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The Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine Center

The Breastfeeding and Lactation Medicine Center’s mission is to make BMC Health System a breastfeeding-supportive and knowledgeable institution that supports all BMC patients in meeting their infant feeding intentions. 

We are addressing our patient’s needs through innovation, research, advocacy, training and expanding clinical services for lactation, including:

  • Establishing long-needed outpatient clinical breastfeeding services: We founded the first breastfeeding medicine clinic at BMC in December 2021 with two providers and over 200 mother-baby dyads served as of September 2022. We plan to expand providers/sessions and add an e-consult service to meet demand and our collaborating across various departments to support additional lactation resources. 
  • Increasing lactation education and training: We manage a medical student breastfeeding elective and have obstetrics and family medicine residents attend clinic sessions. With expanded clinical sessions, we plan to host more learners, particularly community members and staff from under-represented groups similar to our patient population.
  • Conducting equity-focused research and quality monitoring: We monitor breastfeeding rates by race and other demographic and clinical characteristics in order to direct interventions where they are needed most. The Center will bring investigators together to foster collaboration on breastfeeding research that impacts our patients, our community and beyond.
  • Advocating for lactating families at BMC and beyond: In addition to continuing to ensure Baby-Friendly care at BMC and access to lactation support, we are connecting with colleagues and organizations across Massachusetts to support lactating families across the state. Most recently, we have given talks about non-gestational lactating parents to our colleagues and have written a policy on management of antenatally-expressed breastmilk in the hospital. 

Patient Resources

Prenatal Resources

Review these websites to help you get ready. Some may also be helpful to go back to after baby is born, or if you weren’t able to read them before baby came:

Helpful Websites and Books

These may help answer many common breastfeeding concerns. Never hesitate to reach out to your BMC provider to ensure you don’t need clinical care to address issues as they come up. 

Websites

  • Physician Guide to Breastfeeding: From one of the leading clinical experts in breastfeeding medicine, Dr. Katrina Mitchell, this website has evidence-based information for families
  • Kellymom: Excellent information on most topics related to breastfeeding, mother’s milk and pumping
  • La Leche League: Trusted source of information available in many languages

Books

  • The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding                                       
  • The Nursing Mother’s Companion                                
  • The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers
  • Nursing Mother, Working Mother
  • Breastfeeding Made Simple: 7 Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers

Where to Get Lactation Help After Baby is Born

Please reach out to your BMC provider if you are looking for clinical support for breastfeeding/chestfeeding concerns. In addition, the following resources are available to help you find a skilled lactation specialist:  

  • Boston Breastfeeding Coalition Warmline (seven days/week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.): 857.301.8259 or breastfeedingboston@gmail.com. Staffed by lactation specialists and peer counselors. Leave a message and someone will get back to you ASAP.
  • Vital Village virtual breastfeeding support groups                                                       
  • BMC Breastfeeding Warmline: 617.414.6455. The warmline is staffed by BMC lactation consultants and response time usually 24-48 hours.
  • La Leche League of Massachusetts/Rhode Island/Vermont local phone support in your area
  • WIC for eligible families: WIC peer counselors can help with lactation questions
  • For other support groups, lactation consultants and breastfeeding medicine specialists in our area: https://www.zipmilk.org

Parenting Help

Having a new child can be a stressful time. Your BMC providers are available to help if you are experiencing stress or difficulties taking care of yourself or your child, or just need someone to talk to. In addition, the following resources may be helpful: 

Breastfeeding Task Force

The task force brings together staff and providers from throughout BMC and Boston Healthnet community health centers to address issues of patient care, equity and employee protections around lactation. We are inviting departmental champions and other stakeholders to join these quarterly meetings in order to ensure sharing of best practices and cross-institution collaboration.

Please contact katherine.standish@bmc.org for details. 

Breastfeeding Medicine Clinic

This clinic cares for lactating patients and their infants with complex breastfeeding problems requiring medical management. BMC Health System patients can be referred to the clinic by a BMC provider or lactation consultant. Lactation consultants outside of BMC can contact the clinic directly to place referrals. The clinic is located physically within the BMC OB/GYN outpatient clinic and offers telemedicine as well as in-person visits. 

Provider Information

  • From within BMC: Use Epic "Referral to Breastfeeding Clinic." Choose indication, or select other (use “other” for prenatal consults)
  • From a BMC Healthnet community health center: Please login to BMC EPIC (or contact a colleague who has EPIC login) and send a referral as described above.
  • From outside the BMC Health System: Please instruct the patient to call the OB/GYN clinic at 617.414.2000. 

Please include both the mother (parent) and baby information in the referral (MRN is ideal). Remind your patients that baby must attend with mother, except if baby is still in the hospital. 

E-consult is a provider-to-provider communication for which the specialist does not physically see the patient, but which is billed to insurance. The referring provider should pose a specific question within the e-consult

Any provider who may be caring for a lactating or pregnant patient or breastfeeding child (whether in a maternity care setting or elsewhere, e.g. ED, surgery, ICU, adult primary care) might consider placing an e-consult. Common reasons for e-consult include:

  • Maternal medication
  • Imaging contrast and other breastmilk safety questions
  • Maternal illness or hospitalization
  • Mastitis spectrum, plugged ducts, or other nipple/breast infection
  • Breast mass or other breast pathology in lactating/pregnant patient
  • Nipple/breast pain or engorgement
  • Prenatal consults for people with comorbidities such as diabetes, PCOS, history of breast surgery, chronic medical conditions, substance use disorder, or history of significant lactation problems with prior children
  • Other issues relating to the mammary gland/secretion in pregnant/lactating patient. 

Milk production issues are not usually appropriate for e-consult and in most cases are best addressed in a breastfeeding clinic or telehealth appointment.

To place the order: Order “e-consult to ob/gyn: breastfeeding” in Epic. It is best to do so with patient with you as patients’ verbal consent to place the e-consult is required, and the order requests clinical lactation information you may not routinely collect. You do not need to have had an in-person encounter with patient, it could be placed in a phone encounter

CHC providers who have BMC Epic access can place e-consults for CHC patients registered at BMC within a telephone note in the patient’s BMC chart.

Our Team

Main Location

1 Boston Medical Center Pl
Boston, MA 02118

Contact

617.638.8000
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Main Location

725 Albany Street
5th Floor
Boston, MA 02118

Contact

617.414.2000
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Main Location

850 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118

Contact

617.638.8000
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Main Location

840 Harrison Ave
3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02118

Contact

617.414.4363
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