33. Breastfeeding 101: First Latch, Lactation Support & Birth Prep | ft. Lo Mansfield

If you're pregnant or postpartum and you've ever nodded along to something a doctor said because nobody gave you enough information to say anything else, you need to hear this episode.

I am so excited for this conversation with Lo!!

Lo Mansfield is a former LDRP nurse, certified lactation consultant, and mama of four, and she is pulling back the curtain on everything the hospital system isn't telling you.

The reason so many mamas walk into labor completely unprepared isn't that they didn't try. It's because the education they were given wasn't enough and Lo watched it happen from the bedside for years.

She'd watch an OB walk into a room, say "things have stalled, I think we should start pitocin ...you good?" and walk right back out.

Then that mama would turn to Lo and say "what do YOU think I should do?"

That question haunted her. Because it kept happening. Over and over again.

So she left the bedside and built The Labor Mama, a platform dedicated to giving women the education they actually deserve before they ever walk through those hospital doors.

And the breastfeeding piece? Lo spent $500 on a birth class before her first baby. She was an LDRP nurse. She knew more than most women ever will, and engorgement still shocked her.

The emotional weight of it still caught her off guard in ways her husband just didn't get.

She still wasn't ready for what it actually felt like to be the woman in the bed.

That's how big the gap is. And that's exactly what this episode fills.

In this episode we talk about:→ Why most mamas walk into the hospital completely blind and who's actually responsible for that→ What informed consent in labor really looks like vs. what most women experience→ How to set yourself up for breastfeeding success before baby even arrives→ What the first week at home actually feels like — engorgement, feeding frequency, nipple damage and all→ The emotional side of breastfeeding that hits different and why your partner probably won't understand it→ Clogged ducts, mastitis, tongue ties — what to watch for and when to get help→ Triple feeding: what it is, why it's brutal, and why you cannot do it forever→ Low supply, weight loss, and supplementing — what your options actually are→ Why "fed is best" is the floor, not the ceiling→ How to survive the newborn phase as a type A woman who's used to having it all together

If you've ever been handed a pamphlet and called it birth education, this episode is going to make you feel seen — and seriously prepared.

Lo is the real deal. She's been in the room. She's seen what happens when women don't have this information. And now she's handing it all to you.

Listen, save this one, and then go follow Lo because every pregnant and postpartum woman in your life needs to know she exists.

Follow Lo:Instagram & TikTok: @thelabormamaPodcast: The Lo & Behold PodcastWebsite: thelabormama.com

Come say hi to me:Instagram: @thefemaleathletedocWebsite: www.threesixtywellness.co