Laura Allen
April 2024
Laura
Allen
,
BSN, RN, IBCLC
Obstetrics
OhioHealth Mansfield
Mansfield
,
OH
United States
What I loved about my first interaction with Laura was how she asked questions. She focused on my goals as a Mom and how I was feeling. She humbly made suggestions and offered tips that I continue to use today.
I first met Laura one day postpartum after delivering my fifth child. Being a nurse in the hospital, I had crossed paths with Laura a handful of times. She walked in my room that day and I said, “oh I'm so glad you’re here!” She looked confused and happy all in the same beat. My baby and I were having trouble nursing and without hesitation Laura jumped right in to help. What I loved about my first interaction with Laura was how she asked questions. She focused on my goals as a Mom and how I was feeling. She humbly made suggestions and offered tips that I continue to use today.
6 days later, we landed ourselves back in the hospital for an unexpected, overnight stay due to my son’s elevated bilirubin levels. Laura spent hours with us that day, helping with latching, weighing, bringing me the equipment I needed to help heal and continue on my breastfeeding journey, and many more things.
At around 6 weeks old, my son was diagnosed with GERD. I quickly scheduled a lactation appointment with Laura after our Pediatrician gave me some unsettling advice about switching to formula. In my gut, I knew it wasn’t the right advice. Laura reassured me that my gut was right. I spent 2 hours with Laura that day. We not only worked through some breastfeeding issues but also bonded over family stories, work stories, and life experiences. The time Laura took with me was invaluable. Being a mother of 5 and a nurse myself, it would have been easy to overlook me and mistake my experiences for expertise. I'm so thankful Laura treated me just like any other patient.
Today, my son is 8 weeks old. Not only is he thriving, but we’re also thriving together on our breastfeeding journey. With Laura’s education and guidance, we will be able to meet our goals and also be able to donate to babies in need through the OhioHealth Milk Bank. Thank you, Laura, for the passion you have. Your up-to-date research and education is second to none. You have truly made a great impact on my life.
***
Laura Allen is an RN and Lactation Consultant here at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. We now have a growing team of Lactation Consultants; however, Laura has been the lead IBCLC since 2016. Laura has been instrumental in getting our Outpatient Lactation Services up and running along with many other things here on the unit. The story that I wanted to share and the reason I am nominating her now is because in the last couple months we have had a mom that has come for outpatient lactation appointments that had issues that needed to be addressed immediately during the appointment that were not really related to breastfeeding or why the patient was there.
This mom who came for her outpatient lactation visit barely made it in the door, and she broke down crying. Laura handled the situation beautifully. Baby was asleep in the car seat, she took the car seat and sat it on the floor and told mom not to worry about breastfeeding right now to have a seat. Laura identified that mom needed the emotional support more than the breastfeeding support at that time. After talking with the mom, Laura realized that this was much bigger than something she alone could fix and she utilized the resources available to get this mom the help she needed. Postpartum Depression is a huge danger for moms in the postpartum period, so it is so important that with every touch we have on the patient, we are assessing for this. Laura was able to not only get the patient's husband and sister-in-law there to support the patient but she also reached out to the patient's OB provider so that they could all work together to make sure both Mom and Baby left that outpatient lactation appointment safe and supported
Also, there was a mom who was coming to the breastfeeding support group that Laura had worked with extensively as an inpatient and then once baby was discharged in the outpatient setting. Laura identified quickly that there was something else going on with the baby that needed to be evaluated. She educated and encouraged the mom to seek follow-up care for her infant. Laura felt this baby needed a swallow eval and had something neurological going on that was causing the feeding difficulties. Although the mom was resistant at first and felt that she could just try different things like thickening the baby's liquids and other remedies she had found online. Laura was persistent in connecting with this mom, and the mom finally scheduled follow-up, this baby is receiving the swallow evaluation and care that he needs in order to remedy his feeding issues.
6 days later, we landed ourselves back in the hospital for an unexpected, overnight stay due to my son’s elevated bilirubin levels. Laura spent hours with us that day, helping with latching, weighing, bringing me the equipment I needed to help heal and continue on my breastfeeding journey, and many more things.
At around 6 weeks old, my son was diagnosed with GERD. I quickly scheduled a lactation appointment with Laura after our Pediatrician gave me some unsettling advice about switching to formula. In my gut, I knew it wasn’t the right advice. Laura reassured me that my gut was right. I spent 2 hours with Laura that day. We not only worked through some breastfeeding issues but also bonded over family stories, work stories, and life experiences. The time Laura took with me was invaluable. Being a mother of 5 and a nurse myself, it would have been easy to overlook me and mistake my experiences for expertise. I'm so thankful Laura treated me just like any other patient.
Today, my son is 8 weeks old. Not only is he thriving, but we’re also thriving together on our breastfeeding journey. With Laura’s education and guidance, we will be able to meet our goals and also be able to donate to babies in need through the OhioHealth Milk Bank. Thank you, Laura, for the passion you have. Your up-to-date research and education is second to none. You have truly made a great impact on my life.
***
Laura Allen is an RN and Lactation Consultant here at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. We now have a growing team of Lactation Consultants; however, Laura has been the lead IBCLC since 2016. Laura has been instrumental in getting our Outpatient Lactation Services up and running along with many other things here on the unit. The story that I wanted to share and the reason I am nominating her now is because in the last couple months we have had a mom that has come for outpatient lactation appointments that had issues that needed to be addressed immediately during the appointment that were not really related to breastfeeding or why the patient was there.
This mom who came for her outpatient lactation visit barely made it in the door, and she broke down crying. Laura handled the situation beautifully. Baby was asleep in the car seat, she took the car seat and sat it on the floor and told mom not to worry about breastfeeding right now to have a seat. Laura identified that mom needed the emotional support more than the breastfeeding support at that time. After talking with the mom, Laura realized that this was much bigger than something she alone could fix and she utilized the resources available to get this mom the help she needed. Postpartum Depression is a huge danger for moms in the postpartum period, so it is so important that with every touch we have on the patient, we are assessing for this. Laura was able to not only get the patient's husband and sister-in-law there to support the patient but she also reached out to the patient's OB provider so that they could all work together to make sure both Mom and Baby left that outpatient lactation appointment safe and supported
Also, there was a mom who was coming to the breastfeeding support group that Laura had worked with extensively as an inpatient and then once baby was discharged in the outpatient setting. Laura identified quickly that there was something else going on with the baby that needed to be evaluated. She educated and encouraged the mom to seek follow-up care for her infant. Laura felt this baby needed a swallow eval and had something neurological going on that was causing the feeding difficulties. Although the mom was resistant at first and felt that she could just try different things like thickening the baby's liquids and other remedies she had found online. Laura was persistent in connecting with this mom, and the mom finally scheduled follow-up, this baby is receiving the swallow evaluation and care that he needs in order to remedy his feeding issues.