Trish: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the show. Today I'm sitting down with Amber Gin, an I-B-C-L-C, and one of the most incredible breastfeeding support people you can find. She's also one of my Catalyst Queen Mastermind clients, and I just adore her. Amber is going to share the raw, powerful. Story of having her son at 15 years old and how that experience and the help of one person lit the fire for her career in lactation, from teen MoMA to breastfeeding expert, her journey is the definition of turning pain into purpose.

If you've ever questioned if your past disqualifies you, it does not, and Amber and myself both grew that your story is your superpower. So let's dive in.

Good [00:01:00] morning sweet Mamas. I am so happy that you're here. My guest today is Amber Gin, and I always get tongue tied amber when I say it, but I-B-C-L-C, I did it. And she's also one of the clients in my coaching Mastermind, so she's really near and dear to my heart and I cannot wait for you guys to hear her story because her story is so.

Powerful. And of course this being the birth experience. Amber, I want you to just say hello, tell who you are, and then I'd love for you to share your birth experience because it was really pivotal in what you do right now.

Amber: Yeah. So thank you so much for having me on today. Like you said, my name is Amber Gi and I'm a board certified lactation consultant.

I actually, I have two boys. My oldest now will be 17 in the summer and my youngest is 11. My oldest, I actually gave birth to him two weeks before I turned 16. And so that was a very interesting experience for sure. I definitely had all of these ideas about [00:02:00] how I wanted my birth to go, and I faced a lot of just discouragement from family.

I said I wanted to have a natural birth and I wanted to do all these different things, and everyone was like. That's not possible. I ended up having preeclampsia and ended up with an emergency air quotes, C-section, and, so everything just went out the window. As far as my plans. The one little sliver of hope that I had though was being able to breastfeed him and, things were really not looking good in the beginning.

I was, super engorged. I didn't know how to get into latch. I didn't have a pump. I didn't know anything about breastfeeding at all. And I ended up reaching out to the local WIC office and got set up for a visit with a peer counselor there, and she was able to help me get a good latch. She set me up with a breast pump and having that one win so early on in my experience as a new mom, I.

Really shaped my entire outlook on life really. But especially as a mother, because I was able to do something right and it gave me confidence that I was gonna make it through a really hard time. And, [00:03:00] I was so moved by that experience that I decided I wanted to provide that same care and support to other women.

And that's what led me to become an I-B-C-L-C.

Trish: Okay, so Amber knows me well enough to know I'm not a crier. But I am actually tearing up right now, like what is wrong with me lately? I don't know, but I'm tearing up because couple things, for those of you guys who have not heard my story, I had Ian, my oldest when I was 17, and you sharing your story just really slapped me in the butt a little and reminded me how much power and influence we have as.

Women and educators and perinatal experts in this space to influence lives because I don't know if I told you this, you and I have talked about your story, but my labor and delivery nurse, when I had Ian, her name was Laura Berry, and she whispered in my ear after I, [00:04:00] because I don't know about you, but. I was made to feel that this was the biggest mistake of my life.

I had ruined my life. My future was done. I had already been accepted into an art school for college. I was on this path, and everyone I. Just wanted to remind me how much I had screwed up. And the thing about that is that number one, if you're listening and you're young and you're pregnant, Amber and I are both proof that you did not screw up.

Yes, it's a bump in the road and it's a hard one 'cause we know that, but it's also a woman having a baby. It's still your birth experience, it's still your journey into motherhood. And for anyone listening who's a professional. You better take this role seriously because these two professionals, your WIC lady, whatever her role was, and my labor nurse.

Change the courses of our lives [00:05:00] and it could have went another way.

Amber: Yeah, that's very true. And I remember, early on in my pregnancy with my first, I had a little bit of bleeding and I went to the emergency room and I remember there was this, this nurse, and he was a guy and he was like. I heard him say in passing to the other, I guess I don't know if it's a nurse's aide or whatnot, but this is why I don't believe in God.

'cause God would never let a teenager have a baby. Like what a mess. You know, like something to that effect. I remember that bit about not believing in God because God lets teenagers have babies. I, I was like, Jesus dude.

Trish: Mary was like 14 when she had Jesus.

Amber: Yeah. So it was just, there's a lot of judgment for sure.

I definitely had a lot of condemnation from other people and you know, I did really well in. School, I was very bright, you know, gifted child or whatever they say. And I remember everyone was just like, what a waste. You know, like, it's such a shame. But then I, I recall when I was about to graduate from high school, 'cause I still stayed in school, I went right back to school.

And I graduated with like a 3.9 G-P-A-A-A teacher came up to me and he's like, well, I'm so proud of you 'cause you really, made it work. So, I mean, yeah, like you're saying, it's, it's a big bump, but you can still do all the stuff you set out to do [00:06:00] For sure.

Trish: Yeah. Well what's crazy is I did not stay in school because I went to a very fundamentalist private Christian school.

I was the first person in like 40 years to get pregnant, and so I became like the pariah of the school. And what was really funny is I was really naive, but here's what I wanna tell you, listening. If you're younger and you haven't had a baby, all it takes is to be alone with the right guy for a right amount of time.

Amber: That's right.

Trish: You know what I mean? I wasn't some kind of bad girl. I didn't plan on having sex outta marriage. But you know, a surfer in a little bit of time alone there, there's Ian. But anyway, now that that's been said, but I love it that she came alongside you and both of us. Our businesses have been born from that desire to help.

Women have a different story, have a better path, and [00:07:00] so I would love for you to transition that into what you do now and how you do it and how you run your practice.

Amber: I. Yeah, sure. So, yeah, it's really a beautiful thing to think that, because of those two women in our lives, how many, like thousands of women have been supported, like from that.

It's really amazing how all of that works. And I hope to that my work with moms hopefully inspires, you know, one of them across time to transition into some type of, of birth work or breastfeeding work. 'cause it's really, yeah, we don't always realize how much impact we have on other people. But yeah, so at this point now, I run a.

Private practice. I've been in private practice the entire time I have been in I-B-C-L-C. The practice I run is called the Latch Link, and we're really big on trying to revolutionize, breastfeeding care because as we all know, maternal healthcare in the US is really lacking, but that doesn't stop at breastfeeding care.

A lot of the systems we have in place now are just not meeting the needs of mothers. We have. You know, close to 11,000 babies born every day in the US and we have maybe 3000 lactation consultants [00:08:00] in private practice. The way most people run their practices, they can see maybe three or four clients a day, and that's leaving a lot of mamas on the table who are not getting support.

So my heart is just in the place of trying to change that so that moms can get really expert, support right from their home covered by insurance, via virtual care, which allows me to support a lot of moms and them to get. Seen quickly and have just really exceptional, unheard of continuity of care across their entire breastfeeding journey.

Trish: I love that. And for those of you guys listening, we're gonna put some information in the show notes. Amber takes insurance. So I, I want you to talk about. This thought that you have to see a lactation consultant in person, and it's so much better than virtual because of course I work virtually and I know how much power we can have virtually, and I.

I mean, I have students in so many different countries that if it were, I only could see them in [00:09:00] person, their birth would not have been impacted. So I want you to talk about what that looks like to have a virtual consult and obviously insurance companies value it 'cause they pay for it.

Amber: Yeah, more insurance companies than, people realize. And I was talking to, a mentor one time about it, about helping moms understand, you know, it's free with insurance. And he was like, no, it's better than free. They already pay for insurance, so they might as well take advantage of this thing.

Otherwise, they're just leaving this. Exceptional support on the table. Yeah. You've already paid for it.

Trish: Yeah.

Amber: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So as far as how a virtual consult works, I like to kind of make the analogy of learning to do a pullup. I know that might not be everyone's thing, but if you're trying to learn to do a pullup and someone comes and they hold onto you and they push you up and down, you can do several pullups, but later when they're not there, you try to do a pull up and you dunno how to do it because you weren't actually taught how to do it.

And that's how a lot of lactation care works in person. I completely understand where moms are coming from, that they want someone. To come in there and do things hands on, but it's extremely important that we understand the foundations of why we're doing [00:10:00] things in our breastfeeding journey, rather than just having someone come and do it for us.

Because what happens so often, and I see a lot of moms who have seen people in person, it didn't work out, and then they're coming to me later on. When we have someone come in person and they do it for us, it's our natural instinct to kind of check out and let people do things. For us, we wanna work smart, not hard, but when we do that during lactation care, later in the night when our baby still won't latch, we don't have an extra pair of hands attached to an expert, and so we're back to where we were.

And that can be really discouraging for a mom who had to wait several days to get someone to come out in the. In the first place. And that person, like I said, due to the way most lactation consultants run their practice won't be able to come back for a week or two. They're feeling like completely lost and they waited all this time for this appointment, and then now they're not any better off than they were

Trish: or Or they have to go somewhere.

Oh, exactly. I'm not even that, which is even harder when you first have a baby. Yeah, like for sure. I wasn't even thinking about someone coming to your house. And like you said, when you have a breastfeeding issue, you need help now. Now, but like when I had Grayson, [00:11:00] I had to go to a place to see someone and I had to get an appointment and I had to wait.

And those ti that time waiting, especially for me because Grayson had been diagnosed as failure to thrive and I had to wait to see someone and like every minute was like a time bomb thinking. What do I do? Like I need to do something. He needs to gain weight, you know? So I love that you said that, and I, for those of you guys listening, like we said, you've already paid for it.

You might as well, like, I don't care if you're having a problem or not. I think there's some things you should do during pregnancy. You should learn about breastfeeding. You should see a pelvic floor specialist, you should see a physical therapist. All those things like only in a man's world.

Does someone think we should wait for our boobs to feel like they're falling off or like our nipple to be burning or our pelvic floor to be giving out before we actually do something?

Amber: Exactly. Yeah. You know that's, that's very true.

Trish: So [00:12:00] I love that. I love what you're doing and also you have in the works, a monthly or bimonthly workshop coming.

Maybe you could tell everybody about that as well.

Amber: Yeah. So, for prenatal, consults, which I absolutely love to do, I'm working on hosting bimonthly group consults where you can come in and get all of your questions answered. And my practice, rather than just pushing a narrative about what I think moms need to know, I like to be really collaborative and my education and care plans and whatnot.

So, it would just be an overview of what you might want to know about breastfeeding during your pregnancy so that you're set up for success. Then it would open up for a q and a 'cause that's what really, you know, it breaks my heart a lot working with mothers as I know, like if they could have gotten support during their pregnancy, they wouldn't be dealing with the situation they have now.

And I absolutely adore working with my mama as prenatally, but it's kind of funny because when we do our check-ins afterward, like 95% of the time, they're like, yeah, I'm good. Talk to you later. I let you know I'm good. I'll let you know when we're ready for [00:13:00] solids. And I'm like, oh. I'll see you later. I'm so happy for them.

Nice. And

Trish: insurance pays for the workshop as well?

Amber: Yeah, exactly. For sure. So with qualifying insurance, the workshop is completely covered so you get that expert care, right then and there. And another thing I wanted to mention too is a lot of times moms are wrapped up in, in-home care. And while that's really, or in person care rather, let me say, that's really, I get where they're coming from.

A lot of times we're really limited by the type of practitioner that is near us, and we're not always gonna be able to guarantee that they have values, or beliefs or whatever that are aligned with us. Just like you're saying, supporting moms. If moms were limited to only getting, prenatal education and education about their births from the person who happened to be in their zip code, it would be very limiting.

So I always want moms to reframe things like that, that you're not, you're not stuck with a lady who just happens to be within 30 minutes of your house.

Trish: Yeah, and I can tell you right now, so for those of you guys, Amber and I are on video. I know that when I went to the lactation consultant, it was a very boring hospital office and she didn't have boobs all over the [00:14:00] walls like Amber does.

Amber: Thanks. I try. Yeah,

Trish: I've just, yeah, we all adore Amber's background. Which I have vaginas and stuff, so there's that. That's good

Amber: too.

Trish: Anyway, so what do you feel is one of the most important things that a mom should know about breastfeeding while she's pregnant? Let's say you have a mom who's like, I might, I might not, I'm not sure.

Like, what would you wanna say to her?

Amber: So I would want her to really dig deep into the why behind her breastfeeding or infant feeding goals. I talk to a lot of mothers, typically postpartum and you know, many of them who are in a place where they might wanna quit, they might wanna give up, they might wanna do this or that.

And many of them have never taken, any time to like journal or write out pros and cons or even explore like why it is. They want to do what they are doing. So I would say everyone who's pregnant, think about what are your goals for infant feeding and breastfeeding, and then go a few wise deep on why those are your goals.

That way you can really understand, because if you don't understand why you [00:15:00] wanna do something, it's gonna be nearly impossible to stick it out because you're not gonna be motivated. Yeah. You're just doing it 'cause your mother-in-law told you to, or you know what have you.

Trish: Yeah. I, I love that. I, I say the same thing to my ladies about the birth, especially the ones who wanna go unmedicated.

Like you have to be so married to your why. And I would say the same thing with breastfeeding because it's a hard journey at times. It's a beautiful, amazing journey, but it's also hard and it can be like, you know, like it is a huge commitment.

Amber: For sure.

Trish: Yeah. I feel like it's way easier than bottle feeding though, because I had to supplement Grayson and it was so much work.

Amber: Yeah,

Trish: definitely. Whereas you can just whip your boob out and feed your baby. Like that's It's warmed, it's clean, it's all the things. Exactly. Bottles are a lot of work, but not that I'm knocking that 'cause you know, I support whatever someone wants to do. Okay. So now we've got a mom thi this was my big thing in the hospital that I was so surprised about when.[00:16:00]

And I've told you this before, I've breastfed. I mean, I spent pretty much the entire nineties breastfeeding. I think 1994 might've been, no, maybe it was 93. Maybe 93 was the only year. I don't know. I spent most of the nineties breastfeeding. And so when I became a labor nurse, I was like, Hmm, I'm gonna be an expert at this.

Like I am the breastfeeding guru and I have never sweat or had my back hurt as bad. As helping a new mom, and what I found was a lot of the new moms, because they weren't prepared, they were not educated in any way besides maybe watching a YouTube video. They did not know what to do at all. And then you add in the pure exhaustion from giving birth.

And so what I found is a lot of 'em were just laying there like they're wanting me to do it all right? And I can't even tell you how many thousand times I've said, mama, I'm not going home with you. Like you have to do [00:17:00] this. So I, I feel like it's so brilliant for them to learn ahead of time.

Amber: Oh yeah, for sure.

And I have a lot of moms who, I'm working with and they don't even realize that, they don't have to latch their baby straight away. I think a lot of people, they have that pressure in the hospital and I understand, nurses are wanting to help, but they don't, they don't even understand, that they have the agency to do it themselves or to let baby wait because so many moms are just expecting a nurse to come in and do it for them, which is unfortunate.

Trish: Yeah. And do it all. Right. Like really do it all. And, and I love that you brought that up because in the beginning of my career we were like pressure. Like, get the baby on, get the baby on. Get the baby on. Now it's not, it's not the same. Like now we know. So let's say a baby's just born. How long can they go?

Now, obviously if they're GDM or something, it might be a little different, but what would you say if a mom can't get her baby latched in the first couple hours? Should you be freaking out?

Amber: I mean, when you think about, the stores of energy that a newborn is [00:18:00] born with, just, not to get all complicated, but they're, they're gonna be okay for a bit.

We definitely don't want them going probably like 12 hours. That's likely too long and we're gonna need to do fluids and different things. But I think within the first, like four to six hours, I think four within the first four hours is completely normal. After that, I would say between four and six is when you wanna.

Try to get something going, but there's definitely within the first, two hours, no problem. It's, it's not something that you need to be rushing within that first two hours for sure. But I would say even within the first four hours is, is totally within the realm of normal.

Trish: And I have another thing that maybe you don't ever think about, but one thing that always bothers me in the hospital and I tell my students is that a lot of times we're like, get the baby on.

Get the baby on. Have you fed the baby has the baby, you know, latch. Then mom gets the baby latched, and then the hospital crew wants to come in and disrupt it. Like, let's move rooms. Let's do that, let's do that. And I'm like, I always tell my students like, if you've gotten that ba, 'cause sometimes it's really hard to get them [00:19:00] latched on when you're both first learning.

If you guys have your baby latched and the baby's doing well, you can tell the hearing test guy, you can tell the lab, you can tell the nurses to come back.

Amber: Oh yeah, for sure. I tell all of my prenatal clients that like you're allowed to request that uninterrupted skin to skin. Any examinations that are not emergent, they can do right there with baby on you.

And if you are worried it'll disrupt your latch, then yeah, exactly. Be like, no, thank you. You can come back. That's good advice for

Trish: sure. Yeah. I'm so glad we talked about that because I haven't ever really talked about anyone outside of my labor nurse mama land about that. But that always bothered me, like even when I would deliver a mom and she.

Finally gets the baby latched and they're like, you need to take her to the postpartum room. Like, I don't care. I'm like, no, I am not. They're gonna have to wait. Yeah, like she'll go when she's ready. Right. For

Amber: sure. Like the baby feeding

Trish: and that experience should not be interrupted. It's really, it really is mattering to me.

Okay. So we've talked about [00:20:00] prenatal. What do you see as the biggest struggles that most of the people who come to you, what are the big top, like one or two struggles that they're having?

Amber: Yeah. So I would say, the top three would be, latching, supply and then pumping. But the big two, I would say for sure, that are a little bit trickier, is latching and supply, which I think we don't prepare women for the foundations of.

How to get a good latch. 'cause I, it's, I liken it to like a child watching a choreography on like a music video and then trying to redo it. That's how most women are doing breastfeeding. They've seen someone do it and they're like, I think it's kind of like this, but no one's explained to them, like the body mechanics of their baby or positioning tips and, and tweaks and whatnot.

And it really, I don't know, it can go a long way to understand the why of what you're doing, because then it's more adaptable rather than, like I said, just trying to emulate what you see. Seen someone doing, just 'cause you think that's what it's supposed to look like.

Trish: I, yeah, I, I love that because it is so true,

and I think that's what our mothers and grandmothers were [00:21:00] led to believe like, oh, it, it just happens. Like it's natural. Like that's what your body's supposed to do. And I always would tell my students now, I mean my, my patients like I. Anything you've seen on TV for breastfeeding, they have edited out the crying, the difficulty that you know any of the problems and they've just shown you the picture.

Perfect side of it. Exactly. But it's because I think a lot of moms think it's supposed to just come naturally.

Amber: Right, for sure. And I guess in like a perfect world, and that's what I always talk to my clients about is like what is optimal versus what's normal. I mean, in a perfect world, we'd all have grown up watching our moms, you know, have these really empowered births and then totally crush it at breastfeeding all of our siblings.

And we'd see our sisters and and aunts and everyone, we'd see it all the time and it would be commonplace for us. But most of us, like you said, we're only seeing what we're seeing on tv and that's always like a. Polished, edited, version edited because yeah, God help us if we, if we only saw birth like on TV and, and you know, it's [00:22:00] just always this like women screaming and freaking out.

So which can be birth sometimes pulling her hair out bit her partner. It's not Right. Exactly. Yeah.

Trish: I have gotten bit though before, oh no, at the hospital by the way. Yes. But it wasn't, it was. Not during, like it was when someone was putting her IV in. Ooh, she bit me. Ouch. Yeah, it was really weird. I was like, I am not gonna be at this birth.

But yes, I agree. You know what? Now that you're saying that like all of my children should, well my sons obviously should be very comfortable around breastfeeding 'cause they've seen it. But my daughters should be very comfortable with it because. Everybody saw me breastfeeding a lot.

Amber: Good. That's very good.

Trish: Yeah, and I was very comfortable with it. . But they did see my troubles with Grayson as well. Yeah. So, and I think that's important too. They also saw me seeking help. Yeah,

Amber: yeah, exactly. For sure. And I would say nowadays with the whole supply thing, I mean, latching is, is one piece, but supply is another.

I think all of these, influencers and whatnot that we see on TikTok and Instagram, telling women how they should be making 10 or 12 ounces of milk at a time, I [00:23:00] think most, oh my God. And they have, they have a filled right. Outside, outside freezer. I know. Like what you can find. Right. You don't need that.

Trish: I know. It's crazy. Yeah. I did a post, I did a post a couple years ago saying, you do not need a full freezer of milk.

Amber: Ugh. I know. It's so wild. Yeah. But it makes

Trish: them subconsciously think that if they don't have those. Trays and trees and mm-hmm. And staes. I never could do a pump. Well, I never could pump.

Well, so that is another thing I'd love to talk about before we end. Sure. Is pump tips, when do you recommend, if, so let's say, 'cause I have a lot of moms who are going back to work at like, oh yeah. Eight to 12 weeks. What is your process you teach?

Amber: Yeah. So I would say, prenatally. Definitely get.

A non wearable pump as your primary choice. If you have the ability, like don't rely on a wearable, for your exclusive pumping, in most cases, that's not gonna support you like you need. If you're [00:24:00] already postpartum. Why? Tell us why. Okay. So tell us

Trish: why the I know, but I want them to know. Yeah. The

Amber: motors are definitely a little bit shaky.

Most women's store. The pump with the motor and the reservoir of milk together. And when you store it that way, if any amount of milk gets in that motor, it's gonna. Cut down on its, efficiency. But again, since it needs to be charged, even just simply using it throughout the day, if you're not keeping it charged all the time, it's gonna have low efficiency.

And the tunnels are really shallow. So for most women, especially women who have, like elastic nipples, et cetera, it's just not gonna provide the space and simulation that you need. So I'm not anti, wearable pumps by any means. I just think that they. We wanna be informed when making decisions. So I would say making sure you have a pump for your body and for your goals.

And also making sure the darn flanges fit correctly because so many people don't realize that the flanges that come in the pumps are pretty much never the right flanges for 99% of women. I feel like in most cases.

Trish: And so they need to make sure that that fits. So for sure you recommend they get a real full on [00:25:00] breast pump while they're pregnant to have for after baby.

And then if they're going back to work, do you have a pattern, like do they, do you recommend they start pumping at a certain time or what, what is your go-to there?

Amber: So if I were, I definitely think working with lactation professional to have a back to work plan is obviously like the primo choice. But, if you're just thinking more generally, it really depends on your goals and what you're hoping to accomplish, you know, during your maternity leave.

But generally, I would say you'd wanna start pumping. I. And introducing a bottle, if that's what baby's gonna use while they're apart from you. Probably four-ish weeks. Four to six weeks. Before you're returning to work. Just speaking generally, I have some moms who book a consult with me and they're like, I'm going back to work next week.

My baby's never taken a bottle, and we're able to totally fix it. Right. That's a little stressful for everyone. Okay. That was my next question.

Trish: So if they can't get the baby to. Take a bottle. That's even a reason to have a consultation with you. Oh,

Amber: yeah. Yeah. So personally, I am, very well-trained and experienced with bottle refusal, and I would say that makes up maybe like [00:26:00] 30% of the consults that I do.

So bottle refusal is one of those things that

Trish: it can happen. I had no idea you. Oh yeah, you handle that.

Amber: Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I love doing bottle refusal, clients. It's a really, like, it's a very stressful situation, but it's so, so awesome to get through that. And I've got a lot of really cool, protocols and whatnot that, that I use within my practice.

So, yeah, I mean, and honestly, though, I. Bottle refusal, like fear of bottle refusal is not a reason to introduce a bottle sooner than you want to because I've had babies who suddenly refuse bottles after using bottles really well for a while, or babies who, you know, have been exclusively breastfed and then they do really well in a bottle just out of nowhere.

So it's one of those things you just wanna make sure that you don't feel pressured into using a bottle sooner. I mean, totally use one whenever you want, but you don't like have to start one soon to avoid refusal. It's not quite that simple.

Trish: We will put, Amber's information in the show notes. Make sure you tell her that Labor nurse Mama sent you.

And so if there's someone listening and they're having trouble with bottle refusal, their insurance will cover a [00:27:00] consultation with you.

Amber: Oh yeah. And that's, I guess that's, yeah, that's new to me. Right. So that's one thing that I wanna make abundantly clear to moms. Lactation care is not just for putting out fires.

It's not just for when you feel like your nipples are falling off. I have clients who see me across time, whether it's for bottle refusal, returning to work, wanting to talk over like your birth control options. Obviously I'm not a doctor, but just getting my feedback as a lactation consultant. Literally anything related to breastfeeding, so if it's related to breastfeeding and infant feeding at all, and exclusively pumping is breastfeeding, so you don't have to even be doing any feeding at the boob if your boobs are involved in making milk.

And you're, you're covered. You're covered.

Trish: And then you said something before about transitioning into like foods, you help with that as well.

Amber: Yeah. So interestingly enough, when I did my clinical training, I, shadowed of course IB CLCs, but I also gotta spend a lot of time working in a clinic with a baby led weaning ex.

And so in addition to being an I-B-C-L-C, I'm also, an infant young child feeding specialist. So I'm trained in baby led weaning and introducing solids, both BLW and purees. So I [00:28:00] love helping clients with that as well. So pretty much anything related to feeding your baby, I'm, I'm your girl.

Trish: I love that.

I didn't know that. Yeah. That's amazing. So that, that really is amazing because I think that for me as a breastfeeding mom, the difficulties with latching and pain, I. And then try. I could barely get any of my kids to take a bottle like that in itself, and I could not get a pump to work. So those two things I don't think I would've ever thought about going to a lactation consultant

Amber: for.

Yep. We help with all those things. For sure. Yeah.

Trish: Well, and I feel like a lot of lactation consultants make it so. Uncomfortable to talk about bottles in any way. Yeah. That I think a lot of moms do not think that they will cover that subject with them.

Amber: Oh yeah. No, I noticed that too, which is really sad.

Yeah. Even with talking about formula, a lot of IBCLCs don't wanna give any recommendations or opinions about formula. I run my practice completely differently. I understand the reality that some moms use formula, and [00:29:00] I'm completely happy to help moms find a good one with no shame and no BS because.

Nobody has time for that. So yeah, I am. Yeah, I am pro. Whatever works for your journey.

Trish: Yeah. Well, and that's what my students say about me. They're like, Trish lays it out like a buffet or a smorgasbord, and then she teaches you about all the things and then you choose, because the reason I do this is because I was sick of seeing women stripped of their autonomy and their voices were taken.

And so I am never going to shame or pressure someone into a choice. That I think they should make. Now, if one of my students, let's say I have one of my mom's and she has her labor bat signal going and she is like, I think I, you know, my doctor's saying I have to be induced, so I'm gonna, I will talk through okay, so they're saying you have to be, did you ask them this?

How do you feel about that choice? If she says, I'm totally fine, I'm ready, then that's that. That's the choice, you know? Yeah. If she's like, I just don't really know if I wanna do that, Trish, what do you think? Then I'll tell her [00:30:00] like what I would potentially do, you know? Right. So I think that's what's important.

If any of you guys are listening and you lean into mom shame or pressuring, you need to step back. The last thing we need in this journey is someone invalidating our choices and. I tell my kids all the time, like, I'm gonna make mistakes. Like I'll make mistakes. But that's, that's on me. You know, as long as I'm not harming someone, you know what I mean?

Right. Like these moms have a right to choose what they want for their babies, for their journey, and. It's okay. Release it. It's like we talked about at the, at the cla, the mastermind retreat, let them,

Amber: right, exactly. Like if everybody

Trish: could adopt the, let them theory and let other people feel how they want know, you know, like how boring of a world would it be if we all felt the exact same way about everything?

Amber: For sure. Yeah. Like what fun

Trish: would that be? I know.

Amber: Yeah, for sure. And I think society, babies, all of us, we benefit a lot [00:31:00] more from moms having sovereignty over those choices and feeling confident in them, even if they're not, you know, whatever the WHO would consider the best choices because like at the end of the day, you're a mom, your kids are older too.

Like your kids are even older than mine. So like we all know by the time they get older, like it, they don't, you just, you're doing your best and they love you and they're proud of you.

Trish: You want to raise humans that are healthy minded. And make choices. And if you yourself, are being narrowed into choices and made to feel, then you're gonna pass that on too. And we just, we need to stop. Like, it has to stop. I mean, it just has to stop. But that's a whole, that's a whole nother podcast episode.

Okay, so we've talked about. Consultations and that you take insurance. We've talked about your prenatal workshop, which we'll make sure you guys get information on all of this. Can you tell everyone where they can find you? Tell 'em about your podcast? [00:32:00]

Amber: Yes. Yes. So, my business, like I said, is called The Latch Link.

You can find me online@thelatchlink.com. My podcast is called, the Latch Lounge, and you can find me on social media at Amber, the ibclc.

Trish: I love it. Alright, well thank you so much for coming today.

Amber: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Trish: Wow. If that didn't give you chills, I don't know what will Amber's story is. Such a reminder to us that your struggles can become stepping stones, and when you show up with purpose, the right people will find you. I am so grateful she's in my life. If you love this episode, take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram tag@labornursemama.com.

And amber ginn, BCLC. As always, you guys hit subscribe. Leave a darn tootin review. They mean so much to me, you guys, this is so important. Please take a [00:33:00] moment, leave me a review, say hello, tell me what you wanna hear more of, gimme some ideas, what do you guys wanna hear? And if you wanna share your birth story, send us an email at info@labornursemama.com.

We have a lot of people applying, so give us time to get back to you. Hit subscribe, leave a review, and I'll see you again next Friday. Bye for now.