Breastfeeding is a natural process, but that doesn’t mean it always comes naturally! Thanks to Andrea Blanco and The Milk Collective, parents can feel educated and empowered as they embark on their breastfeeding journey. She offers support from prenatal breastfeeding classes to in-home lactation consultations to appointments that discuss things like returning to work and starting solid foods. The Milk Collective strives to help all families achieve their breastfeeding goals.
About The Milk Collective
Serving Miami Dade and Broward County areas
The Milk Collective, headed by Andrea Blanco, serves breastfeeding parents in the Miami-Dade and Broward County areas. Andrea is an IBCLC who understands that breastfeeding doesn’t always go as planned, and challenges often arise when you least expect it. As an experienced, professional IBCLC, Andrea helps clients whether they’re preparing for the birth of their first child or fourth. With a variety of services available, from phone consultations to help with returning to work, Andrea provides support and care for nursing parents.
As a new mother, Andrea felt overwhelmed during the early weeks of her oldest son’s life. She realized that breastfeeding wasn’t as simple as it seemed, and other people’s tips and tricks didn’t always work. She sought lactation consultants who helped her in her breastfeeding journey, which inspired her to begin her own career in this field. The Milk Collective has helped many families in South Florida achieve their breastfeeding goals, providing education, guidance, and support to families as they feed their little ones.
Services
Andrea Blanco offers a number of lactation services. Her breastfeeding services include virtual consultations, which work great for many families. Almost all concerns can be addressed virtually, and visits include a personalized plan of care, ongoing email follow-up, and the opportunity for follow-up telehealth visits at a prorated rate.
A standard lactation consultation lasts 2-3 hours and is a private, in-home consultation. Andrea assesses the mother and baby, doing a complete oral assessment, suck evaluation, breastfeeding evaluation, and feeding observation. She can help with latch, positioning, assessing milk production, pumping, and bottle feeding. She then writes up a plan of care and highlights the steps to work on. Follow-up appointments are about 1.5 hours long and include ongoing assessment and care, updating the care plan, and tackling any lingering issues from the first appointment. Phone consultations are also available and are a great option for quick, ongoing check-ins with Andrea.
The Milk Collective also offers tongue and lip function evaluation and support. During this one-hour appointment, Andrea will evaluate the infant’s oral anatomy and suck function, discuss issues that the child’s pediatrician has brought up, and talk about treatment options.
Parents-to-be can also take a Prenatal Breastfeeding Class, which answers questions on how to feed the baby, how to have a successful start to breastfeeding, what to expect at delivery, and any other concerns. This is a great class to take around 33-35 weeks of pregnancy.
Specialty
The Milk Collective offers a Back to Work Consultation, which is perfect for parents who plan on returning to work after having a baby. This is a virtual consultation where Andrea and the parents go over how to create a milk stash when going back to work, create a pumping schedule that works with your work routine, and transition between breast and bottle. It also includes helpful tips for the baby’s caregiver, what to expect for mom and baby during this time of transition, and a written plan and follow-up phone call.
Andrea also offers a Baby’s First Foods appointment, which teaches parents how to transition from breastfeeding to solid foods, how to be sure not to decrease their milk supply, different ways to feed their baby and healthier alternatives to the baby’s first food (not rice cereal!). This consultation is best done around the time your baby is 5 months old or sooner if your child’s pediatrician encourages you to start solids before 6 months.
Find Your Perfect Support Team At The Milk Collective
Infant feeding can be a tricky topic for many parents, and thanks to places like The Milk Collective, parents can feel supported and empowered to make the best feeding choices for their babies. From virtual lactation consultations to creating plans for returning to work to discussing how to balance breastfeeding and solid foods, Andrea offers many services that help support families achieve their breastfeeding goals.
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