About Us
Lactation Partners are maternal-child nurses and international board certified lactation consultants with more than 20 years of experience providing breastfeeding support and supporting new families as they transition into parenthood.
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We provide home visits to moms and babies with a focus on lactation consultation, breastfeeding support, and newborn care. Our goals are to provide information and support to enable parents to make the best decisions for themselves and their babies. Our referrals come from pediatricians, obstetricians, midwives, other healthcare providers as well as other new parents we have worked with. We enjoy a strong partner base that offers us wonderful resources to share with you.
Lactation Partners offers private in–home consultations, as well as a drop in clinic.
A typical visit is 1–1 ½ hours. The visit includes a history of mom's general health, the baby's birth, assessment of the mother's breasts, the baby's general health, oral anatomy, feeding position, latch and feeding effort. Hospital grade scales are used to assess the baby's intake during the feeding by doing weights before and after the feeding. A written plan of care will be developed with you to help move you toward your breastfeeding goals. A report is sent to the baby's doctor. Telephone or email follow up with a lactation consultant is included.
If you do not require an in home consultation but would like support, we will set up a phone consultation schedule with you.
Payment is due at the time of the visit by either cash or check. An insurance coded bill will be provided for you to submit to your insurance company to seek reimbursement. This is not a guarantee that you will be reimbursed. Please check with your health insurance provider.
Lactation Partners has hospital grade pumps for rental. We also sell pumps, parts and other breastfeeding supplies.
We work with families in the city of Chicago from the south loop north through the many neighborhoods of the city and into the northern suburbs.
Kathy Lipke RN, BSN, IBCLC
For the past 25 years Kathy has worked with breastfeeding families as a lactation consultant. Although she has worked in other areas during her nursing career, the birth of her two daughters brought her to the world of lactation and new family support. Realizing that many families often feel overwhelmed and uncertain about the journey into parenthood, she became a lactation consultant. Kathy feels a strong commitment to breastfeeding, parenting, women's health and emotional support for new families.
“It's a privilege to come into people's homes to work with them during a time when they are often tired and overwhelmed. I'm able to provide encouragement, support and education to new parents and to empower them to feel more confident in their abilities and choices. I've learned much about parenting and motherhood from my two daughters who have brought tremendous joy to my life.”
Kathy graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in nursing. She attended the UCLA Lactation Educator Program and was board certified in lactation (IBCLC) in 1995 and has successfully recertified every 5 years since. She holds a current RN license in the state of Illinois.
Judy Teibloom-Mishkin RN, BSN, IBCLC
Judy Teibloom-Mishkin, RN, IBCLC, has been professionally committed to supporting new families for 23 years. She currently works in private practice as a lactation consultant, and has done so for the last 20 years.
Her mission is to nurture mothers and fathers as they transition into their new roles as parents, so that they have the resources available to them to nurture their newborns. This is the doula model which she learned while working as a doula in private practice for 10 years. She is guided by the values of supporting maternal choice, providing practical strategies to surviving the exhaustion of the early days at home, and facilitating the process of attachment between parents and newborns.
“I feel honored to enter new families' homes at this critical time in their lives. My role is to educate, support, and accept new moms while they do the very hard work of parenting a newborn during the ‘4th trimester' so that they can find their own way on their journey.”
Judy graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in political science, and from Northwestern University with a BS in nursing. She was board certified as a lactation consultant in 1992 has maintained her certification every 5 years since that time. She is a licensed RN in Illinois.
She is a mother of three boys which is never to be underestimated in contributing to her experience and wisdom! She never stops learning from her colleagues and most, importantly, from her clients, who teach her something new every day.
Joan Kessler RN, LCCE, CLS
Joan has worked as a Registered Nurse in the field of Maternal Child Health for 25 years. Her commitment to caring for new mothers began as a Labor and Delivery Nurse. It was during those ten years in Labor and Delivery where Joan developed a deep trust in the labor and birth process and gained great admiration for a woman's strength.
For the past nine years, following the birth of her children, Joan has taught Childbirth Education, Breastfeeding, and Infant Care Classes. She is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and currently teaches Childbirth Education at Evanston Hospital. She is passionate about empowering expectant mothers to make the choices that are best for themselves and their babies.
Joan enters this next phase in her professional career with much enthusiasm. She is a Certified Lactation Specialist, and is committed to supporting new mothers and families. Her approach is compassionate and nurturing. With support, education and guidance, Joan believes that a woman learns to trust her inner wisdom as she transitions into her new role as Mother.
Joan graduated from Lutheran General's School of Nursing in 1987, and holds a current RN license in the state of Illinois. Joan is the mother of four children...two sons and two daughters. She considers motherhood to be one of the greatest blessings of her life.
“I feel blessed and privileged to have shared in the beautiful, intimate experience of birth with so many couples over all these years. It has been a true joy of my life.”
Elizabeth Sjoblom RN, BSN, IBCLC
Elizabeth has been working with new families for the past 7 years as a nurse in maternal child medicine and as a labor and delivery nurse at Prentice Northwestern Hospital. Working as an educator of breastfeeding, newborn care and childbirth since 2007 has extended her knowledge to guide and support new families. Appreciating the bumpy road many new parents travel while learning to care for their newborn, she recognized her passion to become a lactation consultant. Liz has been working with breastfeeding families as a private lactation consultant since 2010.
“I most enjoy private lactation consulting because I get the opportunity to work one on one with new moms and families in their homes. This is a very special time in their lives, but can also be overwhelming. I feel blessed to be able to reassure, educate and mentor new moms to feel empowered by this experience.”
Elizabeth graduated from the University on Illinois with a BS in psychology and child development and from Elmhurst College with a BS in nursing in 2005. She was board certified in lactation (IBCLC) in 2010. She holds a current RN license in the state of Illinois.