Breastfeeding Medicine Division Director Dr. Carly Dulabon (right) is working hard to improve accessibility to breastfeeding support and help moms navigate the challenges that go along with it.
Akron Children’s Breastfeeding Medicine Division opened to empower mothers to make breastfeeding a positive, rewarding experience and give their babies the best start in life. Just 3 months in, Division Director Carly Dulabon, MD, and her team are fulfilling another important need: providing struggling families somewhere to turn once home from the hospital.
“Generally, there is not a lot of postpartum care for moms once they leave the hospital,” said Dr. Dulabon. “Mom and baby go through a lot of changes in those first few weeks, and many feeding-related issues surface in the first 7 to 10 days after birth — but most moms are home by then.”
Families are turning to the Breastfeeding Medicine Division for lactation support to tackle concerns about milk supply, assist with latch problems, manage breastfeeding discomfort — and navigate the many challenges that go along with breastfeeding.
“Most of what I support is feeding issues, but a lot of other concerns can pop up with that, like postpartum depression, return-to-work anxiety, tongue-ties, feeding schedules, breast infections, plugged ducts and slow weight gain,” she said. “We can support families in navigating these issues every step of the way by offering evidence-based guidance and making referrals whenever necessary.”
Since opening to patients on Feb. 6, the division has seen high demand for its services, and appointments have filled up quickly. Word of mouth has been strong, and many patients are being referred by pediatricians. In fact, demand has been so strong, the division has already added a lactation consultant for further support.
“I’m totally booked,” said Dr. Dulabon. “But when you’re having trouble feeding your baby, you can’t wait a week to get an appointment. Our goal is to get patients in for a visit within 2 days of their request, and our lactation consultant is helping us to achieve that.”
Demand is high for Akron Children’s new Breastfeeding Medicine Division, which offers lactation support to help moms tackle concerns like milk supply, latch problems and breastfeeding discomfort.
Patient feedback has been very positive. Mothers are very appreciative of the atypical length of visits — 90 minutes for new patients. It allows Dr. Dulabon and patient families enough time to dive deep into feeding concerns, diagnose and correct issues, discuss any related worries and develop a plan moving forward.
While most appointments don’t require follow-up, there are some families that need additional support. Dr. Dulabon points to one mother who was struggling with breastfeeding and her baby wasn’t gaining enough weight. She helped mom correct a latch problem and milk-supply issues. Now, baby is gaining weight and thriving.
Another family was mostly feeding by bottle because mom was struggling to breastfeed. But after receiving support from the Breastfeeding Medicine Division, mom has been able to make the switch to mainly feeding by breast.
With the division’s abundant success, Akron Children’s plans to expand further throughout the region and include another physician and a few more lactation consultants. Currently, the division has a presence in Akron, Portage, Boston Heights and Mayfield Heights with plans to open locations in Mansfield and Mahoning Valley.
She also provides “Lunch and Learn” educational programming and Quick-Tip sheets for physicians and outpatient pediatricians to better help them identify and refer families they encounter that are struggling with breastfeeding.
“The main goal of this program is to increase accessibility by bringing on more lactation consultants and spreading out into the region,” said Dr. Dulabon. “We want to ensure distance isn’t a factor for patients getting breastfeeding support, whether it’s from the program, a breastfeeding support group or their pediatrician.”
Learn more about Akron Children’s new Breastfeeding Medicine Division and call 330-543-4500 to schedule an appointment.
