Breastfeeding is rewarding but can also be challenging for new parents. Get helpful tips here to be prepared for your lactation journey!
We are proud to serve all types of families.
Breastfeeding is rewarding but can also be challenging for new parents. Get helpful tips here to be prepared for your lactation journey!
We’ve assembled a collection of our most-loved products and gift ideas for moms, babies, and families. They all have some great deals happening now, so check out this list below. These are a few of our favorite things.
Getting bored with plain water? This super hydrating iced tea recipe is specifically designed for lactation support, with valuable nutrients to keep you hydrated during the hottest days of the year.
While breastfeeding is encouraged as the optimal way to feed your newborn baby (or babies), it can feel like an overwhelming task. For families experiencing an earlier-than-anticipated birth, unexpected NICU stay, or temporary or long-term reduced milk supply, donor breast milk can fill a critical gap. The Twin Cities metro area, as well as greater Minnesota, is fortunate to have a number of donor breast milk options available to families. If you have an ample milk supply, these are opportunities for you to donate your extra milk, as well! Read on for a full list of options to give and receive.
The stressful and exciting transition of going back to work comes faster than expected for most parents. While the nights feel long, time seems to have flown by when you are on parental leave. There are lots of feelings warring for attention whenever you go back to work, be it after six weeks or six months. If that’s the case for you, you are in good company.
When I was pregnant with my oldest child, I had many friends who were in the midst of raising their second or third child. I admired these friends in many ways, and was hopeful that I would look just like them: snuggling my newborn skin-to-skin, feeding him or her with my own body as I had for the past nine months, and breastfeeding with (what appeared to be) ease. That was not the way it worked out.
When you’re recovering from childbirth and breastfeeding a newborn, you don’t often have time to prepare a full meal for yourself. The “fourth trimester” is a time for healthy snacks that you can prepare ahead of time and eat with one hand. These no-bake lactation bites are power-packed with healthy fats, good protein, and lactogenic ingredients to aid your milk production. Make them during your last few weeks of pregnancy and store them in your freezer, so you have a stash ready to go when baby arrives. We suggest a double batch, and be sure everyone else in the home knows they are for you only. Otherwise, they will all get eaten up by partners or older kiddos because they are so tasty!
If you are currently pregnant or breastfeeding, then you probably are wondering whether or not you should get the COVID-19 vaccine. With diverse viewpoints and conflicting opinions, it can be so challenging to navigate this decision. Here, we outline the context and summarize the recommendations of leading maternal, fetal, pediatric and lactation organizations.
As postpartum doulas, we aim to support our clients and their families in whatever capacity is most helpful. Oftentimes breastfeeding is of utmost importance to these families, so naturally we spend a lot of our time working alongside parents to help them achieve their goals. While we do see a lot of success, this success usually happens in contexts that are not ideal, and with a lot of troubleshooting along the way. We find many mothers working through difficult and traumatic birth experiences, feeling overwhelmed by so many (often conflicting) opinions, or experiencing pain, all while trying to maintain an around the clock demand to feed the baby.
As postpartum doulas, we love to make things easier for new parents. Sometimes what helps is a tool, sometimes a resource, sometimes a trick learned from lots of experience, but it’s almost always a combination of all the things we gather along the way. Most of us live our day-to-day in close proximity to a phone, and the postpartum time is no different. We’ve found that having some good apps at hand can be very helpful for new parents. From our own wealth of experience and education in parenting, and from all the awesome feedback of the clients we serve, here are our top five favorite apps for the postpartum time. Enjoy! And feel free to comment below if you’ve got more to add to the mix.
call us: 651-747-6954
email us: info@betterbeginningsmn.com
mailing address: Box 4502, 1430 Concordia Ave, St Paul, MN 55104