Q: How long will I have to wait for an appointment?

 

A:  We strive to help breastfeeding families as soon as possible, and can often see you within 3-4 days of your appointment request.  Our availability changes from week to week, and sometimes we are able to provide next day appointments if there are immediate challenges. 

 

*If you are having issues that require an urgent appointment, please book the next available appointment to hold your place and then note on your booking form that you would like to be notified if any appointments are available sooner.  We can then often fit you in if there are any other families that need to reschedule.  Please text us directly at (416) 809-7984 for immediate assistance and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

 

Q: How do I book an appointment?

 

A: There are multiple ways to book an appointment with us!

• Text or phone (416) 809-7984 

• Email sagelactation@gmail.com

• Click Book Online on our menu tab at www.sagelactation.com/book-online

 

Q: Will my health insurance provider cover lactation visits?

 

A: Many insurance companies reimburse their customers for a Lactation Consultant’s services. Currently Manulife, Great West Life, Sunlife and Greenshield cover the services of an IBCLC, depending on your health benefits package. Your employer determines the level of coverage they opt-in to when choosing their company’s health benefits package for families. We recommend submitting your receipt to your insurance company. Even if they do not currently cover this service, the more requests they receive from family’s expecting coverage for this vital service, the more likely they are to start!  You can use my IBCLC Registration # found on your paid invoice to submit your insurance claim. Let me know if you have any questions about insurance coverage. 

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Q: What do you cover during a lactation appointment?

 

 A: Included with Initial Lactation Appointments:

 

- One in-home, in-clinic or virtual visit ~60-90 minutes, (depending on the needs of the family)

- Review of relevant infant and family health & lactation history

- Discuss recent & current issues, concerns, challenges or difficulties

- Oral functioning assessment with gloves (for home & clinic only)

 

Full Feeding Assessment & Support!

 

- Observe a feed & assess milk transfer and latch

- Show how to know when and how much milk your baby is getting

- Guidance for feeding management (when to switch, timing, schedules)

- Suggest positioning & latching adjustments to improve comfort and drinking

- Learn new comfortable positions with helpful tips & tricks

- Practice latching independently with gentle guidance

 

We go above and beyond with family care!

 

- Determining interacting factors, sources and root causes of difficulties

- Focused resolution of current issues and discuss paths of action 

- Discuss strategies & implementation process with parents

- Develop a plan together for the next week that works for family goals

- Address any concerns and answer any questions about the plan

- Unlimited Follow-up Support Q & A for 3 weeks over email, text & phone

 

Q: How do I decide which type of appointment I need?

 

A: It depends on your situation and what would be most helpful and comfortable for you and your family.  Home, Clinic & Virtual appointments all have their own unique benefits!

 

Home Visits can be wonderful for new parents who are just getting to know their baby and are not yet ready to go out to appointments. It can be lovely after returning home from the hospital to have support in your own home where you’ll be caring for your new baby. Setting up a comfortable space for breastfeeding can be fun and enjoyable with nurturing guidance & helpful tips and suggestions.  Home visits can also be very helpful for parents who are struggling with breastfeeding difficulties because these babies are often fussier and more challenging to take care of out of the house. Having someone come to to you to help you in your own space can be so relieving not to have to worry about traveling too if you are not in a predictable routine yet as well. Home visits can also be perfect for families with older children or family members to take care of.  It’s totally OK to just not want or to not be ready yet to take your baby out!

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Clinic appointments can be a great choice for families as a first outing together as a stepping stone to longer trips & visits in your family’s future.  It can be fun to bring baby out for a “mini adventure”  to a baby-friendly place that is fully embracing, expecting and familiar with all of the changes and challenges of being a new parent!  Visiting a family-friendly welcoming space can be a significant milestone and confidence boost for new parents too who are recovering from the pregnancy and birth, especially if you haven’t taken your baby anywhere except the doctor’s office yet.  Clinic visits are also perfect for parents who have been home with baby a lot lately and would like a reason to get out of the house and have some fresh air, meet some friendly faces, and start to introduce their baby to the world!   

 

Enjoy some warm herbal tea and relax in our spacious “living room” while waiting to start your appointment.  Our beautiful clean clinic space has everything available and accessible to help you feel as comfortable as at home. Taking good care of your baby & children is enjoyable with easy access to a changing table, diapers, wipes, and clean washroom facilities. All of our staff and health practitioners are warm & friendly and great with kids and babies!

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Virtual appointments are the best option if you are located a significant distance from our clinic or area we serve for home visits. Virtual appointments can also be perfect if you are currently not able to travel yet, or if anyone in the home is ill. Virtual lactation appointments can be a lovely way to get to know us and have a great start to your breastfeeding journey from the comfort of your home.  Although we are not able to do everything we can in in-person appointments, (oral assessments, for example), since a lot of the time in our initial appointments are spent getting a family health & lactation history and discussing what’s been going on, these can easily be done over video conference and do not need to be done in person.  Also, since a lot of our strategies and planning is through discussion with parents, a lot of progress and resolutions to challenges can be made from virtual appointments! 

 

More to come soon!  If you have a question that has not been covered here, please fill out the Contact Us Form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible!