Clinical Mentorship

(They/Them)

BREASTFEEDING SPECIALIST. POSTPARTUM DOULA IN TRAINING. LACTATION INTERN.

“I had an initial prenatal consultation with Mila, who was very warm, friendly and knowledgeable. Having had challenges breastfeeding with my first, I wanted to be more prepared and have a better action plan for starting the breastfeeding journey again with my second. Mila provided a safe space for me to share my concerns and offered invaluable insight and useful tips to support my goals in getting an optimal latch and increasing milk supply in the early stages after birth. Our session helped me feel more confident and grounded with restarting breastfeeding again, and I was grateful for the resources provided after our discussion. I highly recommend Mila to anyone looking for breastfeeding support!” Wei F.

“I cannot emphasise enough how important it was for me, my partner and our newborn baby to work with Mila Natasha Mendez at Mamas au Lait. Thanks to their support, we were able to overcome various health and lactation issues and start exclusively breastfeeding by the third month. I first met with Mila before giving birth, as I really wanted to breastfeed and wanted to be prepared for it. After giving birth, both our child and I faced severe health problems and had to undergo surgeries and antibiotic treatments. This made it inevitable to supplement with formula, but we also approached Mila and met a few times with the goal of shifting back to breastfeeding. Indeed, we managed to resolve various issues one by one, increasing my milk production and helping the baby learn to remove milk more effectively. This was possible despite complications such as thrush, blocked milk ducts, inverted nipples and vasospasm.

Mila is great in many ways. Firstly, they convey information in a clear and logical manner. Their diligently prepared presentations during our online sessions were an invaluable source of information about breastfeeding and its challenges. Crucially, Mila is able and willing to explain the logic behind the information. This extra mile has been very important to me, as it meant that I didn't just memorise things, but actually understood how things worked and why we were taking specific steps. Secondly, Mila is invested in listening carefully, which helps both with diagnosis and with proposing solutions. In each meeting, they took the time to gain a detailed understanding of our situation and came prepared with a list of questions to guide the discussion. Thirdly, they are consistent and professional in the way they follow up. They always offer a variety of informative and supportive resources, and provide meeting summaries and mid-term plans. Last but not least, Mila is caring and supportive. Although we worked online, I didn't feel the distance of remote communication.I felt safe and warmly welcomed in our exchange, which was extremely important in the early weeks and months after giving birth, when I was particularly emotional and vulnerable.” Lela R.

(She/Her)

REGISTERED NURSE. LACTATION INTERN.

“As a mother of four girls, I’ve been through different feeding experiences and was helped by different lactation consultants with each baby. But working with Stephanie on my fourth baby was a true game changer. Previous LCs took on a very medical approach to everything related to breastfeeding and gave me very narrow options and looked out mostly for the baby gaining weight. Stephanie, however, looks out for baby AND mom and this stood out to me right away. From the very beginning, Steph took the time to hear in detail everything I had tried, current latching and supply issues. Steph walked along side me every step of the way and gave me written customized options to increase supply and breastfeeding. She checked in often and asked how I was feeling since I am prone to PPD. I wish all mommas knew about m Steph and her holistic approach. She is supportive, professional, and provides a peace of mind that no other LC ever has. Her knowledge also goes beyond breastfeeding. She is well acquainted with pumping, bottle paced feeding and weaning. Steph showed me which bottles to buy that imitates the breast and how to help my baby stay on the breast longer. I succeeded little by little and even though my breastfeeding journey suddenly took a turn when I went back to work and baby preferred the bottle, Steph readjusted my plan and helped me figure out a pumping schedule doable with my kind of life (working mom of four young kids). She also knew of my IGM condition on one of the breasts and still helped me pump safely to avoid a mastitis outburst. I don’t have words to express my immense gratitude for Steph and I will for sure be referring all of my mom friends to Steph!” Yolo L.

“Steph met with me virtually over a few weeks, set up a personalized plan and helped me increase my supply and shift gradually from formula combo-feeding to breastfeeding.” Deanna Q.

“I was having trouble with breastfeeding and Stephanie really helped me. She is knowledgeable and empathetic. Stephanie helped me improve things quickly and in a non judgemental manner. It's easy to feel that something is wrong with you when things don't go according to plan, but Stephanie was very reassuring and practical. She was very approachable and proactive in finding solutions, even without my asking for it. I was having trouble with my pump and she suggested a different flange that fixed a lot of issues, rather than telling me to go buy a whole new pump (unlike other consultants I had). It was really a pleasure to work with Stephanie and I'd highly recommend her.“ Patricia S.