If you’ve started researching feeding support for you and your baby, you’ve probably come across the term IBCLC — International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
It’s a well-known credential, and for good reason: IBCLCs provide clinical, specialized lactation care.
But it’s not the only kind of breastfeeding support available, and it’s not always the right fit for every family or every stage. The most important thing here is that you work with a lactation expert that supports you, your baby, and your goals.
At Mama & Babe, Melissa brings a different combination: 20+ years as a licensed Occupational Therapist (OT) alongside training as a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). This is a unique way of supporting families with lactation and breastfeeding through the lens of an OT.
Here’s how that in-home visit may compare to a traditional IBCLC appointment — and how to think about which one your family might need:
1. The setting: your home, not a clinic
A traditional IBCLC visit is usually scheduled in an office, hospital, or clinic. Mama & Babe visits happen where your actual life is happening — your living room, your nursery, your 2 p.m. feeding chaos. That matters, because a lot of feeding and regulation issues only show up in real, everyday moments, not in a 30-minute appointment slot.
2. The lens: whole mother-baby picture, not feeding alone
A traditional lactation visit is focused specifically on latch, positioning, and milk transfer. An OT + CLC visit widens that lens to include your baby’s oral-motor patterns, movement, and nervous-system regulation, plus your own postpartum recovery and comfort. Feeding doesn’t happen in isolation — it’s connected to sleep, recovery, mental health, development, and how you’re both doing as a pair.
3. Who’s being cared for: both mom AND baby...together.
Not one traditional lactation care is typically baby-focused, with mom’s comfort addressed only as it relates to feeding mechanics. Mama & Babe treats mom and baby as a single unit of care — because healing, feeding, and bonding are happening together, not separately.
4. The pace: unhurried and ongoing, not a single clinical fix
IBCLC visits are often solution-focused: solve the immediate feeding problem, then discharge. Mama & Babe is built for the season, not just the moment — proactive support before problems become overwhelming, and continued check-ins through infant milestones, not just the newborn feeding crisis.
5. When each one makes the most sense. To be clear: there are times a traditional IBCLC or another provider is exactly the right call — for example, a suspected tongue-tie needing a specialist’s clinical evaluation, or a complex milk supply issue requiring board-certified lactation management.
Melissa can help you recognize when that referral makes sense. For everything else — preparing for feeding, baby fussiness, positioning discomfort, latch or supply concerns, feeding confidence, co-regulation, movement and milestone questions, or simply wanting one trusted in-home provider for the full mother-baby picture — an OT + CLC visit with Mama & Babe may be the better fit.
Wondering which kind of support is right for your family?
Book a free 15-minute call or reach out at melissa@mamababecharlotte.com.
