What Does A Lactation Consultant Do?

WHAT DOES A LACTATION CONSULTANT DO?

Published: Jan 07, 2026 - The Lactation Consultant provides expert breastfeeding consultation and education to mothers in collaboration with the interdisciplinary care team, ensuring optimal patient outcomes. This position monitors lactation progress, adjusts care plans as needed, and contributes to staff training on complex breastfeeding issues. The consultant also maintains breastfeeding statistics, develops policies, and supports quality improvement initiatives.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Lactation Consultant

1. Lactation Consultant Details

Clinical Rounding: Conducts daily rounds on breastfeeding patients on Maternal Child Health and throughout the hospital.
Care Management: Assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation of care in a variety of situations.
Anticipatory Teaching: Anticipatory teaching for the prevention of problems re breastfeeding.
Professional Communication: Communication and collaboration with other health care professionals.
Follow Up: Conducts follow-up phone calls to Mercy Hospital breastfeeding mothers.
Breastfeeding Education: Provides breastfeeding education and counseling to parents and families to encourage informed decision-making about infant and child feeding via prenatal breastfeeding classes, breastfeeding support groups, and a telephone resource line.
Resource Referral: Makes appropriate referrals to additional resources.
Data Analysis: Collects and analyzes statistical data on breastfeeding initiation rates.
PI Participation: Participates in PI activities to improve breastfeeding support services within the organization.
Standards Adherence: Adheres to the International Lactation Consultant Association's Standards of Practice for IBCLC Lactation Consultants.
Scope Compliance: Works within the scope of practice and within the policies and procedures of the institution.
Certification Maintenance: Maintain IBCLC certification and expand knowledge and skills by participation in continuing education.
Safety Compliance: Adheres to unit-specific safety and security measures, including newborn identification policy.
Breastmilk Assistance: Assist mothers in pumping and storage of breastmilk and require the appropriate use of a breast pump.
Product Evaluation: Evaluation of lactation products and devices, and services.
Policy Updating: Update all policies and procedures for breastfeeding.

2. Lactation Consultant Responsibilities

Health Assessment: Providing a comprehensive assessment of the health status of a patient through the collection, analysis, and synthesis of data used to establish a health status baseline and plan of care.
Care Planning: Collaborating with the healthcare team to develop and coordinate an integrated plan of care.
Intervention Development: Developing nursing interventions to be integrated into the plan of care.
Care Implementation: Implementing nursing care through the execution of independent nursing actions.
Delegated Interventions: Implementing interventions that are delegated, ordered, or prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider.
Nursing Care: Providing safe and effective nursing care.
Environmental Safety: Promoting a safe and therapeutic environment.
Patient Advocacy: Advocating for the best interests of individual patients.
Care Evaluation: Evaluating responses to interventions and the effectiveness of the plan of care.
Professional Collaboration: Collaborating and coordinating with other healthcare professionals in the management and implementation of care within and across care settings and communities.
Health Promotion: Providing health promotion, disease prevention, care coordination, and case finding.
Patient Teaching: Designing and implementing teaching plans based on patient needs and evaluating teaching effectiveness.

3. Lactation Consultant Accountabilities

Policy Development: Participating in the development of healthcare policies, procedures, and systems.
Competency Practice: Addressing situations beyond the nurse’s competency, and performing at the level of education, knowledge, and skill ordinarily expected.
Nursing Management: Managing, supervising, and evaluating the practice of nursing.
Competency Maintenance: Maintaining OMC organization competencies and nursing competencies pertinent to the area of practice.
Information Management: Managing information in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Breastfeeding Education: Providing inpatient/outpatient breastfeeding education and support to OMC breastfeeding patients, employees, and their families.
Issue Evaluation: Evaluating and referring inpatients/outpatients with significant breastfeeding issues to the appropriate persons, including a lactation consultant, pediatrician, family practice clinician, obstetrician, or other healthcare providers.
Follow-up: Providing follow-up phone calls to breastfeeding patients.
Pump Program: Assisting in maintaining the breast pump rental program by handling direct rentals, returns, and payments from OMC patients.
Education Planning: Assisting in planning and implementing breastfeeding educational opportunities for OMC staff and the community.
Material Maintenance: Assisting in gathering, updating, and maintaining educational material/aids, policies, and procedures regarding breastfeeding.

4. Lactation Consultant Functions

Breastfeeding Planning: Determines breastfeeding plan and provides instruction and support to mothers breastfeeding children requiring hospitalization.
Lactation Evaluation: Evaluates positive signs of lactogenesis and latching on.
Intake Assessment: Evaluates the adequacy of breast milk intake and determines appropriate goals.
Problem Monitoring: Evaluates and monitors any problems or complaints related to breasts or pumping equipment.
Pumping Guidance: Evaluates and dictates pumping frequency and duration.
Teaching Implementation: Implements appropriate teaching interventions based on the infant’s clinical condition, mother’s progress, and breastfeeding goals.
Care Standards: Implements standards of care and policies and procedures for breastfeeding management.
Milk Handling: Designs, implements, and monitors policies and procedures to assess quality control in the collection, transport, storage, and feeding of breast milk to hospitalized infants.
Mother Nourishment: Designs, implements, and monitors policies and procedures to provide nourishment to breastfeeding mothers of hospitalized infants.
Lactation Management: Designs, assesses, implements, and monitors an inpatient lactation management standard of care.
Equipment Management: Designs, implements, and monitors policies and procedures to assess the procurement and maintenance of lactation equipment.

5. Lactation Consultant Overview

Pump Access: Designs, implements, and monitors policies and procedures for the use and access of electric breast pumps by the patient’s mother.
Teaching Assessment: Assists in assessing, planning, and evaluating teaching materials and methods used for breastfeeding.
Material Maintenance: Maintains educational materials for patients and healthcare providers.
Material Assessment: Assesses the use of educational materials to teach patients and healthcare providers.
Staff Training: Directs lactation training and education of clinical staff.
Competency Training: Designs and provides lactation management education and competency-based training for nursing and nutrition staff.
Program Development: Designs, conducts, and evaluates educational programs and materials related to lactation management for patients, employees, medical, nursing, nutrition, and support staff to ensure quality patient care.
Module Design: Designs, implements, and evaluates a breastfeeding teaching module with pre- and post-tests to become a mandatory part of each professional orientation session for new employees.
Documentation Standards: Implements departmental standards for documenting all aspects of work-related activities.
Assessment Documentation: Document lactation assessment using an appropriate format.
Therapy Documentation: Documents the response to lactation therapy using an appropriate format.

6. Lactation Consultant Details and Accountabilities

Billing Documentation: Documents all services for billing purposes.
Quality Documentation: Documents participation in data collection, analysis, and review for quality monitoring using appropriate tools.
Education Documentation: Documents and dictates the delivery and effectiveness of family and community education.
Team Participation: Participates as a member of an interdisciplinary team.
Interdisciplinary Rounds: Participates in interdisciplinary rounds and patient care conferences.
Discharge Participation: Participates in the discharge process.
Condition Reporting: Advises appropriate team members of changes in patient condition.
Team Education: Evaluates the needs of interdisciplinary team members on lactation-related issues, plans an education module, and instructs on lactation-related issues.
Resident Instruction: Plans education module and instructs residents and medical students on lactation-related issues.
Professional Development: Plans and initiates professional development responsibilities.
Trend Awareness: Stays abreast of current trends in lactation care.
Program Participation: Participates in professional development programs.
Knowledge Sharing: Shares new knowledge with the healthcare community.

7. Lactation Consultant Additional Details

Diagnosis Analysis: Analyzes the assessment data to determine the patient's nursing diagnoses or patient problems.
Care Coordination: Coordinates care delivery through the utilization of department, organization, and community models and resources, critical thinking, interdisciplinary teamwork, patient advocacy, and the unique nurse-patient connection, and identifies and uses available resources to define and implement the plan of care.
Data Detection: Detects and collects comprehensive data and identifies patterns pertinent to the patient's health and unique situation.
Plan Development: Develops a plan that prescribes strategies and alternatives to attain expected outcomes, based on the patient's individualized situation and anticipated needs.
Health Promotion: Employs strategies, including the art of translation, to promote healthy behaviors for patients and families.
Practice Enhancement: Enhances the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice through communication, documentation, initiation of change, creativity, innovation, participation in quality improvement (QI), evidence-based practice (EBP), and research processes.
Self Evaluation: Evaluates one's own nursing practice in relation to the Illinois Nurse Practice Act and professional practice standards and guidelines.
Goal Evaluation: Evaluates progress toward effective attainment of patient, family, and community goals.
Plan Implementation: Implements the identified plan based on the nursing process, the nursing mission and philosophy, and the organization's mission.

8. Lactation Consultant Essential Functions

Practice Adherence: Adhere to established Maternal Child practice standards and hospital policies and procedures.
Problem Solving: Demonstrates expertise in problem-solving skills based on theoretical and evidence-based knowledge, clinical experience, and sound judgment.
Breastfeeding Observation: Observes and assists mom and baby/toddler during breastfeeding process, communicating progress to the bedside RN and/or physician, and completes required documentation.
Patient Resource: Serves as a resource to patients, staff, and physicians by providing direct breastfeeding care consultations/counseling while supporting breastfeeding moms in Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby, NICU, Pediatrics, and to outpatients.
Collaborative Support: Works collaboratively with physicians and nurses to support breastfeeding success by assessing the mother/baby dyad, by recommending best breastfeeding practices, developing a collaborative plan of care and discharge instructions, and coordinating post-discharge referrals.
Teaching Standards: Develops and implements standards of patient teaching for physicians and nursing staff about initiation, maintenance, and discharge readiness of the breastfeeding mom and baby.
Practice Development: Be responsible for researching and developing evidence-based breastfeeding practices, implementing standards of care for nursing staff, and creating continuing education curricula for nursing staff and obstetric/neonatal/pediatric providers.
Curricula Creation: Be responsible for creating curricula/content and scheduling outpatient classes, breastfeeding support groups, and post-discharge referrals.
Education Contribution: Contributes to Perinatal/Neonatal/Pediatric nursing and medical orientation and continuing education by developing, coordinating, and implementing an educational plan.

9. Lactation Consultant Role Purpose

Community Networking: Networks with professional and community agencies/resources.
Collaboration Culture: Creates a culture of collaboration between lactation consultants, nurses, physicians, and patients.
Pump Oversight: Be responsible for the oversight of the breast pump rental program, including evaluation of the type of pumps, financial records of rentals and supplies, and related documentation.
Supply Review: Participates with materials management in the review and selection of breast pumps and specialty supplies for promotion and facilitation of best practice and cost-effective utilization/compliance with vendor contracts.
Staffing Management: Develops and maintains a staffing schedule and addresses any gaps in lactation consultant availability.
Action Planning: Develops, manages, and communicates all aspects of an Action Plan to meet/exceed Baby Friendly standards within the needed timeline for recertification.
Certification Compliance: Be responsible for adherence and successful implementation and certification by TJC and ISDH in relation to breastfeeding.
Quality Reporting: Develops and communicates the ongoing quality of care standards by creating and sharing narrative, spreadsheet, or graphed individual outcome measures with the perinatal leadership, physicians, and nursing staff.
Policy Review: Participates in the review and revision process for hospital policies and procedures relating to breastfeeding.
Manager Assistance: Assists the Manager with interviewing and training employees, planning, assigning, and directing work, and addressing complaints and resolving problems.

10. Lactation Consultant General Responsibilities

Breastfeeding Advocacy: Advocates breastfeeding as an optimal nutritional approach for the infant to the health care multidisciplinary team and parents who are interested in breastfeeding, including bedside consultation, classes, and reading materials.
Readiness Evaluation: Evaluates parents' interest in breastfeeding and the infant's readiness to breastfeed, and determines individualized care to assist mothers with breastfeeding, providing one-on-one bedside consultation and in-hospital follow-up.
Staff Education: Provides education for staff on protocols, care plans, and general breastfeeding information and updates.
Teaching Documentation: Document teaching and response in the chart.
Findings Reporting: Reports findings to the appropriate staff.
Program Evaluation: Evaluates the effectiveness of the breastfeeding program and redesigns it.
Data Participation: Participates in data collection and neonatal outcomes reporting related to breastfeeding.
Pump Discussion: Discusses breast pump rental, and/or buying a breast pump, providing necessary information and demonstration of pump equipment.
Discharge Education: Participates in discharge education related to breastfeeding and developmental issues.
Post Discharge: Post discharge, follow-up by phone contact or by family returning for a weight check and or lactation consult.

11. Lactation Consultant Key Accountabilities

Supervised Practice: Under the supervision of the Director of Education, the Lactation Consultant is responsible and accountable for individual Lactation Consultant practice and appropriately delegates and supervises tasks to provide optimum patient care.
Clinical Collaboration: Collaborates with all disciplines to enhance clinical outcomes, reduce length of stay, improve resource utilization, and ensure patient satisfaction.
Clinical Resource: Serves as a clinical resource and consultant for issues related to patient care for patients, physicians, staff, and the community.
Competence Maintenance: Maintain competence and continue personal and professional growth congruent with ILCA standards.
Care Participation: Participates in establishing, maintaining, and improving patients' health care goals through patient assessment, planning, and implementation of Lactation Consultant interventions and evaluation of patient outcomes.
Performance Improvement: Identifies and assists with opportunities for performance improvement activities on the unit and with other service areas.
Care Documentation: Accurately and completely documents all aspects of care given.
Patient Priority: Recognizes that the purpose of employment is to prioritize the patient as number one.
Time Management: Take ownership of time management, decreasing waste (of time and supplies), and promoting cost effectiveness.
Effective Communication: Communicates effectively with other care providers (physicians, nurses, business office, and medical records) to provide for continuity of patient care and to meet the needs of the customers served.
Attendance Compliance: Fulfill requirements of attendance, punctuality, and timekeeping practices.
Positive Behavior: Behaviors and interactions demonstrate a positive attitude, personal initiative, and motivation to achieve the goals of the unit.
Ethical Practice: Uphold the standards of the profession and organization, and practice ethically and with integrity.

12. Lactation Consultant Roles and Details

Consultation Support: Provides consultation in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team to the mothers of patients.
Breastfeeding Management: Management of breastfeeding to promote optimal patient outcomes.
Staff Education: Educates staff and complex breastfeeding management.
Care Collaboration: Collaborates with the interdisciplinary care team in monitoring the breastfeeding progress of mothers.
Plan Modification: Modifying the plan of care to promote optimal outcomes.
Statistics Maintenance: Maintains breastfeeding statistics for Brenner Children’s Hospital.
Policy Development: Develops policies and procedures for Lactation Consultant services, breastfeeding equipment, and resources.
Quality Participation: Participates in performance and quality improvement activities and outcomes projects.

13. Lactation Consultant Responsibilities and Key Tasks

Lactation Education: Provide lactation education, resources, and support to inpatients, outpatients, and healthcare providers, including nurses, physicians, educators, and social service personnel.
Care Consistency: Ensure services provided are consistent with organizational policies, applicable research, and current standards of care.
Team Services: Services may be provided during the prenatal and postpartum periods and require working with both prenatal educators and hospital nursing staff in a team atmosphere.
Committee Leadership: Chair a Baby Friendly Planning and Implementation committee, develop a project timeline, and oversee the development and implementation of that timeline.
Educator Oversight: Oversee and direct the duties of the Clinical Lactation Educator.
Organization Support: Provide assessment, education, and support to all areas of the organisation.
Care Responsibility: Be responsible for the delivery of evidence-based, high-quality care and education to the women as well as to their colleagues within the hospital service.
Team Liaison: Be responsible for liaising with members of the multidisciplinary team.
Policy Auditing: Evaluation and auditing of current breastfeeding policies and procedures, as well as the process in place within the organisation, to help Northern Health Breastfeeding Support Services become more efficient.
Mother Support: Provide lactation support, education, and assistance to new mothers.
NICU Contact: Initiate and maintain regular contact with NICU mothers throughout the baby’s hospital stay to help support their breastfeeding experience.
Class Coordination: Coordinates, works with other departments in the scheduling and planning of prenatal classes.
RN Function: Function in the Birthing Center as an RN to assist in patient care.
Mother Contact: Assure required contact with the breastfeeding mother.

14. Lactation Consultant Duties and Roles

Clinical Assessment: Provide clinical assessment, care, support, and education to breastfeeding mothers and assist mothers in reaching their breastfeeding goals.
Charting Notes: Write charting notes to document pertinent information for each patient encounter.
Follow Up: Schedule follow-up visits with patients to maintain continued care.
Patient Guidance: Provide patients with helpful guidance, resources, and referrals.
Resource Development: Develop and modify resources for general breastfeeding education.
Staff Collaboration: Collaborate with staff regarding care of the breastfeeding dyad.
Clinical Expertise: Serve as a clinical expert for lactation and breastfeeding.
In-depth Assistance: Provide in-depth, individual assistance for mothers and families experiencing routine or complex circumstances associated with lactation and breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding Support: Encourage the support of breastfeeding through patient consultation and education.
Growth Knowledge: Demonstrate knowledge of human growth and development, assessment, range of treatment, and care of patients appropriate to the ages of patients served per the scope of service.
Nutrition Support: Provides assessment, assistance, and support of infant nutrition, particularly breastfeeding, to infants, adult and adolescent mothers, and families.
Staff Education: Provides education to staff and physicians, as well as to the community.