For a relatively small town in New Mexico, Los Alamos has a surprising array of available breastfeeding support: a mother-to-mother support group, a private practice international board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC), an RN/IBCLC working out of two doctor’s offices, a certified lactation counselor (CLC), a government supported program for women with small children, a faith based breastfeeding organization, and the local hospital maternity ward.

La Leche League (LLL) of Los Alamos has been providing mother-to-mother breastfeeding support and information to those who desire to breastfeed for nearly 40 years now.  LLL of Los Alamos has five accredited Leaders who offer monthly meetings, phone availability, home visits, and community education. Beginning in September, LLL Los Alamos will have its monthly meetings on the first Friday of the month at 10 a.m. at Family Strengths Network. For more information, visit www.LLLNM.org/los-alamos.html

Kelley Baer is a private practice IBCLC, owns Pajarito Lactation, and has worked with moms and babies as an IBCLC for 15 years. She is available for home visits, and has experience with complex breastfeeding issues. Kelley may be contacted through www.pajaritolactation.com.

Cathleen Hewlett-Masser, is a RN nurse and IBCLC affiliated with both Dr. Tom’s Child and Adolescent Health (505.662.9200) and Northern New Mexico Women’s Health Center (505.661.9201). She also has experience with complex breastfeeding issues and can be reached through either physician’s office.

Christa Corsaro Tyson, CLC, is passionate about supporting pregnant and new moms in both the Los Alamos and Santa Fe areas. She offers prenatal breastfeeding classes and postpartum support for breastfeeding moms and for those who support mothers, such as fathers or grandparents. For more information, contact her at spheremama.com.

Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides supplemental food and nutritional support and breastfeeding assistance for lower income women and also for those at risk for nutritional and medical problems. Currently, there is a WIC representative in Los Alamos on the first and third Thursdays of the month. Call the Public Health Office at 505.662.4038, for more information.

There also is a national faith-based breastfeeding support organization with its home base here in our little town of Los Alamos – the Catholic Nursing Mothers League (CNML). CNML provides encouragement for breastfeeding and ecological breastfeeding (a lifestyle of breastfeeding and mothering / a  form of nursing that spaces babies) within the Catholic faith. There are no meetings at this time in Los Alamos, but for information about participating in a monthly meeting, attending an ecological breastfeeding class, or taking part in a book study, contact Gina Peterson, IBCLC, at ginamariepeterson@yahoo.com or visit www.catholicbreastfeeding.org.

Our sole hospital in town, Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC), strives to assist nursing moms by encouraging breastfeeding as soon as possible after birth, rooming in for mom and baby, waiting on baths until after baby has breastfed, and offering basic breastfeeding advice about latch and positioning. Also, it has been three years now since LAMC stopped handing out free bags of formula previously given to moms at discharge. Many of the steps LAMC has taken to help breastfeeding moms and babies also are part of the Ten Steps to be considered a Baby Friendly Hospital. Way to go, LAMC!

Los Alamos pregnant and breastfeeding mothers have numerous ways to receive encouragement, support, education and assistance with breastfeeding issues from the prenatal period through weaning: LLL Los Alamos, Pajarito Lactation, Nurse and Lactation consultant Cathleen Hewlett-Masser, Sphere Mama, WIC, Catholic Nursing Mothers League and LAMC all provide wonderful benefits for mothers and mothers-to-be.