Breastfeeding support services to be scaled back at Halifax clinic

Polina Lerman was losing hope. Her milk supply was dropping and she knew that nursing wasn’t providing enough nourishment to her infant daughter.

“For weeks after that I tried everything that you can imagine. Every old wives’ tale,” the new mom said in an interview.

Things turned around after she started receiving guidance from a lactation consultant at a public health clinic in Halifax. Thanks to that specialized support, Lerman said she’s now producing five times more milk and is confident in feeding her three-month-old baby.

But that clinic is soon scaling back its breastfeeding support.

The nurse practitioner who’s been providing the service for a little over a year is leaving the clinic, and the health authority does not have a replacement for her.

Patients who had a referral from another health-care provider could see the breastfeeding expert by appointment, and patients without referrals — namely those without a primary care provider — could come to a weekly drop-in session.

WATCH | How infant feeding support helps new mothers:

Infant feeding support service in Halifax to be scaled back

Parents and babies will still be able to access primary care, but a drop-in service will be discontinued in January because the nurse practitioner who’s been providing the service is leaving the clinic and the health authority doesn’t have a replacement for her. Taryn Grant has the story.

The drop-in was so popular that the clinic recently extended its hours to meet demand.

Moms and babies can still get primary care at the site, but not the same kind of expert guidance that Lerman did. The drop-in will end in January.

Madonna MacDonald, Nova Scotia Health’s acting vice-president of primary care in the central zone, said the health authority will try to re-establish a drop-in, but the details, including location, have not been confirmed.

“We’re not denying it’s a very important service,” MacDonald said in an interview.

“When providers bring specialized skills, we try to embrace that. And unfortunately when they leave, we then have to make a plan to try to ensure the service is not totally lost. We have public health and primary health working on that.”

No matter the reason for the change, Lerman said she’s disappointed. The sentiment is shared by Britney Benoit, who researches infant feeding.

Benoit, an associate professor of nursing at St. Francis Xavier University, said there are “glaring gaps” in access to breastfeeding support in all regions of the province, and that the need for support is “very, very common.”

“I think there is an assumption that breastfeeding is easy, it’s natural, but it’s absolutely not,” Benoit said in an interview.

“It is something that can be challenging, that requires really extensive hands-on physical support to breastfeed in those early days,” she added.

Benoit’s description of scarce access to help and the critical need for it is reflected in national statistics on breastfeeding. According to a 2022 report from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Nova Scotia lags behind the national average in breastfeeding rates in the first six months after birth. 

Benoit said there’s a strong body of evidence showing that exclusive breastfeeding in those first six months has significant health benefits for both mom and baby.

“These include things like prevention of infection and chronic disease in infants and prevention of reproductive cancers and other chronic diseases in the breastfeeding parent,” she said.

Health minister has asked for more information

Mayela Lopez Rodrigues said she likely wouldn’t be breastfeeding her three-month-old son anymore if it weren’t for the support she received at the Halifax clinic.

“It was getting extremely painful and I had already gone to a doctor and have had other nurses at the hospital trying to help me out with breastfeeding… None of that really helped,” she said in an interview.

After a few sessions with the lactation consultant at the Halifax clinic, she said her issues were resolved.

“I was raving about the clinic … and telling a lot of my friends who are expecting to like, be aware that there is that resource for them if they ever need it.”

News that the clinic’s services are being cut back left her feeling “extremely saddened.”

Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson said Thursday she had just learned about the health authority’s decision and asked for more information.

“We know the early years are a critical time for children, and I need to understand the decision before commenting,” Thompson said in a statement.

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