Lactation Success Story

A baby was born prematurely at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Women & Infant Services department and had physical challenges breastfeeding. Due to the baby’s weight loss and questionable ability to latch and transfer breast milk, the family decided to transition to bottle feeding. The mom began pumping but was not making enough milk to keep up with the baby’s needs, so the baby was supplemented with formula. The Lactation Consultant rounded with the mom on the day of discharge and the mom was discouraged by not meeting her goal of exclusive breastfeeding. She was assisted with hand expression and was able to get the most volume of expressed breast milk since birth. She felt this was an encouraging sign. The mom was coached to keep hand expressing and pumping and was given an outpatient appointment with the New Parent’s Clinic. At her follow-up appointment, she was pumping 10 times the amount of breastmilk that she had at hospital discharge, however, the baby was still not latching and transferring breastmilk effectively. New Parent Clinic (NPC) staff introduced a nipple shield and the baby immediately nursed for 20 minutes and transferred 2 ounces! It was an incredible turnaround. 

The new parents came in for another follow-up NPC appointment and practiced breastfeeding without a nipple shield, the baby transferred 2 ounces with ease in 15 minutes and the mom reported she was getting at least 5 ounces at each pumping, more than enough to feed her baby. Tristan Wagner, NPC Lactation Consultant, offered the mom a small breast pump called a Haakaa, which would be worn while the baby was feeding to prevent wasted leaked milk during the appointment. The mom was able to save 2 ounces in 15 minutes! The mom and baby graduated from NPC with flying colors and on their last visit, the mom gave Tristan a thank you card that brought tears to her eyes and encouraged the NPC Team to share their success story.

When reflecting on the story, Tristan said, "I truly believe that without the encouragement right before discharge to stick with pumping and the follow-up of NPC she may not be breastfeeding today and would certainly not be exclusively on-demand breastfeeding by the baby's due date."  

What is the New Parent Clinic?

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital has recently established the New Parents Clinic. NPC, for short, is the hospital’s outpatient support service for pregnant and lactating patients, and breastfeeding newborns up to 6 months of age. NPC is staffed by a team of RNs with a specialty certification, IBCLC, who also provide lactation counseling to patients in all units throughout the hospital.

Appointments can be obtained by provider referral before, or after the birth of an infant. Although these are services the department has offered for many years, the new space provides ample educational opportunities for new parents.

Within the appointments, babies are weighed, breastfeeding assessments are completed, and discussions about sleep, feelings, coping with changes in the postpartum period, and resources in the community are all a part of an average clinic visit. The lactation nurses perform repeat hearing screens for infants when needed. They can also discuss the benefits of other specialty options such as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) and Audiology for specific patient needs. Follow-up visits for ongoing support are available through collaborating with your Provider. We take time one on one with each family to meet their individual needs.

So, when you see a family with a newborn headed down the long outpatient hall headed to NPC, please give them a smile. They likely just had a long night working hard to feed their baby and are looking for some love, support, and assistance through NPC.