FAQs
The average in-home visit is around 90 minutes. In-home care allows you to learn and practice in an environment that is most familiar to you and your baby. We will send you an intake form to fill out ahead of time, and we will talk this information through together.
The initial visit includes a complete review of your baby's medical history, as well as a physical assessment of your baby's oral motor structure, their oral motor skills, their general mobility, and their feeding skills.
For lactation support visits, wether breastfeeding directly or indirectly, a complete review of the mother's medical history and a breast assessment are also completed. If you have a significant medical history, had a challenging pregnancy or birth, have difficulties with your milk supply, or your little one has any medical conditions, be sure to share this information with us. A "weighted feed" will be completed, using a hospital grade scale for accurate pre/post feed weights to determine accurate milk intake. This information is important, especially if weight gain has been an issue or if you need to know how much to supplement your baby.
If this is a feeding consultation or follow up, part of the visit includes observing and a assist ing with a nursing session (or bottle-feeding session if your baby is bottle fed and habing challenges). a feeding observation. Please ensure baby will not be just fed, or too hungry, at the time of our visit.
Together, we will create a care plan using evidence-based strategies for the coming days and clarify the ways we will connect after the visit to be sure the plan is going well.
We encourage having your partner or a support person join during the visit. Having them their, could make achieving your goals more successful.
There are many ways lactation support and occupational therapy services can be covered, as they should be.
MilkWise:
I collaborate with MilkWise in order to offer eligible families insurance coverage for lactation visits for no money out of pocket for you. If approved by MilkWise, your visits will be fully covered, except for any travel fees. Unfortunately this coverage is only available for some of the PPO plans (Anthem, BCBS, Cigna, United, AETNA, and Health Net), with no coverage provided for HMO plans. To check if you are eligible to receive insurance coverage, please use my MilkWise link to verify your eligibility.
Please note:
If you are approved by MilkWise, a $25 travel fee applies.
---------------------
Lactation insurance coverage:
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many insurance companies are required to cover preventative lactation services without any additional costs or copays. You can use the National Women’s Law Center’s Breastfeeding Toolkit to help you determine whether your plan is required to cover services like lactation consultants and where to turn if they do not. This kit also includes great language for how to call your insurance company and demand services.
---------------------
Out-of Network Coverage:
If your insurance plan is not covered by TLN, a superbill can be provided to you. A superbill is a receipt for services paid in full, and can be provided for the parent or the baby upon request. You may want to call your insurance and ask which services (lactation and/or occupational therapy) are covered in your insurance plan.
If you are requesting a superbill for your baby for occupational therapy (OT) services, it may be best to have a pediatrician referral to help increase the likelihood of insurance reimbursement. A great resource is Reimbursify’s services. They offer a service that makes submitting out-of-network superbills to insurance quick and easy.
---------------------
Additional resources:
If your insurance does not cover lactation support, breast feeding support groups, such as your local La Leche League and other such groups, are often times lead by lactation consultants. You deserve to get the support you need for yourself and your baby.