Lactation Consultation
BREASTFEEDING- BABY’S FIRST VACCINE
The medical team at Crestwood Pediatrics is committed to promoting the best for your infant. According to the National Healthy People goals, mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their children, thereby offering them the “best” milk and the advantage of immunity transferred from mother to baby.
The current Healthy People goals are that 81.9% of all babies be breastfed at birth, with 60% still nursing at 6 months and at least 25% exclusively nursing at 6 months.
A recent review of newborns followed at our practice, revealed that we exceed those goals. Over 85% of our newborns are breastfed at birth. Of those, 71% were still nursing at age 6 months with the majority of them being still exclusively breast fed. The statistics for our practice put us well above the state of Virginia’s statistics from 2011. In Virginia, only 79.1% of all infants were ever breastfed, with only 14% continuing to breastfeed as 6 months .
We have been able to achieve these goals due to the dedication of our team of professionals and the help of our lactation consultant on staff, Ann Komelasky. We encourage all of our new moms that have chosen to breastfeed to have a private consultation with Ann in the first one to two days after discharge from the nursery. This is the critical time to ensure that breastfeeding is successful. The lactation consult is covered by your insurance as a regular office visit so all mothers can access this service