A private company is marketing advice to nursing mothers for a fee, but a similar service is offered to Canadian mothers for free.
In offering its fee-for-service plan, Medela says that in Canada, over 93,000 babies do not get the minimum recommended six months of breastfeeding. That, it says, puts the country significantly below the World Health Organization’s breastfeeding guidelines. In Canada, most new mothers do not live with their own mothers or other female relatives who might provide useful support should they have difficulty nursing.
The World Health Organization recommends babies be exclusively breastfed for their first six months. (iStock)
Many kinds of advice offered
For a fee, Medela offers mothers a 24/7 service with instant video connection to a professional lactation consultant through their smartphones. It promises instant access to real-time consultations and says calls are tyhpically answered in less than 30 seconds.
The La Leche League Canada offers consultations for free via telephone, email, social media, in-person visits as well as meetings and drop-in centres in several areas. In 2017, over 6,000 nursing mothers connected with La Leche League for individual support and over 7,000 attended meetings.
La Leche League is a not-for-profit supported through private donations. It’s leaders are volunteers who undergo training for between six months and two years. It has operated in Canada for over 40 years.
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