Today we’d like to introduce you to Jana Birdseye.
Hi Jana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Lactation Consultants of Atlanta is a Legacy Business started by my mother-in-law, Sharon Birdseye, IBCLC in 1988. She was the first lactation consultant in the Metro Atlanta area to begin a private practice after being one of the first lactation consultants to obtain her board certification in the state of Georgia. Sharon started helping mothers to feed their babies as a La Leche League leader as she navigated breastfeeding her own three sons. The business started small and was ran out of her home, and eventually she gained momentum getting an office. Although the office has moved several times, the primary locations served, Metro-Atlanta and surrounding suburbs, have remained the same. Sharon grew the business by establishing corporate lactation services with corporations such as Home Depot, The Weather Chanel, and many more; she began to offer hospital-grade breast pump rentals, breastfeeding classes for individuals and other health care providers and brought on more lactation consultants to serve more families. She has been featured as a speaker for several organizations, served as the president for the Southeastern Lactation Consultants Association (SELCA), and been interviewed for multiple stories on lactation.
In 2015, I had a baby born with Down syndrome, and I struggled to breastfeed in the beginning but eventually found my ground and breastfed for 22 months. Fast forward to the year 2017, I was ready for a career change after being in business management for over 20-years. I knew that I wanted to work with children with special needs and looked at other options but after a lengthy conversation with my mother-in-law, Sharon. I decided I wanted to become a lactation consultant specializing in babies with special needs. I started school that year and graduated with honors in 2019. Due to the pandemic of 2020, my board certification test was put off, but I eventually got to take the boards, passing and becoming board-certified at the end of 2020. Through many hours of clinicals and hours of practicing, I have realized that I am doing what I was called on earth to do. I have a passion for working with babies with special needs and oral dysfunction and have received specialized training to work with these infants. I also have a passion for helping moms navigate returning to work because as a breastfeeding mom as I experienced these struggles.
I currently manage all day-to-day aspects of the business, with help from our office manager, Melissa. I oversee our corporate lactation programs and help as many families as I can navigate the challenges that can arise with breastfeeding. I currently serve as our operations manager, but will someday become the CEO taking over the business for my mother-in-law. I am also following in Sharon’s footsteps by serving as vice president of SELCA. I love what I do, and have business goals and plans to continue the growth of the company so that we can help more families achieve their breastfeeding goals and navigate difficult moments in their breastfeeding journey.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When first beginning my journey, it was very difficult returning to school. I had been out of school for many, many years, and the thought of going to college with people much younger than I was very intimidating. My fears were all for nothing and I developed many close relationships with my classmates that remain today. It was definitely hard to navigate returning to college with a small child, and especially a small child with special needs requiring extra care. I spent many late nights doing homework and studying so that I could care for her during the day. My husband was a huge help!
I would say that the largest hurdle I have faced while being in lactation care and managing the business was the pandemic of 2020. No one knew what to do, including us. We didn’t want to put babies at risk, and many moms put off seeking help due to the fear of bringing their delicate infant around others. Our business took a huge hit that year, as did many others. We are very blessed that we were able to overcome the financial crisis of 2020. We moved to a mostly virtual format. Learning to help women with breastfeeding through a screen was not easy. I feel that working virtually to perform breastfeeding consultations made me into a better lactation consultant. It has allowed me to be more descriptive in my teaching and helping moms with their latching techniques. It taught me that you don’t always have to use your hands to help a mom find the right positions and by using less hands on help, the more a mom will grow in confidence in what she is learning and putting it in motion when she is on her own.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a private lactation practice assisting families who choose to breastfeed comfortably to meet their breastfeeding goals, We value our patients and strive to treat them like family. We have been helping breastfeeding families for over 30 years. We are Atlanta’s founding private practice, being the first to establish private lactation care in the Atlanta area. LCA has a team of IBCLC’s (International Board Certified Lactation Consultants) and are able to assist families at their time of need, sometimes even with same-day appointments for urgent cases. We offer lactation visits in the patient’s home, our office, or by secure virtual format. Our initial consultation is 90-120 minutes, allowing us to really get to know our patients and their needs. We’re also mostly on babies time, which is very unpredictable (ha, ha).
We offer these consultations prenatally, so before the baby is born, allowing families to learn the basics of breastfeeding and what to expect at the hospital and when coming home. In these prenatal visits, we discuss a woman’s health history and perform a breast exam to discuss any markers that may indicate low milk supply. We educate on the hours after baby is born and through the first few weeks, establishing a good latch, knowing that your baby is getting enough, and when to call for help (PS. there’s never a wrong time to seek lactation help). We answer any questions and discuss any concerns a family may have.
We also see families after the arrival of their little one to help with any challenges that they are experiencing or to just offer peace of mind that they are doing the right things. We take a full health history of mom and baby, discuss their pregnancy, the labor and delivery or surgical arrival of baby, what their concerns are and their feeding goals are. A weighted feed is performed, weighing the baby before and after feeding; we work on latching and positioning and pumping, and flange fitting when needed. We discuss a families goals and work with them to form a care plan that helps them to achieve those goals while making sure that their care plan fits in with their lifestyle. In our practice, the family is an essential part of the healthcare team. We help women who are experiencing pain with feeding (pain is not normal with breastfeeding), pumping and bottle feeding, concerns about milk supply, engorgement, mastitis, hormonal issues, returning to work, re-lactation /inducing lactation, and much more. We help families with infants that have weight gain concerns, poor latch, jaundice, tongue and/or lip ties, sleepy babies, fussy babies, gassy babies or babies with reflux issues, babies with special needs, and babies who are bottle feeding and having difficulties, plus many other concerns.
We are also in network providers with several insurance providers such as Aetna, Humana, and Tricare East. We are able to work with many other insurance plans with our billing partner The Lactation Network.
LCA also offers corporate lactation services, helping companies to add to their employee benefits package. In these a’ la carte programs, the company is able to design a program that suits their companies needs and budget. We can provide prenatal education classes on-site at the workplace, we can provide return-to-work consultations on-site, we help companies to write a lactation policy to meet all state and federal laws surrounding lactation and pumping breaks. We also offer turn-key programs, we will design and set up a space that can include furniture, hospital grade breast pump and companies can also choose to provide the needed supplies for the registered participants to use the pumps.
Our other services include hospital-grade breast pump rentals with established rental locations in several areas in and around Atlanta. We teach breastfeeding classes that are geared toward families. We also teach classes that are geared toward other health-care professionals who may work with breastfeeding families in a different capacity. We run local support groups for pediatric offices, and we offer a free monthly support group in our office.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
In my journey to becoming a lactation consultant, I had help from other experienced lactation consultants. One of the most notable mentors would be, of course, my mother-in-law Sharon, it is a pleasure learning from her wealth of breastfeeding knowledge. My classmates have been an integral part of my growth; it has been so helpful having others that are at the same stage in their journey. I have had so many mentors that it is hard to only choose a few, I had internships at multiple locations spanning from Cartersville to Decatur, with each one of them leaving a mark on how I practice today.
My biggest cheerleader and supporter was my husband, his faith never waivered in me and he always understood when I was busy studying. When I had a big test coming up, he would help me prepare, giving me an energy drink and private time to study. I think he thought I was crazy when I told him I wanted to go back to school and become a lactation consultant. He worked many long hours to pay the bills so that I could stay at home and concentrate on my studies and raising our daughter. He now helps to keep our busy household running when I am working long hours managing the business or seeing families.
I also could not do the day-to-day business needs without the help of my office manager and fellow IBCLC, Melissa. Her dedication and help to LCA, to me, and to the families we serve is without question, an integral part of our growth and where we are today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.breastfeedingatlanta.com
- Instagram: lactation_consultants_of_atl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breastfeedingatlanta
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lactation-consultants-of-atlanta
