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Certified Breastfeeding & Lactation Consulting

From recognizing your baby’s hunger cues to perfecting the latch, our International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) will guide you through common breastfeeding/chestfeeding challenges. Minneapolis-based, serving virtually and in-person.

How We’ll Help You On Your Breastfeeding Journey

Breastfeeding, while natural, is a learned skill that can bring about moments of joy, challenge, and sometimes, uncertainty for you. That's where we step in. Our compassionate lactation specialists are here to turn those moments of doubt into triumphs and set you up for breastfeeding success. When you choose our services, you gain:
Latch Mastery
Navigate the foundation of breastfeeding to ensure both comfort and effectiveness.
Tailored Solutions
Whether it's breast engorgement or milk supply concerns, our experts tailor remedies for your unique scenario.
Optimal Positioning
Recognize the best feeding postures that harmonize with your body and your baby's preferences.
Pumping Proficiency
If you're resuming work or prefer occasional bottle feeding, we guide you in efficient breast pump usage, ensuring your baby’s nourishment remains uninterrupted.
Baby Growth Trackers
Celebrate and monitor your baby's progress, ensuring they’re thriving and growing as they should.
In addition, our blend of in-person and virtual consultation offerings ensures consistent support availability, regardless of schedule or location.

In-Person or Virtual Lactation Consulting Services

During our session, we'll discuss the health history of you and baby, identify challenges, and align on goals.

We’ll closely monitor a feeding session / milk expression (direct nursing, bottle-feeding, or pumping). For those breastfeeding/chestfeeding, a weighted feed is available to measure your baby’s milk consumption.

An infant oral exam is usually conducted to evaluate factors like tongue movement, sucking patterns, and palate structure. A breast examination may also be appropriate, where we assess various elements, including tissue health.

Following the evaluation, we collaborate to create a tailored care plan for your continued journey. Often, we incorporate a Pediatrician Report, advocating for a cohesive healthcare approach. If additional expertise is required, written referrals are provided.

For the subsequent two weeks, we’ll be available to you for questions or further assistance, and if a follow-up session is deemed necessary, we’ll help you with scheduling.

Lactation_Home_Consultation

Home Consultation

In-Person Visit (Recommended)

We’ll meet in your home. See service area for travel fee details (applicable >15 miles from S. Minneapolis Blooma location). Initial visit $250 (90 minutes), follow-up visits $190 (60 minutes).

Blooma Office Consultation

In-Person Visit (Recommended)

Meet us in a private space at our Blooma studio location in South Minneapolis. Initial visit $220 (90 minutes), follow-up visits $155 (60 minutes).

Lactation_Blooma_Office_Visit
Lactation_Virtual_Consultation

Virtual Consultation

Online Only

We’ll meet via secure, HIPAA-compliant video chat. Initial visit $190 (90 minutes), follow-up visits $125 (60 minutes).

What People Are Saying

Lactation Consulting FAQ

“International Board Certified Lactation Consultants function and contribute as members of the maternal-child health team. They provide care in a variety of settings, while making appropriate referrals to other health professionals and community support resources. Working together with mothers, families, policymakers and society, IBCLC consultants provide expert breastfeeding and lactation care, promote changes that support breastfeeding and help reduce the risks of not breastfeeding.” (https://iblce.org/about-iblce/)

Simply put, an IBCLC is a member of the healthcare team with advanced training in lactation. IBCLCs are well-versed in both typical lactation and infant feeding journeys, and those that come with a few twists and turns along the way.

IBCLCs are considered the “gold standard” in lactation support. We have received advanced training in both typical and atypical lactation and infant feeding. An IBCLC is an internationally recognized certification that includes a rigorous training program and standardized examination. IBCLCs have a background in a number of healthcare sciences, 90+ hours of lactation specific education, and 300-1000+ hours of clinical practice supporting families.

There are a number of other lactation supporters, from peer counselors (La Leche League, Breastfeeding USA, WIC, etc.) to the alphabet soup of lactation credentials (CLEC, CLC, CBS, CLE etc.). Each of these credentials requires some level of standardized education, usually 20-45 hours of lactation specific education, typically obtained in a week-long training course. These lactation providers are essential to the landscape of infant feeding support, and are hugely helpful for working through the typical challenges families face in lactation. As challenges become more complex, the advanced training and experience of an IBCLC may become helpful or necessary.

Truly anything related to lactation and infant feeding! Some reasons people seek lactation support include:

  • Prenatal consults, either to prepare for initial breast/chestfeeding or to work to avoid challenges experienced with previous children.
  • Plugged ducts and/or mastitis
  • Lactation after breast surgery (augmentation, reduction, biopsy)
  • Low milk supply
  • Oversupply
  • Tongue/lip tie
  • Infant feeding challenges (spitting up, refusing one side, agitation when feeding, falling asleep at the breast/chest)
  • Infant medical conditions (heart disease, cleft lip/palate, prematurity, etc.)
  • Parental medical conditions (PCOS, hyper/hypothyroid, Lupus, MS, etc.)
  • Low weight gain
  • Back to work consults
  • Flange fitting and pumping support
  • Alternative feeding method support (bottle, cup, syringe, SNS, etc.)
  • Weighted feeds
  • Nursing strikes
  • Challenges feeding an older child
  • Support after pregnancy or infant loss
  • Induced lactation and relactation
  • Weaning
  • And so much more!
Prior to the visit, we send you an intake form to gather some more information and a health history of you and your nursing(s). When the visit begins, we spend some time talking over the health history and getting a good understanding of the current challenges and our goals for the visit. We will observe a feeding/milk expression, whether that is baby nursing, taking a bottle, pumping, etc. If baby is breast/chestfeeding, we can do a weighted feed to see how much milk baby takes in over the course of a feeding. We will typically do an infant oral exam – we wear gloves and explore your baby’s mouth. We assess tongue mobility, suck patterns, palate shape, and more. We may also do a breast/chest exam, looking at nipple eversion, palpable breast tissue, size, and shape. We work together to make a Care Plan for you to have once our visit is complete. We will often send a Pediatrician Report as well, so the full healthcare team is involved with the assessment and plan. If any referrals are needed, We will provide you with those in writing. Finally, we stay available to you for 2 weeks after the visit for any questions or support related to the Care Plan. We are available to you by email and secure messaging support during that time. If another visit is needed, we’ll get that scheduled as well.
We offer home, office, and virtual visits. Home visits are available throughout the week. We travel to you, bringing all our supplies. If you live beyond a 20 minute radius of Blooma, there may be a surcharge for travel. Office visits are available at Blooma in South Minneapolis by appointment. Virtual visits are available throughout the week and take place on a secure, HIPAA-compliant video messaging platform.

We are not currently in-network with any insurance providers, so do not directly bill insurance. After our visit, we will give you a Superbill which can be submitted to your insurance for reimbursement. Under the Affordable Care Act, lactation visits with an IBCLC should be covered by insurance. Unfortunately, there are sometimes loopholes or push-back. We recommend contacting your insurance company prior to the visit for pre-authorization – this seems to make it more likely to see reimbursement come through. If you have any difficulty understanding or accessing your benefits, please consult this toolkit created by the National Women’s Law Center.

Meet Your Certified Lactation Consultants

Brittany Geisen

My experience in lactation started in my role as a NICU nurse in 2015. My passion for lactation and supporting infant feeding grew exponentially during my breastfeeding journey with my first child.

I’ve successfully breastfed my two children (still currently breastfeeding my youngest, a toddler). Each journey has been unique and added first-hand experience to my education and training as an IBCLC. I’ve been an IBCLC since 2019, working in the hospital setting as well as providing in-home lactation/infant feeding support. I’ve taken additional education to be competent in assessing oral/tongue restrictions and the impacts that has on feeding and beyond.

Lactation doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I am passionate about meeting you where you/your baby are at to support your unique goals.I love to teach and equip parents with the knowledge necessary to feel confident feeding their baby. I have additional expertise and training from my NICU nurse role, working alongside Occupational Therapists. Through this I am skilled in paced bottle feeding and implementing any additional bottling techniques to optimize the safety and quality of feeding for babies that bottle feed. I love providing in-home lactation/feeding support – it’s where you feel comfortable and where your physical and emotional supports are.

Jessica Underwood

With a comprehensive background supporting families in the perinatal period, Jessica (she/her) is passionate about personal empowerment and evidence based care. 

She provides support to Blooma families as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Childbirth Educator, and Birth Doula. Jessica also provides lactation support within the Twin Cities community as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor with WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) and as a La Leche League Leader, where she serves as Equity Advocate for the area. Prior to the birth and postpartum world, Jessica worked as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher and Parent Educator. Jessica lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children, and spends her free time running, baking yummy treats, and reading.

Book an Appointment

Schedule a consultation by submitting an appointment request below.

Don’t see a time that works for you or have urgent needs for a prompt visit? Try Brittany (brittany@blooma.com, 612-235-6546).

Other Support Options

Additional support options are available to you in the form of our Lactation & Newborn Care Class and complimentary Lactation Lounge Support Group.

Serving You In The Twin Cities Metro Area (and Beyond, Virtually)

Our in-person service area includes the entire Minneapolis & Saint Paul metro area. A travel fee is added for clients farther than 15 miles from our studio location in South Minneapolis. Virtual consultations are available for those outside the service area.

Highly Rated Postpartum Care For You and Your Family

Let our professional postpartum doulas guide and help you with your postpartum care journey. From in-home newborn care (day or night) to one-on-one lactation consulting, we use evidence-based techniques to ensure parents and baby are as healthy, happy, and well-rested as possible.