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Lactation Care in all things breastfeeding and beyond
Gentle hands on massage to address tongue/oral restrictions, colic, gas, birth trauma, and more......
Colostrum Collection. Newborn & Breastfeeding Education. Pump fit and selection. Gentle Hand Expression Techniques. Latching.
Visits will be custom tailored to your family's environment. A professional scale will be available for each visit to provide a pre/post weight (gives accurate milk transfer from breast to baby) and for weight check. Gentle oral assessments, latch techniques, pump fit/guidance, engorgement, bottle feeding, and back to work care plans are examples of solutions provided. Other tools will be brought to your home along with guidance of where to find any suggested items.
Your baby is a sweet spirit that uses different body language and vocal cues to communicate. I often hear mothers concerned that their baby is uncomfortable or in pain being told "they are just a difficult baby, lazy, or they will grow out of it." Your baby is telling us how they feel, what is wrong! I'm here to listen with you.
Cranial sacral therapy is a gentle massage for your baby that can assist in removing restrictions and restore natural body alignment and comfort. I will listen to you and your baby to find a comfortable position using a gentle touch. You will often find me working on your baby while rocking or on the floor doing tummy time with your little one, helping them understand their own bodies and assist with their long term development.
Telehealth is a great way to identify breastfeeding issues from the comfort of your home. I have experience in telehealth assessments via triage and comprehensively.
Many of the same assessments and interventions can be done as in home. For example: oral assessments, latching techniques, pump fit/guidance, milk supply issues, engorgement, bottle feeding, and back to work care plans.
I have numerous tools that will be used to demonstrate any advice given!
*Telehealth is not a good fit if your baby is having weight issues or preterm/late-preterm.
Breastfeeding can be natural, but that does not mean it always feels easy. For many families, the early weeks and months of feeding come with questions about latch, milk transfer, nipple pain, pumping, infant weight gain, bottle feeding, supply changes, and how to build a realistic feeding rhythm at home. Nurturing Connections provides compassionate, clinically informed lactation support for families throughout Orange County, CA, helping parents feel more confident, supported, and understood during every stage of their breastfeeding journey.
Led by Rachel, a Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Registered Nurse (RN), Nurturing Connections offers private lactation consultant services designed around the needs of both parent and baby. Rachel’s approach combines advanced lactation training, pediatric nursing experience, postpartum care knowledge, and a deep respect for each family’s goals. Whether you are preparing for birth, navigating the first days postpartum, returning to work, exclusively pumping, combo feeding, or trying to solve a complex feeding challenge, care is personalized to your body, your baby, and your home environment.
A private lactation consultant offers a level of time, attention, and personalization that many families need after leaving the hospital. While hospital-based support can be helpful, feeding challenges often become more noticeable once you are home and trying to manage nursing, pumping, sleep, recovery, and newborn care at the same time.
At Nurturing Connections, visits are tailored to your specific concerns. Rachel evaluates the full feeding picture, including latch, positioning, oral function, milk transfer, pumping routines, bottle feeding, parent comfort, baby behavior, and the emotional stress that can come with feeding difficulties. The goal is not to force one version of breastfeeding, but to help you create a sustainable feeding plan that supports your health, your baby’s growth, and your family’s needs.
Families often seek lactation services for:
Rachel’s path into lactation care began long before she became an IBCLC. Her passion for families and children started at age 12 when she began babysitting in her neighborhood. By age 16, she was professionally nannying while attending college. After graduating from nursing school, Rachel transitioned directly into pediatric nursing, where she gained extensive experience working with special needs infants, postpartum families, special care nurseries, and research.
In these clinical settings, Rachel learned that infant care is never just about one symptom or one feeding. The family is the central unit of care. Feeding support must consider the baby, the parent, the recovery process, the home environment, the emotional experience, and the family’s long-term goals.
After having her first child, Rachel discovered her passion for lactation and recognized that breastfeeding support goes far beyond nutrition. While working in the hospital setting, she served on the Breastfeeding Advisory Board, helping create policies that supported high-risk infants receiving mother’s milk or donor milk and promoting practices such as skin-to-skin contact.
Rachel later became a Board Certified Lactation Consultant and a La Leche Leader, with a focus on bridging the gap between hospital discharge and real-life breastfeeding at home. Her private practice grew from this need: families deserve ongoing, skilled support after they leave the hospital, especially when breastfeeding becomes painful, confusing, or emotionally overwhelming.
Breastfeeding is a coordinated process involving the parent’s body, the baby’s oral function, nervous system regulation, positioning, milk production, feeding rhythm, and overall comfort. A shallow latch, nipple pain, clicking, leaking, poor transfer, short feeds, long feeds, reflux-like behavior, gas, or frequent frustration at the breast can all be signs that the feeding relationship needs a more detailed assessment.
Rachel integrates her lactation expertise with her training in craniosacral therapy and infant bodywork to better understand how physical restrictions may affect feeding. Some babies need support beyond positioning alone. Tension in the jaw, neck, tongue, lips, shoulders, or body can influence how a baby latches, sucks, swallows, and transfers milk.
This does not mean every baby needs bodywork or every feeding issue has the same cause. It means Rachel looks carefully and thoughtfully at the whole picture so parents are not left feeling dismissed or told to simply “try harder.” Feeding issues deserve careful evaluation, practical solutions, and a plan that feels manageable.
Lactation Services for Every Stage of Feeding
Nurturing Connections supports families at many points in the breastfeeding journey.
Prenatal Lactation Support
Prenatal visits help expecting parents understand what to expect in the first hours and days after birth. Topics may include colostrum collection, hand expression, latch basics, skin-to-skin, feeding cues, pump selection, flange sizing, and how to prepare for possible challenges before they become stressful.
Early Postpartum Feeding Support
The first days and weeks can be intense. Rachel helps with latch, positioning, nipple pain, engorgement, milk coming in, infant weight checks, pre- and post-feed weighted feeds when appropriate, and feeding plans that protect both milk supply and baby’s intake.
Low Milk Supply & Milk Transfer Concerns
Low supply concerns require a careful look at feeding frequency, milk removal, latch efficiency, pump fit, infant transfer, parent health history, supplementation, and realistic supply-building strategies. Rachel works with families to create a plan that is specific, measurable, and supportive.
Pumping & Return-to-Work Planning
Returning to work can feel overwhelming without a plan. Support may include pump selection, flange sizing, pumping schedules, milk storage, bottle feeding, paced feeding, maintaining supply, and transitioning between nursing and pumping.
Exclusive Pumping & Bottle Feeding
Exclusive pumping requires its own strategy. Rachel helps with pump settings, flange fit, pumping routines, supply management, bottle selection, paced feeding, and reducing discomfort during pumping.
Complex Feeding Challenges
Some families need more advanced support for tongue or lip restriction concerns, NICU transitions, oral tension, reflux-like symptoms, slow weight gain, painful feeds, breast refusal, or babies who appear unsettled during or after feeds. Rachel’s nursing background, IBCLC training, and holistic care model allow her to help families identify next steps and coordinate with other providers when needed.
For families searching for a “lactation specialist near me” or “private lactation consultant near me” in Orange County, Nurturing Connections provides personalized care in a supportive environment. Instead of a rushed, one-size-fits-all appointment, Rachel takes time to listen to your concerns, observe feeding, assess contributing factors, and explain what is happening in a way that feels clear and empowering.
Parents often arrive feeling exhausted, discouraged, or unsure whether breastfeeding can continue. Rachel’s role is to meet you with compassion and clinical skill. Your feeding goals matter. Your comfort matters. Your baby’s growth and development matter. Whether your goal is exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, pumping, bottle feeding, or simply understanding your options, you deserve care that respects your choices.
A lactation specialist helps parents with breastfeeding, pumping, milk supply, latch, nipple pain, infant weight gain, bottle feeding, and feeding plans. An IBCLC is the highest credentialed lactation professional and is trained to assess both parent and baby during feeding. At Nurturing Connections, Rachel provides personalized support that may include latch evaluation, positioning help, pump fit guidance, milk transfer assessment, and a care plan tailored to your goals.
You can see a private lactation consultant during pregnancy, immediately after birth, in the first few weeks postpartum, or months into breastfeeding. Many families schedule a visit when breastfeeding is painful, baby is not latching well, milk supply feels low, pumping is uncomfortable, baby is not gaining weight as expected, or returning to work is approaching. You do not need to wait until there is a major problem to get support.
A lactation consultant is a general term for someone who provides breastfeeding support. An IBCLC, or International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, is a credentialed professional who has completed extensive lactation education, clinical experience, and an international board exam. Rachel is an IBCLC and RN, which means her care combines advanced lactation expertise with a clinical nursing background.
Yes. Nipple pain is one of the most common reasons families seek lactation support. Pain may be related to latch depth, positioning, oral tension, tongue or lip restrictions, pump flange fit, engorgement, nipple trauma, or other feeding mechanics. Rachel evaluates the feeding process and helps create a plan to improve comfort while supporting milk transfer and baby’s intake.
Yes. If your baby is not gaining weight as expected, a lactation consultant can help evaluate feeding frequency, latch, milk transfer, swallowing, diaper output, supplementation needs, pumping, and milk supply. Rachel may use weighted feeds when appropriate to better understand how much milk baby is transferring. For medical concerns, she will also encourage coordination with your pediatrician.
Yes. Exclusive pumping is a full feeding plan and deserves specialized support. A private lactation consultant can help with pump selection, flange sizing, pumping schedules, milk output concerns, nipple pain, bottle feeding, milk storage, and supply maintenance. Rachel helps pumping parents create routines that are practical and sustainable.
A lactation consultation can help identify possible reasons for low milk supply or decreasing milk supply. Rachel looks at milk removal, latch efficiency, pumping technique, flange fit, feeding frequency, parent health history, baby’s transfer, and any supplementation patterns. From there, she creates a plan to support supply while making sure baby is fed and the parent is supported.
For many families, yes. A private lactation consultant provides focused, individualized care that can be difficult to receive in a short hospital or pediatric appointment. Support can reduce confusion, improve feeding comfort, identify milk transfer issues, protect supply, and help parents make informed decisions. For families in Orange County looking for personalized breastfeeding help, Nurturing Connections offers care that is both technically informed and compassionate.