Conn. Offers Telehealth Breastfeeding Help

Connecticut Children’s Care Network announced that it will team with Nest Collaborative – the nation’s first and largest virtual lactation consultation platform – to leverage telehealth and provide breastfeeding support to more than 5,000 families and newborns across the state.

The partnership is bringing a virtual lactation consultation platform to Connecticut and will provide unlimited same-day telehealth appointments with certified lactation consultants for parents in need of prenatal and perinatal breastfeeding support.

The virtual care services will be delivered without copays, out-of-pocket costs, or deductibles for families with active insurance or Medicaid coverage, Nest Collaborative said in a press release.

Connecticut Children’s Care Network has 37 independent pediatric practices and more than 200 pediatric primary care providers in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. The organization’s mission is to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for infants, children, and adolescents.

“As pediatric primary care providers, we know the short and long term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding,” David Krol, medical director of Connecticut Children’s Care Network, said in a statement. “We also know that significant sociodemographic and cultural disparities exist in the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding.”

He added, “Nest Collaborative’s International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) provide equitable, evidence-based guidance to our families when they need it most to help prevent and overcome breastfeeding challenges.”

Nest Collaborative removes a significant barrier to breastfeeding by connecting parents to lactation consultants via telehealth. They offer services in more than 10 languages, seven days a week, in all 50 states, to improve the success of breastfeeding.

“We are thrilled that Connecticut Children’s Care Network has selected Nest Collaborative to help improve care for families with newborns throughout the state,” said Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Nest Collaborative, Amanda Gorman.

“Connecticut Children’s maintains the highest quality clinical standards for pediatric care and partnering with them is an honor,” she continued, “We’re especially excited to join Connecticut Children’s Care Network in bringing together the pediatric expertise that Connecticut Children’s has to offer, with the quality of care that community physicians and our IBCLC’s bring to caring for families and newborns.”