Breastfeeding Advice and Support
If you have any questions, there are many helpful people there for you. Below are some local contacts and three handy pieces of advice.

ZipMilk.org
Neighborhood breastfeeding help is a click away! Find local, personalized resources with your zip code. (from the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition).

Nursing Mothers Council/B.A.C.E
617-244-5102
24 hour telephone counselling. Free!

Breastfeeding Support/Baby Cafe in Melrose
Wednesdays 6-8 p.m., Fridays 10-12 noon
781-979 MILK leave a message for Lucia Jenkins
Open to any mother and baby. Free, no registration, come anytime.
with Lucia Jenkins, IBCLC
Hope Alliance Church, corner of Fells Parkway and Green St. in Melrose.

Breastfeeding Mothers Support Group in Cambridge
Tuesdays 10-12 noon with Susan Davies, IBCLC
Thursdays 10-12 noon with Kate Reist, CNM, IBCLC
617-665-1381
Open to any mother and baby. Free, no registration, come anytime.
8 Camelia Ave. Near Inman Square.
Next door to the Cambridge Birth Center, across from the Cambridge Hospital entrance (off 1493 Cambridge St.)

The Nursing Mothers Group in Winchester
Wednesdays 1:30- 3:00 p.m.
781-756-4788
Open to any mother and baby
with Winchester Hospital's Lactation Consultants
12 Alfred St. in Woburn
(Baldwin Park 1, first floor: Keating Conference Room)

La Leche League offers monthly meetings and phone counseling anytime.
The Beverly LLL meetings are on Thursday: Julie 978-745-5586
Here are some other numbers to get you started:
Arlington and Cambridge: Lex 781-652-0408
Wakefield: Vicky 781-245-3270
Danvers/Hamilton: Linda 978-774-5196
Quincy/Milton: Hilary (617) 696-6891

Women, Infants and Children (WIC) offers counselling for breastfeeding as well coupons for groceries and nutrition education. You qualify for this if you are low income. Call for information and to make an appointment.1-800-WIC-1007 or your local office.

Have a breastfeeding resource handy. One good book is worth every penny.
A good on-line resource is www.breastfeeding.com
When your breasts are very full or engorged, use cold packs for relief and nurse often. Hand expressing can help, too. (Check out our guidelines for storing breastmilk).

Worried that you haven't got enough milk?
First keep account of how much your baby is peeing.
If your baby is nursing enough, he/she will pee enough. 8 diapers a day by the end of the first week is good. To help you tell if the diaper got wet, put a piece of paper towel in the diaper, like a panty liner. Disposables can be very absorbent and it may be hard to know.

Do the 24 hour cure.
Rest in bed with your baby skin to skin. That way, you are getting recuperative rest, your baby will smell, feel, hear and taste you. You and your baby can learn or re-learn your biological cues. This does mean limiting visitors, having snacks handy and making baby skin to skin your priority. It's well worth it.

As you settle down to nurse, also put on a pot of water to make boiled eggs, or brown rice. While you are feeding your baby, you're also making good food for yourself. That's multitasking!