McCall Roots
Hi there, I'm Liz!
I'm a OB Mother/Baby Nurse and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. I recently moved to McCall to dig my own roots in this beautiful region of Idaho. I started McCall Roots to support growing families in the area by offering care to Mothers and their babies after birth. My training as an IBCLC means I have extensive education in infant feeding, growth and development as well as the ability to identify and correct issues with lactation, mother's breast health and comfort with latching, pumping and expressing milk. I am here to support you no matter how you decide to feed your baby whether it's at the breast or with a bottle. I can help you decide if supplementation with formula is necessary. I want to assure that you and your baby are off to a good start and offer continued support through the changes and challenges of early life with your little one.
McCall Roots
About
More about our service, more about me...
What's in a name?
....McCall "Roots"
Did you know that one of the first and most important instinctive reflexes a baby has is the ability to root? What is rooting? Try tickling a baby's cheek, chin or lips and you'll see! Your baby will likely turn toward that touch and may even open their mouth wide with a wiggly tongue. Rooting is a survival skill and it's one of the ways your baby finds you, gets to know you and begins to eat and grow. Now you know! And there you go...that's how McCall "Roots" got it's name.
What's an IBCLC?
IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. This means that I have been certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners. In order to qualify for training as an IBCLC, I first completed my Bachelor's degree in Nursing. An additional 90 hours of lactation-specific education and over 1,000 hands-on clinical hours was required before I could apply for accreditation and sit for the international exam. To maintain this level of excellence, IBCLCs must earn their recertification every five years and pass the International Board’s examination every ten years. It's a bit of a unique title becoming a boob and baby expert! In fact, there's only 124 of us in the entire state of Idaho and most of them work exclusively for hospitals serving in-patient newborns and NICU families.
What do we do? ...I mean, what's so complicated about feeding a baby?
Well, that's a loaded question! And I mean loaded...there's so much more to feeding your baby than just filling the tank. When you add the complexities of your own body, your health background or medications, recovery from pregnancy and birth, nutrition, breast anatomy and "all the things" as they say, well it can get complicated. As an IBCLC, I can assist you with common lactation pitfalls like low milk supply, breastfeeding pain, and conditions like mastitis and plugged ducts. If your baby is struggling to latch or isn’t gaining weight properly, I can help you improve feeding sessions, develop special feeding schedules for your baby's unique needs, and help you know exactly the measured volume of milk your baby gets through a breastfeeding session to determine if supplementation might be needed. We'll review your health history, your birth story and any medications you might be taking. I'll perform a complete check-up assessment for your baby that includes a weight check and specialized things like examining that cute little mouth and tongue to be sure that latching, sucking, and swallowing are all happening just right!
There's a lot to know as an IBCLC and I have a lot of training and experience - but that training will never end for me. I am continually learning and seeking out every opportunity to get more training in this field so I can help more families and babies. If your situation requires further attention, I can provide a referral to other professionals to get the help you need if it's outside my scope of practice.
My Own Breastfeeding Journey from Motherhood to here for YOU!
Of all the accomplishments, certifications, licenses or degrees I've earned in my life, the one I stand most proud of is motherhood. Family is everything to me and I feel so blessed to be the mother of six incredible and uniquely individual people. Even more exciting is the title of Grandma that I have earned 3 times now and I'm hoping for lots more to come! My greatest joys and deepest challenges have come from watching my children grow and sometimes struggle to become who they are today.
Breastfeeding was pretty natural to me until my last child. It seemed that everything was going wrong until I broke down and called La Leche League for help. I just couldn't understand how things could be so difficult after breastfeeding all my other children without issues. A "Breastfeeding Fairy Godmother" showed up that day who recognized my baby's poor latch and diagnosed us both with thrush and me with mastitis. She gave me some incredible tips for positioning my baby at the breast, told me what to watch for in his latch and left me with some cooling packs, instructions and a referral for my doctor to prescribe the medication I needed to clear my infection. I'll be forever grateful to her and La Leche League for that visit. I went on to breastfeed my last baby until his 2nd birthday!
A couple years later, when that little caboose was old enough for preschool, I decided to go back to school myself and become a nurse. After working in a few different positions as an RN, I found my niche in mother/baby care and decided to train for certification as an IBCLC.