East Bay Lactation Associates
East Bay Lactation Associates offers expert, non-judgmental lactation support & education as well as workshops of interest to new and expectant parents
We can help you with sore nipples, low milk supply, sleepy and/or fussy nursing, slow weight gain, plugged ducts, over-supply, pain between nursing sessions and more.
We can also help with inverted nipples, breastfeeding after breast surgery and induced lactation.
We offer prenatal breastfeeding classes as well as individual prenatal support.
We also help with bottlefeeding and weaning.
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.One other childbirth class I did and found helpful was the prenatal lactation classes at East Bay Lactation Associates. Molly is very knowledgeable and when we ran into issues early on we knew where to go and were able to book an appointment pretty quickly.
Hello Alexis. First of all, you are not alone. Those first few months are utterly exhausting and are challenging. I found comfort and support in a new mothers group that is hosted on a cohort basis through East Bay Lactation Associates in Emeryville. I’m not sure how easy it is to get there with public transportation, but you might want to look at to their groups. I did not secure anyone to help me with the house, but I kind of let those things go as I only had so much energy to give. Being able to focus on addressing the new Mom challenges was more important for me at that time. Thus, I would highly recommend securing a therapist that focuses on Postnatal care. I saw Amanda Marks, LMFT, who was based in Berkeley, amandamartinlmft [at] gmail.com (amandamartinlmft[at]gmail[dot]com). I believe she may have moved offices, but you could reach out to see if she might suit your needs.
I worked with East Bay Lactation associates back in 2020 when I had a newborn. It was for general feeding issues, but they were very good. They also give you documentation to submit for insurance reimbursement for lactation support. I think that would extend to bottle feed.
Hi - I had a very positive experience working with EBLA for breastfeeding. Turns out that the info I was given by the L&D and NICU nurses was off-base. I recommend emailing/talking with them. I worked with Janaki.
East Bay Lactation Associates is wonderful!!! I met with Molly both when breastfeeding was hard, and also when I was transitioning my baby to bottles while I was at work. She’s just wonderful!!
Hi, Chris.
Our 8 month old had feeding issues early on (not bottle refusal, though), and East Bay Lactation Consultants was recommended by our pediatrician. They were fine (we worked with Molly), but not earth-shattering. Molly was nice and knowledgeable and offered to be available via text or email, but also seemed a bit disorganized/over-scheduled. Also, EBLC is generally not included in your insurance. Unless you have a Cadillac policy with a big company (luckily we did), expect to pay out of pocket. Unless your option is UCSF, you might want to consider someone in network. UCSF was horrible for many reasons and I strongly recommend against them if you can avoid it.
For what it's worth about bottle refusal, I have a friend whose kiddo consistently refused a bottle until she went back to work (around 6 months) and he literally had no other option. He began bottle feeding pretty quickly when he got hungry enough. I know that's not a fun feeling, though!
Hi yes, I worked with EBLA, particularly Molly, and Laura, before she went independent (https://www.wovenlactation.com). I would definitely recommend them. I saw 5 lactation consultants after my son was born, and EBLA were the best. I don't know if they still do it during the pandemic, but their weekly breastfeeding groups were so good for us when we were struggling and feeling so alone. We had different issues, but there were people in the group at the time that were struggling with bottle feeding, so they might be a good fit for you.
East Bay Lactation consultants were absolute life-savers! I was struggling with breastfeeding my daughter at 5 weeks and was bottle-feeding to supplement, and they worked with me on both the breastfeeding and bottle feeding. Incredibly thorough and helpful, I highly recommend them.
Molly Brannigan!!! She is truely truely wonderful!
also, ask if your insurance will cover her. They have to cover lactation consultants because of the ACA and many don’t have any in-network providers, so they have to cover out of network lactation consultants at the in-network rate.
I had the same experience. I went to Molly Brannigan and within a week we were done with the nipple shield. She won’t come to you but she is worth the trip. Good luck.
Molly Brannigan is the person to work with! She’s at East Bay Lactation and she is so well-rounded and non-judge mental in her approach to infant feeding — her academic background is in nutrition! I can’t sing her praises loud enough. When my little guy wasn’t gaining enough weight she talked us through the whole ordeal and helped us feel confident again.
I had an amazing experience working with Molly Brannigan. I had a number of issues, going into breastfeeding, and I felt like she was very aware of and sensitive to the balance of wanting to breastfeed, the mental burden of pumping, and other mental health factors. She was wonderful, and helped me and my little one get over our hurdles.
I have a one month old and hired Molly from East bay lactation consultants. She is very open about supplementing and does home visits and communicates by text. There is also a weekly drop in support group and weigh ins that is almost like a free new moms group I have enjoyed meeting people there even though my baby is now gaining weight fine. Good luck!
I had a great experience with Molly Brannigan with East Bay Lactation Associates. At the time I saw her I was almost exclusively pumping and supplementing with formula due to nipple injury and supply issues. She helped with my daughter's latch, but also worked with me to establish a pumping schedule and gave me advice on how best to bottle feed. The comprehensive feeding plan she put together was a huge help and a big stress reliever. I would highly recommend her.
Janaki Costello is the best. She helped me with my second baby, and I found her to be very kind and compassionate.
I feel your pain, literally. Molly Brannigan saved us. She is friendly, positive, responsive, non-alarmist, down to earth, and a true professional. She came to my house several times, but once we were doing better, I loved her free open-nursing Wednesday sessions to meet other mothers in similar situations. I still text Molly when I have a question, and my son is 6 months old now!
Molly Brannigan is truly amazing and comes to your house for the first visit if you want.
My recommendation is Molly Brannigan at East Bay Lactation Associates. http://www.eastbaylactationassociates.com
She's amazing!!
Archived Q&A and Reviews
March 2013
RE: Lactation consultant for ''low milk production''
East Bay Lactation Associates. They are AMAZING. I liked many of the Kaiser lactation consultants, but the consultants at EBLA take the time to get to the bottom of the problem and develop sustainable and realistic solutions. I can honestly save that they changed breastfeeding experience entirely. Maria
Oct 1999
I highly recommend Janaki Costello who is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who is just passionate about her work. She has been helping nursing moms in the East Bay for years and is caring and very experienced. Caroline
June 1999
In response to the person looking for a lactation consultant to make house calls, I highly recommend both Bonnie Bruce and Janaki Costello as I have used the professional services of both. Janaki Costello is also a certified Doula and a certified Childbirth Educator who lives in El Cerrito. Janaki was our back-up Doula whom we met one time before our baby was born. My husband and I had liked her immediately! When our son's weight began dropping at 6 weeks of age, her proximity to our home made her a natural choice. Following her initial lengthy visit, Janaki spent extensive amounts of time in person and on the telephone providing free instruction, encouragement and emotional support that helped us successfully weather a very challenging period. Our son is now 9-1/2 months old and still nursing and growing well. I can't say enough good things about either of these caring, professional women.
Janaki Costello is a wonderful lactation consultant. She can be reached at 525-1155. You can read recommendations about her doula work at the parents website (you'll be able to get a sense of how great she is to work with). Laurie
Janaki Costello is the best there is. She can be reached at (510) 525-1155.
MH
I have nothing but great things to say about Janaki. She helped me with a fairly complicated situation with issues both on the baby's and the mother's side, and could not have been more compassionate, knowledgeable and encouraging. And it worked out! Baby and mom managed to get the breastfeeding thing going with her fantastic help. Her neighbor should not go, but run to Janaki!
Hello, I haven't used Molly Brannigan as a lactation consultant, but I did take a 6 week parenting class with her when I was pregnant with my son, over 3 years ago now, and she was wonderful. I also took a 1 time breastfeeding class with her (again, soon before giving birth) and she was SO knowledgeable, kind, honest, and calm. I remember looking at my notes from that session many times, when struggling with breastfeeding myself. I just looked her up on google to be sure that was her name (mommy-brain) and saw that she had 27 5-star reviews as a lactation consultant!!! I would use her in a heartbeat, if I had the need again. Hope this helps. :)
She should contact the local chapter of La Leche League.
I love the consultants at East Bay Lactation! I saw Janaki after both of my children were born and I took a friend of mine to se Molly several times. They are helpful, practical, compassionate, and knowledgeable. I also love that when you are their client, you can go to their weekly weigh-in which is a bit like a mom's group/support time for all the mama's who are their clients. I wholeheartedly recommend them!
I used Amrit http://www.amrit-lactationconsultant.com and highly recommend her. She is very soothing and compassionate about mom and baby. She really helped me out throughout week 1-3.
I had a wonderful experience with Molly Brannigan last year. She is very smart, very evidence-based, extremely responsive, and has a great confident/reassuring way about her. She was a great fit for me.
Best of luck to your neighbor!
I'm currently seeing Molly Brannigan and I recommend her highly! I have newborn twin girls and I'm struggling to build my milk supply to satisfy both babies and both have challenges with latching. Molly does weekly house visits and she is incredibly knowledgeable, professions and thorough. I'm starting to see results i.e. More milk and better latching from the recommendations and plan she laid out.
Strongly recommend!
They're both great, incredibly supportive and caring. Very experienced and leading LCs in the area. They also have a walkin weight check clinic once a week for their clients, where you can get advice, check your baby's weight, and connect with other new & nursing moms. I recommend your friend not wait to see someone - it's hard to imagine latch getting better, but it does with help. And it makes a world of difference!
Allison (mom of 4 month old)
I worked with Molly Brannigan after my daughter was born because of anticipated challenges with breastfeeding. She was AMAZING. Extremely knowledgeable, professional, and thorough. Molly helped us immensely and we ended up being successful with breastfeeding, which I attribute in large part to her. If you work with her, you get to go to EBLC's weekly weigh ins which are helpful, especially in the early weeks.