3 Essential Physical Supplies for your Lactation Private Practice

Welcome to private practice! It’s time to stock up on the essential physical supplies you’ll need to run your private practice.

Scale

If you are performing pre- and post-feed weights as part of your clinical assessment, you will need a scale with a very high degree of precision and accuracy. At the time of writing, the most popular scales for IBCLCs are the Tanita BD-815U, the Medela Baby Weigh II, and the DS4100 Infant Scale.

I have tried all 3 scales myself and wrote about my experience here. I use this backpack, which both the Tanita and the Marsden will fit inside.

And while you’re at it, get a box (or eight) of non-latex exam gloves bag before popping over to Rachel O’Brien’s great blog post on what’s in her consult bag.

Phone

A mobile phone is essential to paperless private practice. A smartphone (think iPhone or Samsung Galaxy) does a lot more than just make phone calls, though. You can:

• Text

• Email

• Use social media

• Access mobile banking

• Track your mileage

• Use apps for charting and productivity

• Read reference PDFs and ebooks

• Watch videos to share with your clients

• Create a mobile hotspot so your WiFi-only laptop or tablet can access the internet

• Navigate the fastest route to your next client

Some apps are only available for use on one platform or another, so before committing to iOS or Android you may want to think through which solutions are important to you, and make sure your phone can do what you need it to do. You may want to consider having a dedicated phone for your private practice, because that way you can prevent mixing business and personal communications.

Bookshelf

Becoming an IBCLC and launching your private practice is just the beginning of your journey of continuing education. If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to read all the books—not just once, but many times. Here’s a list of the books that I return to again and again.

Clinical Resources

• Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants by Catherine Watson-Genna

• The Breastfeeding Atlas by Barbara Wilson-Clay

• Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding by Linda J. Smith

• Legal and Ethical Issues for the IBCLC by Elizabeth C. Brooks

• Tongue-Tied: How a Tiny String Under the Tongue Impacts Nursing, Speech, Feeding, and More by Richard Baxter et al

• Hale’s Medications & Mothers’ Milk 2019

• Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools: Improving Care and Outcomes by Catherine Watson-Genna

• Defining your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery by Diana West

• The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More Milk by Diana West

• Finding Sufficiency: Breastfeeding With Insufficient Glandular Tissue by Diana Cassar-Uhl

Advocacy Resources

• Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth by Julia Oparah

• Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis by Julia Chinyere Oparah

• Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding  by Naomi Baumslag

• The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding by Kimberly Seals Allers

Business Resources

• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

• Worth It: Your Life, Your Money, Your Terms by Amanda Steinberg

Support for the Journey

If you’re not already in my Facebook group, head over there for support on the tech and business aspects of creating a private practice that sustains your clients and you.

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