Since Megan Gfeller was pregnant with her eldest child, Chase, she became interested in breastfeeding. As a speech pathologist, it was a subject that fit her in two ways: being pregnant and dealing with the science of swallowing in speech therapy. Her career in speech pathology brought her to work with all ages, from birth up to elderly.

Most often that was with speech and language development, but by helping others breastfeed, she could take her knowledge to a whole new level.

Today, she’s a certified breastfeeding specialist (CBS), meeting with Moms and babies of all ages, from newborns to dealing with issues later in the process, to help make their feeding journey successful. Her co-worker and nurse, Rebekah Sharp is also a CBS.

From helping look at lip and tongue ties, to helping Moms learn the process of positioning and helping babe latch, to helping preemies learn the suck, swallow, breath pattern, she meets with breastfeeding patients on all topics and techniques.

In order to become a breastfeeding specialist, Gfeller took a course that included 52 hours of lessons, including anatomy and physiology, infant child growth and development, medication use in breastfeeding, and cultural aspects. She then traveled to Pittsburg, KS for eight hours of in-person training.

“This was definitely my idea to continue to learn more about breastfeeding,” she said. “I got interested in it as a first-time mama and started visiting La Leche League meetings when I was pregnant.”

However, it was her own struggles with a newborn that led her to help others.

Chase, now 10 years old, was born with polymicrogyria, a condition of abnormal brain development before birth. He could latch, but for short periods of time. However, that was a diagnosis they didn’t know at the time and were left with questions.

Despite working with multiple healthcare workers, after a NICU stay, he was unable to breastfeed.

“I just felt like there was something lacking there,” she said of the coaching she received. “We attempted multiple times but gave up after the first month and I pumped.”

Now, she encourages her patients to make it to four weeks – calling that process a “marathon.”

“I feel like there’s that magic light that turns on and all the sudden mom and babe know how to do everything,” she said. “It takes determination for sure.”

Gfeller went on to breastfeed her two younger children, both girls. However, the process of her first breastfeeding attempt, stuck.

“I think to have that expectation of really wanting to breastfeed and then to have it fail, that has made me a more successful provider. That has given me a lot of knowledge and empathy.”

With each Mom, she discusses their breastfeeding goals so she can help them reach it, specifically if breastfeeding is something they want to pursue and what it looks like to them. Then there’s an oral mechanism exam on the babe, followed by a reflex test.

Next, Gfeller performs a test run, having Mom position the baby and bring them to feed. All the while, she answers questions from basic, to patient-specific. Families can also return after birth and visit with Gfeller for follow up breastfeeding visits.

Common issues that lead to appointments include babies falling asleep while eating, a lack of weight gain or pain for the mother while breastfeeding.

“It’s amazing the different equipment that each mama has,” she said. “We’re adapting and helping each mom with what she was born with and if we can get positioned correctly, the baby doesn’t know any different.”

She can often weigh babies when they come in to see how much milk they’ve taken in, a common practice for newborns who fall asleep while eating.

Especially with new parents, she said they can be nervous about how much babies are taking in.

“You just have to trust the diapers and the babe’s contentment and the amount of sleep they are getting,” she said.

While some cases, there is a milk production issue, in which case she will help sort out and find a way to provided more milk.

“We try all the things if Mom is not making more milk,” she said.

In addition to meeting regularly with patients, she’s part of a local coalition, The Lactation Club, or TLC, which covers Clay, Republic, Washington, Cloud, and Marshall Counties. The providers meet virtually every other month to discuss techniques, common patient issues, breastfeeding outreach, and more.

Overall, Gfeller said her own experiences helped not only pave the way for her to become a certified breastfeeding specialist, but how she interacts with patients.

“It’s fun to see moms finally understand the concept, when babe gets a good latch and you see mom’s face light up, that’s a really cool experience,” she said. “All that hard work that they’ve put in has really paid off.”

Above: Megan Gfeller, SLP at CCMC and Certified Breastfeeding Specialist. Left: Gfeller works with a patient and her newborn on an exam before discussing best feeding steps.