Providence Portland Breastfeeding Center

Really poor experience here. Everyone was pleasant enough, but the lactation consultant was very unhelpful and frankly didn’t seem at all knowledgable. She remarked at one point that she was just getting back into doing lactation after working in different fields for many years, and it was apparent. At the beginning of the appointment, she asked if I was having breast or nipple pain. I said I wasn’t, but that the problem was that baby wasn’t latching and sucking. She watched me nurse for a few minutes, handed me a vial of sugar water (?!?) and a nipple shield (which in retrospect was the worst thing anyone could have done for me) and advised me several times to use lanolin oil for nipple pain. I reminded her that I wasn’t having any nipple pain, and she went on to discuss other ways to manage nipple pain. It was as if she had gone to a powerpoint presentation on breastfeeding but only managed to see one slide, the one on nipple pain. So bizarre and unhelpful. I highly recommend Melissa Cole at Luna Lactation, instead.

Came here per advice from the hospital with a clogged milk duct. I thought I might not be able to breastfeed on one side and the lactation consultant Laura Lallande proved me wrong. She is very knowledgeable and didn’t man handle my breast like some of the nurses at the hospital. Before i came here i only produce less then 1oz of milk, After i left and went home I had over 3 oz, per her expertise and advice, I highly recommend her.

Wanting to be as prepared as possible for my first baby, I started looking into a breast pump. I called my insurance company, and found that all I needed was a prescription. I didn’t have to have my baby yet or be a certain number of weeks or anything. Just get an Rx and go to one of the places on their list of in-​network providers. This place was on the list. I checked their website, and it says they bill insurance for breast pumps. I really feel that I did my due diligence on this.
The condescending, lazy women here disagreed. They refused to provide me with a breast pump, because I haven’t had my baby yet. My insurance will cover it, they just won’t give it to me. Not only that, but they acted like it was somehow MY fault, and like I was stupid for even asking.
«Well I“m sorry YOU didn’t call ahead.» Um, your website says you provide the service I want, why would I think I needed to call ahead to confirm that?
«Are you delivering at Providence?» No, but what difference does that make? They didn’t explain, but my guess is that they aren’t interested in helping anyone who isn’t.
«We can help you AFTER you deliver your baby.» Thanks, but I am BIRTHING my baby at home, and I am not going to make an extra trip out of my house with my brand new baby to come to your store to be judged and talked down to. Also, I can’t really use it to help make sure my baby doesn’t go past two weeks overdue if I don’t have it until after he is born.
If I do need lactation support, I certainly wouldn’t want it from these women. I don’t think being treated like an idiot would be helpful to any mom who was already tired, frustrated, worried, and doing her best.

BEWARE, the store does not bill insurance for breastpumps… and now that the healthcare reform act has health insurance cover breastpumps at 100%, don’t waste your money here at the store. They tell you that you can take your receipt and get reimbursed from your health insurance company but this is not true, I talked to my health insurance company which is Blue Cross and they don’t reimburse because this store is a in network provider contracted with blue cross so they send payments directly to the provider.

I would not use their lactation services. I went to 4 different lactation consultants here and none of them diagnosed my son’s tongue-​tie. They all blamed my nipple for his poor latch and handed out a nipple shield when he was only 2 days old. Then months later after my baby started having a dangerously low weight in his weight chart did I seek the help of other lactation consultants and learned he needed to have his tongue clipped so he could actually access the milk. By then, my milk production had decreased (he was 3 months old) and I have had to spend a lot of time and money to build it back up. Tongue-​tie is very common and it is very disturbing that these professionals did not even bother to ever look inside my baby’s mouth before passing out a nipple shield. I honestly feel it was pure laziness on their part and they gave me no information on the nipple shield (I had even said I didn’t want it). They insisted and didn’t inform me that nipple shields decrease milk supply also. I can’t imagine what would have happened to my baby’s health if he had continued to be malnourished due to their negligence. It has been a heartbreaking month and a half trying to get his weight back up and my supply back to what it was then.

I would never have found this place… it’s tucked into an unassuming building near the Laurelhurst theater. I was fortunately pointed here by someone at Mother Nature.
On the plus side, this very small store is packed with breastfeeding gear, particularly pumping stuff. I had a breast pump but none of the accessories, so I was able to pick and choose what I wanted here (they carry all Medela stuff.) They also have nursing bras, quite a selection, though I wasn’t looking closely at those.
On the downside, I didn’t feel like the person helping me was super-​helpful. She did seem pretty knowledgeable, but also a bit judgy, like;
«Oh, you’re doing it THAT way?!» Which, as a new mom, I don’t particularly appreciate.
This is a normal store, you don’t have to be affiliated with Providence hospital. It is really convenient, as breast pump accessories can be hard to locate within the city.