Breastfeeding Support Group

Since 1991, The Parent Connection at BIDMC has provided families continued support after leaving our postpartum units and in the amazing and often overwhelming adjustment to parenthood. One of the most common themes that typically come as a surprise to first-time parents is that breastfeeding doesn't come naturally and is most commonly a learned experience for both mom and baby.

The experience of learning to breastfeed can be quite stressful particularly if baby does not have a lot of patience when he/she is hungry. In addition to baby's temperament, issues such as a poor latch, inadequate sucking or low and overabundant milk supply can really complicate things. And that's the short list.

Ask any breastfeeding mom and chances are you will hear a laundry list of potential challenges, and along with that, sometimes very conflicting approaches to the same issue. Breastfeeding moms often feel caught in the middle between what their pediatrician might say and the different approach advised by their lactation consultant. The hard part is that both may still be right!

Breastfeeding is more like an art than an exact science so depending on baby/mom/alignment of the moon and stars... things change. All this to say, that it is quite common that moms and babies need additional support after they go home from the hospital around breastfeeding, and often that support means seeing a lactation consultant who is able to observe and assess the feeding process.

To support moms and babies learning to breastfeed, the Parent Connection and the Department of Nursing at BIDMC offer a free postpartum breastfeeding group jointly run by a hospital lactation consultant, and a social worker. The group meets on Wednesday afternoons from 12:00 - 1:30 pm at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (330 Brookline Avenue, Boston) on the 6 Feldberg postpartum unit.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and BIDMC's commitment to your health and well being, our postpartum support group will be held virtually via Zoom running every Wednesday, 12:00 - 1:30 pm starting on July 8, 2020. Space is limited and registration is required. To register, visit our Parent Connection page or call 617-667-BABY.