go according to plan…does it?

My birth plan consisted of all the things…natural, non-medicated vaginal birth, including the tub and all. But my delivery ended in an emergency cesarean. And all of the grief that goes with it. The unplanned c-section impacted my initial milk supply and ultimately my ability to bond with my baby. I was struggling emotionally and with feeding... and my doctor was monitoring me for PPD.

It was time to make a NEW PLAN. 👍

An absolute key part of this plan turned out to be working with several Lactation Consultants who led me and my baby back to my personal version of breastfeeding success. We mixed-fed (formula and breastmilk) while increasing my own supply, until finally around 3 months, we were able to exclusively breastfeed and return to my original feeding goals. Breastfeeding helped me strengthen the bond with my baby, and set me on the path to heal from my Postpartum depression.

This is a photo I took of me breastfeeding my third baby. This was the moment I finally felt relaxed enough and confident enough in my breastfeeding journey to be PROUD of what I had accomplished! Life doesn't always go according to plan… but it's not about the plan. It's about the journey. It's about trusting yourself, your own intuition. It's about finding what works best for you and your family, and finding the right support for the moment you are currently living. No matter HOW your baby came into your life, and no matter how you choose to FEED your baby…know that you are NOT FAILING. Parenting, like life, doesn't usually go according to plan. It is one of the hardest, most beautiful journeys a person can take and the journey is unique for all of us. REACH OUT if your mama intuition is urging you to do so. I'm HERE to meet you where you're at. ❤

07/15/2022

Hi, I'm Christy! I am a board certified lactation consultant, with over 500 clinical hours of experience. Working with families for 20 years as an educator, I continue my passion for teaching by supporting breastfeeding and chestfeeding dyads in developing a plan for how they want their feeding experience to unfold. Having had three c-section experiences of my own, I have a dedication and an empathy for guiding families who have had a planned or unplanned c-section in ways to troubleshoot lactation care.

I am a Lactation Educator (LE) through Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA), and am TummyTime!™ Method certified.

07/15/2022