Lactation Consultants

Milk Donation and Sharing
http://milkshare.birthingforlife.com
This is an organization started by a mom who, due to a congenital abnormality, could not produce milk. More than 30 moms donated milk for her child. At this site, you can donate or locate milk donors.

Boing
461 7th Avenue (between Winsdor and 16th Street)
718 840-5880
Owner Karen is a lactation counselor and store owner. She has created a sanctuary for nursing moms in mind- it is a great place to sip water, nurse and chat with her. She has a nursing circle every Wednesday at 11 am.

Stacy Brosnan
Remedy Health and Wellness
www.remedyme.com
79 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-797-8797

If you have an ongoing issue that requires support and perseverance, Stacy is not effective.
-Kim

She took 5 phone calls during my first/only visit. She was in a hurry and I left crying. NOT good for $175/Hour while sleep deprived as a first time, breast feeding mother. Would recommend highly that you seek a more loving, nurturing lactation consultant.
-Brooklyn Mama

I recommend Stacy Brosnan. She saved my breastfeeding efforts. When we called Stacy Brosnan she came quickly and had me finger feed to take my son off of my damaged nipples and teach him how to latch properly. This alleviated the problem and allowed me to continue breastfeeding...without supplementing. She was very to the point, but follow up wasn't so good. Just an FYI. Still she corrected a problem that another consultant didn't, and got me on the way to nursing fully. She did her job and I couldn't ask for more.
-Moira

Everyday Family Center at the Everyday Athlete
www.everydayathletestudio.com
136 Union street (between Hicks and Columbia.)
718.852.6300
The Everyday Family is a new center within the Everyday Athlete Studio in Carroll Gardens that is facilitated by experienced Childbirth Educators, Doulas, Midwives, Nurses, and Lactation specialists and caters to the needs of new and expectant families. They have Childbirth Preparation Classes, Breastfeeding and Newborn Care classes, Breastfeeding Support Groups, Colic Support Groups, Prenatal Yoga, pre and postnatal training (with childcare!) and yoga, nutrition, massage, craniosacral therapy, and more.

Judy Fram
718-789-9451
See also La Leche League- Park Slope

Catherine Watson Genna
718-846-2323
cwgenna@covad.net

I had been having a bit of trouble nursing but my sister in law helped me out big time. She's actually a leader in LLL. My sister in law had me meet with a woman named Catherine Watson Genna. She's amazing! She lives in queens but from what I understand, she does house visits. I actually went to her house and she worked with us there. She weighed the baby before and after I breastfed him to see just how many ounces he was taking in on each breast. She also helped me with positioning the baby so he could latch on. We were having so much trouble with nursing but now it's much better. We're still a work in progress but we're starting to get into a groove. It was a very good experience. I'd highly recommend her.
-Jennica

Tam'ara Hawkins
http://www.storkandcradle.com/
http://www.integrativenutrition.com/graduates/THawkins.aspx
Stork and Cradle
tam@storkandcradle.com
646-334-3830 Tamara is the lactation consultant for Cornell-Weill Hospital who also does house calls. She was a OB/GYN nurse prior to being a lactation consultant  so she knows a lot of the doctors well. 

I highly recommend Tam'ara Hawkins. I called her after reading reviews off this website. She came to Brooklyn even though she lives in the Bronx. She was very thorough and was great in helping me out with breastfeeding issues and latching on issues. My baby latched on consistently after she came! She also followed up via e-mail and phone calls. She is clinical, but I found her to be supportive and just the type of personality that I needed to help at the time. She wrote specific recommendations and provided some holistic teas, remedies that might also help. She also gave me info on how to try to make a claim with my insurance. Overall, i had a great experience with her. Although, I don't know how long she will be making house call appointments in Brooklyn because of the commute, so if you can go to her at Cornell, I would!
-Christene

I met Tamara in the hospital in a breastfeeding clinic. I was having problems on day 2 with latching and she made one quick adjustment that solved my latch problem.  She wasn't the warmest LC, but I appreciated her effective solution. A couple of months later, Tamara came out to my house for a very reasonable fee (about half of what other consultants charge) and spent an hour and a half with me. She did an analysis, observation and gave me an informative two page set of instructions on my problem.(Too much milk production). She called me every day to see how I was doing for 2 weeks! She even went over to my OB/GYN doctor for me and convinced him to write a prescription for me to help with my milk flow. Apparently, she and my GYN had worked together in the past. He respected her expertise enough that he wrote out the prescription on the spot. She even mailed the prescription to me when I was away on vacation. After 2 other lactation consultants, I can recommend her very highly. She is patient, very generous with her time and, overall, very knowledgeable about her profession. One thing to know: Tamara does not come across as outgoing or friendly- she is quieter and more clinical- she wants to listen and do her job- which she did well for me.
-Karen

I'd also like to endorse Tamara Hawkins. She was very helpful to me both when I was in the hospital (Cornell) and at home. I was particularly impressed with her consistent follow-up phone calls. She is also accessible via e-mail for questions.
-Amy

My experience with Tam'ara Hawkins while at Cornell Weill was not as positive.  Though knowledgeable, I found her to be cold and unengaged in a one-to-one interaction.  And she seemed impatient in the group breastfeeding class she insists you attend before meeting with you privately, even if you have already successfully breastfed an older child.
-Diana

Katherine Lilleskov
718-768-1767

Katherine is a great lactation consultant that lives in the neighborhood (Park Slope).  She's an RN and was a wonderful help after my son was born.  She is available to come to your home shortly after calling her and will follow up as needed in person or over the phone for further questions/problems.
-Jennifer

We also used Kathy Lilleskov and she was wonderful. She was available on short notice and came back a couple of times over the first 5 months for various feeding issues and check ins. She's also a registered nurse and a mother of 2. I highly recommend her.
-Joanna

We highly recommend Kathy Lilleskov. She responded very quickly to our initial email, which was fortuitous because she quickly found out that our 12-day old baby had lost half a pound since leaving the hospital (she travels with a baby scale). We were devastated, but she quickly provided both reassurance and help to ensure we expressed as much milk as possible (what breast pump to rent and where to rent it, as well as suggestions on how to boost production). She also give us guidelines on how to supplement with formula--something that was clearly needed for at least the short term. Finally, she followed up that night by email to see how we were doing. We cannot imagine a better combination of knowledge and empathy, and are extraordinarily grateful.
-Kristin and Daniel

La Leche League- Boro Park
Rivky 718-851-9729

La Leche League- Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights
Marjorie 718-921-1558, Karen 718-921-0817

La Leche League- Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill and Cobble Hill
Lucy Koteen
lkoteen@hotmail.com
718-643-9219
Lucy runs the FG/CH meetings from her home on the second Wednesday of the month at 10 am. She runs the CH meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in the evenings. Email her to confirm locations and times.

I went to the meetings twice and met some of my best friends there in those two meetings. I went once when I was pregnant (I would highly recommend going to a LLL meeting in your last month or two). It gave me a good idea as to what was coming down the pike- and wow! that was overwhelming but extremely helpful to know that a lot of women had questions and problems in breastfeeding.
-Karen

La Leche League- Kensington
Ann 718-853-5782 (English/Spanish)

La Leche League- Madison/Marine Prk
Jennifer 718-339-3806

La Leche League- Park Slope
Anne 718-965-4428, Audry 718-768-8248, Judy F. 718-789-9451, Deidre 718-788-1998

Leigh Muro, OTR
845-548-1187
Offices in Brooklyn and Hoboken
(Suck/Swallowing Specialist)
Leigh practices occupational therapy, ortho-binomy and crainal sacral therapy.  She does an initial interview followed by an assessment of physical and energetic patterns.  She specializes in issues challenging the nursing relationship: such as a painful tense suck, an uncoordinated suck, difficulty transferring milk as well as other feeding difficulties, patterns of muscular restriction, structural misalignment and or stressful energetic patterns.

New York Methodist
www.nym.org
718-780-5081
263 7th Ave (btw. 5th and 6th Streets)
Park Slope
Free classes on Tuesdays at 2:30 pm at the hospital.  Open to women who did and did not give birth at NYM.

Realbirth
Erica Lyon
www.realbirth.com
info@realbirth.com
54 W. 22nd St NY, NY 10010
212.367.9006
Two breastfeeding support groups per week, Monday and Thursday 10am-12pm, no pre-reg necessary. Supervised by Realbirth consultants. They also have monthly nursing older babies group and nursing twins support.

The class is only $15 versus $150 for a private consultation.  Heather and Kim were fabulous.  It was good for me to listen to all the other women/moms and hear what they had to say.
-Kim

Freda Rosenfeld
489 Marlborough Rd (at Ditmas Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11226
718-469-5990

Freda is fully committed to breastfeeding.  She put in a lot of time with me. She never gave up hope that I could breastfeed and had complete faith that I could do it.  When I had lots of people questioning if I should continue trying to breastfeed, she kept me going.
-Justine

I thought Freda was helpful with explaining pumping and nursing in general. She was very comfortable to be with also. She was professional: she was in her office every morning at a designated time to do follow-up phone calls. In the end though, I found her prescribed routine for my nursing problem to be exhausting and nearly impossible to keep up with. I got very discouraged. In the end, her suggestions didn't help my problem and I had to look for another LC. She did give me a fantastic solution to cracked nipples that was a miracle-worker! (email me if you are interested...)
-Karen

I loved Freda Rosenfeld.  I found her to be warm, encouraging and understanding about what is and isn't possible. Yes, she does prescribe exercises to do with the baby that can seem exhausting for the exhausted new mom, but if you can't do them, don't do them!  (We did the exercises about half the time and they still helped a lot.)  Freda will continue to encourage and help you -- never scold.  One office visit buys you an unlimited number of follow up phone calls.
-Diana

Dr. Katarina Silverblatt
brooklynheightspediatrics@yahoo.com
718-858-4924
145 Henry Street- Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Dr. Silverblatt meets with moms to provide advice on scheduling,milk production, moral support. Come once or repeatedly but call ahead since space is limited. $15/session

See her review here about her new parents groups- I don't have a review yet for her breastfeeding support groups, but if the reviews for her new parents group are any indication, I suspect this would be a great seminar.

Beverly Solow
www.besolow.com
212-567-1112

Svetlana Tenenbaum
stenen@earthlink.net
718-648-0042

I put in a desperate call about my 3 day old baby to Svetlana and she came the next morning (despite being jam-packed with her schedule). She was positive, enthusiastic, adoring and extremely reassuring. I called her a few months later when I had a new problem, and found her just as responsive and lovely. She loves babies and so it is so much fun to be with her and have her in the apartment adoring your baby. She helped me understand why my son was so gassy (I was making too much milk and he was only getting the front, high sugar, "skim-free milk").  She also reassured me that he was getting enough to eat by weighing Birch pre-nursing and post-nursing (proving that he had consumed 2 ounces of milk- fascinating.) Svetlana also takes insurance- my Oxford HMO allowed me to see her for $25. Great deal.
-Karen

I called Svetlana 24 hours after my son was born and she came the next morning. She was very sweet and tried very hard to be helpful. Unfortunately, she didn't solve my problem and actually made it worse. She had me feed my son for a really, really long time until he pooped, without taking into account that I was only producing colostrum and my milk hadn't come in. She also suggested supplementing if my milk didn't come in soon. By the time she left I was torn up and terribly stressed.
-Moira

Comments

[Laura R.]

Thanks to google and this post I'll hopefully very soon be going to the realbirth.com breastfeeding clinic. I really feel I need professional advice on breastfeeding and this will be the perfect opportunity for me and my newborn to take advantage of!

[Jennica]

I haven't had a lactation consult with Tam'ara Hawkins but I did do her childbirth education class. I didn't like it at all really. Her class is supposed to be about natural births and show you how to cope with the pain but instead it was all clinical, barely focused on a natural birth at all and I honestly learned more pain coping techniques from the books I've been reading!! I would not recommend Tam'ara Hawkins (Stork and Cradle) classes to anyone who actually wants to focus on the natural aspects of birth!

[Kristin and Daniel]

We highly recommend Kathy Lilleskov. She responded very quickly to our initial email, which was fortuitous because she quickly found out that our 12-day old baby had lost half a pound since leaving the hospital (she travels with a baby scale). We were devastated, but she quickly provided both reassurance and help to ensure we expressed as much milk as possible (what breast pump to rent and where to rent it, as well as suggestions on how to boost production). She also give us guidelines on how to supplement with formula--something that was clearly needed for at least the short term. Finally, she followed up that night by email to see how we were doing. We cannot imagine a better combination of knowledge and empathy, and are extraordinarily grateful.

[Christene Maas]

I highly recommend Tam'ara Hawkins. I called her after reading reviews off this website. She came to Brooklyn even though she lives in the Bronx. She was very thorough and was great in helping me out with breastfeeding issues and latching on issues. My baby latched on consistently after she came! She also followed up via e-mail and phone calls. She is clinical, but I found her to be supportive and just the type of personality that I needed to help at the time. She wrote specific recommendations and provided some holistic teas, remedies that might also help.
She also gave me info on how to try to make a claim with my insurance. Overall, i had a great experience with her. Although, I don't know how long she will be making house call appointments in Brooklyn because of the commute, so if you can go to her at Cornell, I would!

[moria holland]

Svetlana Tenenbaum

I called Svetlana 24 hours after my son was born and she came the next morning. She was very sweet and tried very hard to be helpful. Unfortunately, she didn't solve my problem and actually made it worse. She had me feed my son for a really, really long time until he went, without taking into account that I was only producing colostrum and my milk hadn't come in. She also suggested supplementing if my milk didn't come in soon. By the time she left I was torn up and terribly stressed. Four days later we called Stacy Brosnan who came quickly and had me finger feed to take my son off of my damaged nipples and teach him how to latch properly. This alleviated the problem and allowed me to continue breastfeeding...without supplementing.

[Brooklyn Mama]

Stacy Brosnan
Remedy Health and Wellness

She took 5 phone calls during my first/only visit. She was in a hurry and I left crying. NOT good for $175/Hour while sleep deprived as a first time, breast feeding mother. Would recommend highly that you seek a more loving, nurturing lactation consultant.

[Diana]

My experience with Tam'ara Hawkins while at Cornell Weill was not as positive. Though knowledgeable, I found her to be cold and unengaged in a one-to-one interaction. And she seemed impatient in the group breastfeeding class she insists you attend before meeting with you privately, even if you have already successfully breastfed an older child.

On the other hand, I loved Freda Rosenfeld. I found her to be warm, encouraging and understanding about what is and isn't possible. Yes, she does prescribe exercises to do with the baby that can seem exhausting for the exhausted new mom, but if you can't do them, don't do them! (We did the exercises about half the time and they still helped a lot.) Freda will continue to encourage and help you -- never scold. One office visit buys you an unlimited number of follow up phone calls.

[Amy H.]

I'd also like to endorse Tamara Hawkins. She was very helpful to me both when I was in the hospital (Cornell) and at home. I was particularly impressed with her consistent follow-up phone calls. She is also accessible via e-mail for questions.