Find a Lactation Consultant Near Me in Gaithersburg, MD

Hi! I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) with experience in assisting breastfeeding in all stages, from pregnancy to introducing solids to weaning. I graduated in 2021 from the University of Maryland with my Masters in Public Health and have been working ever since to advance community health through education and advocacy. During my first pregnancy, I found the idea of breastfeeding to be overwhelming and despite my background in public health, I felt entirely unprepared for what to expect. Because of key support figures like my lactation consultant and my mom, I was able to work through the challenges and breastfeed my daughter for over two years. Breastfeeding is often framed as something stressful, stifling, and painful. While it can be all of those things at times, with the right support I have found it to be joyful and rewarding. I believe it is time to step aside from the useless debate of breast is best vs. fed is best (which ignores the unique context of every individual), and instead focus on supporting parents and infants through individualized approaches to the goals and environments of each family. My goal is to help you find joy in your own feeding journey and succeed in a breastfeeding relationship that is mutually beneficial, enjoyable, and meaningful for both you and your little one. I can’t wait to work with you!

Sarah Early has over thirty years of working in the healthcare industry. Her career has taught her about the importance of supporting women with a mind, body, and spirit approach as women learn to care for their health while also addressing their family’s healthcare needs. Sarah worked in a busy Maryland hospital that delivered ten-thousand babies annually and it was here where she began to focus her time on maternal-child care and lactation. During this time, Sarah interacted with countless new parents struggling to feed their newborn and lacking the guidance or resources necessary to do so successfully. These families and their frustrations inspired Sarah to gain the IBCLC credential in 2011 and open Lactation Room in 2014. Lactation Room has been a staple of lactation and infant feeding support in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia for a decade and Sarah and her team of IBCLCs, Registered Nutritionists, Nurses, and Doulas have cared for thousands of families along their new parenting journey. Lactation Room was the first practice in the DMV to expand offerings through insurance and now has three office locations to improve access to care. It was important to Sarah that quality and evidence-based care be attainable and not cost-prohibitive allowing women to receive the care they deserve and need. In 2016 she co-hosted the first collaborative conference for tongue-and-lip ties (TOTS) in the DMV bringing together hundreds of people from multiple disciplines. The conference attendees included IBCLCs, Nurses, Physicians, Feeding Therapists, Bodyworkers, Dentists, and more. Her philosophy is that there are many facets to care, and when the approach is team-based and collaborative, the patients receive better quality care and outcomes. She has presented the collaborative model for infant feeding dysfunction at Simon Says Speech, Talk Tools Speech & Feeding Therapy, Southern Maryland Dental Society, and multiple local hospitals and area organizations. Sarah graduated from a Masters in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner graduate program with high distinction and was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nurses while working and running Lactation Room. Her clinical education and training paved the way for her newest journey in private practice, Peony Women’s Integrative Health, which she opened in 2023. Working as a Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner she serves clients in the DMV. Peony WIH focuses on caring for women with a root-cause, integrative, and functional medicine approach to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. PWIH provides in-office health consults with Sarah, integrative and functional nutrition support by a Registered Dietician, and Craniosacral therapy services. Sarah is focused on addressing the needs of women in the community through a patient-centered and collaborative approach to care. She is an active member of ILCA, USLCA, IATP, AHNA, AANP, and MBC. hello@peonywih.com

I am a Registered Nurse and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. I have experience in the hospital post-partum and NICU units, out-patient and home settings and providing prenatal breast feeding education. I am passionate about helping families feel supported, overcome challenges and achieve their individual breast feeding goals.

My name is Val and I am a trained NCS, and Lactation Educator. I also have training in gentle pediatric sleep conditioning, COVID safety, CPR/AED/First Aid, Safe breastmilk handling, multiples care and safe infant sleep practices. I have experience providing overnight care, 24 hr care, daytime newborn care as well as travel care. I have worked with families of different ethnicities , religions and orientations, and I am always enthusiastic to learn and follow newborn care practices that are sensitive and inclusive of the families culture. If you choose to have me work with your family, you will find me to be enthusiastic, understanding, diligent, flexible, discerning, level-headed and nurturing to the parents, the baby and other children (and pets) in the home. I genuinely enjoy working with families and newborns, and my favorite part is the exciting privilege of guiding parents through the exhilarating, and at times confusing and frustrating, world of newborns, to a point where they are confident, well rested and enthusiastic about peaceful days ahead as a family.

I’m passionate about empowering families to achieve their individual feeding goals and ensuring they feel confident throughout their breastfeeding journey. As a Registered Nurse since 2009 and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) since 2016, I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of families to support them during their breastfeeding journey. With experience in labor and delivery, postpartum care, lactation support, and education, I’ve helped guide families through both in-person and virtual classes, as well as support groups. As a mother of three, each with their own unique breastfeeding journey, I deeply understand the challenges and joys of this experience.

My purpose is to nurture, create, and transform. my team and I believe in nurturing and supporting the family as a whole with non-judgmental, non-medical companionship, education, and resources. Birth and postpartum are natural aspects of life, and I am here to help you achieve full care through pregnancy, labor, and the smoothest transition into parenthood. My philosophy is to uplift mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for a balanced life, always promoting peace to you and your family. I want to provide full support in whatever decision the family wants to make regarding the child and childcare. I 100% encourage you and advocates for you through motherhood/parenthood.

Alison Levy is a registered nurse and an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Alison has always been fascinated by the everyday miracles of birth, babies and breast milk. She has devoted her 22+ year nursing career to childbearing families and has been a certified lactation consultant – her true calling – for the last 15 years. She finds it incredibly rewarding to make breastfeeding easier and more successful for families. Alison currently practices both in the hospital and home settings.

As a Professional Nanny and Trained Newborn Care Specialist I am trained and educated in providing overnight newborn care and postpartum support to new moms and families as early as night one home from the hospital. I provide education, support, and proper resources to families, ensuring families are comfortable and confident. I work closely with families while implementing healthy sleep habits, establishing a bedtime routine, assisting with feedings, and model how to deal with common issues like colic, gas, and excessive crying. I have hands on experience caring for circumcision and umbilical cords, and providing postpartum support to moms.

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, RN, and Advanced Practice Nurse. With 30+ years of experience in maternal child healthcare, I bring a well-rounded approach to lactation support. My professional journey includes extensive experience as a NICU nurse, where I provided comprehensive care, including assisting breastfeeding mothers. More recently, I've focused on providing skilled lactation support across different stages - from prenatal preparation through postpartum care, in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

I am an IBCLC, PMH-C, Doula

As a breastfeeding expert supporting expectant & new moms for over a decade, I absolutely LOVE helping clients like you transform from being overwhelmed, stressed, and completely confused to a calm, confident mother who enjoys breastfeeding. Check out my hundreds of 5-star reviews on Google.

Bianca Flokstra is the founder and owner of Holistic Infant Feeding and is an experienced International Board Certified Lactation Consultant serving families all over the DC, MD and VA area. Having breastfed her own three children through working full time, international travel, and let's not forget the pandemic, she started Holistic Infant Feeding to provide individualized, non-judgmental care in baby feeding choices.

Nikita Johnson is a graduate of The National College of Midwifery and is currently preparing to sit for her Midwifery Certification Exam in Spring 2025. She has received hands-on training under the direct supervision of Certified Nurse Midwife Bayla Berkowitz at a homebirth midwifery practice in Pikesville, MD. Nikita has also studied with respected midwives Monika Karaosman at Althea Midwifery in Berlin, MD, and Maureen McIver in Westminster, MD. Nikita Johnson brings over five years of homebirth experience, including three years as a Homebirth Assistant and Student Midwife. Prior to this, she spent six years as a Certified Obstetrics Surgical Technologist, gaining extensive hospital-based labor and delivery experience before retiring from that role. Since 2019, she has been a highly regarded birth rights doula in the DMV area, known for her assertive advocacy and commitment to helping clients navigate the complexities of the Western healthcare system. Nikita is dedicated to empowering her patients to achieve their desired birth experiences while ensuring safety and informed decision-making through evidence-based care. In addition to her hands-on work, she serves as a Doula Trainer and Mentor for The Black Doula Training, a Writer for Healthy Mom & Baby magazine (powered by the Nurses of AWHONN), a Doula Advisor for the Maryland Perinatal Neonatal Quality Collaborative, and a Maternal Health Task Force Advisor for Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She specializes in IVF/IUI and Infertility Conditions, Gyn Wellness, Home Births, Hospital Births, Unmedicated Births, Births with epidurals, VBAC's and High Risk Pregnancies. Individuals and couples working with Nikita benefit from her multi-skilled background and experience. She has been attending births since 2014 and has attended over 350+ births.

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) with a background in maternal fitness and nutrition. I support families through pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond with evidence-based, compassionate lactation care tailored to each mother–baby dyad. My clinical experience includes prenatal education, latch and feeding assessments, pumping support, return-to-work planning, and troubleshooting common and complex breastfeeding challenges. I take a whole-body, mom-centered approach, recognizing that feeding success is influenced by physical recovery, mental wellbeing, and lifestyle factors. I am passionate about empowering parents with education and practical tools so they can feel confident in their feeding choices. My goal is to meet families where they are and provide supportive, individualized care in a calm, respectful environment.

I am a pro-life doula and childbirth educator (including SpBCPE), I am passionate about walking alongside women and their partners with individualized support, encouragement, and evidence-informed care that honors the body’s God-given ability to birth. I spent years in the healthcare setting compassionately caring for others before making the switch to support women in this most special time in their lives. I hold a deep concern for the disturbing ethical changes our American healthcare system and seek to make a difference. I believe every life is sacred—and every mother deserves gentle, informed, and respectful care. I specialize in: *Doula care rooted in compassion and medical truths *Perinatal Parent Advocacy *Clients/partners who are Neurodiverse *Empowered individualized education for physiologic (natural) birth including peri-natal activities and positioning for pregnancy/birth *Partner-inclusive support, education and advocacy skills *Informed decisions. birth plans and birth rehearsal *Lactation *Placental Encapsulation *Care of special needs babies, NICU informed doula

I’m a loving, caring, patient & fun caregiver who absolutely genuinely loves working with infants. I’m a Doula, Postpartum Doula, New Born Specialist, in home care provider w/experience in Pediatric care w/INFANTS & Toddlers and Respite care. I have experience w/preemies & special needs as well. I believe all infants should be happy, safe, comforted, & taught all the milestones they need to prepare for elementary school. So I take my career very seriously & have a Passion for it. I’ve been on this wonderful Journey of working w/children for 13Yrs now. Which includes multiples & preschool teaching and children between newborns to 16yr olds. so I’m able to provide parental coaching and infant purées as well. 

While photographing my first home birth in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014, I naturally found myself playing the role of doula between shots. I signed up for official training the next day and never looked back. Soon after doula training, I earned a Certification in Lactation Counseling (CLC) and began helping mothers struggling with feeding issues. I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of babies in various settings, with varying feeding challenges, and a wide range of feeding goals. Phelicia welcomes families of all dynamics, ethnicities, and backgrounds, supporting births at home, in-hospital, medicated or unmedicated, planned, and unplanned cesareans.

Amy is a true family advocate. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in human lactation. Starting her career working with families as a doula in the Philadelphia metro area, she supported hospital births, home births, and birth center births. Her personal breastfeeding journey was very rewarding, and it quickly grew into a passion of supporting others in their own breastfeeding journey. She owned a state registered daycare in Vermont for 6 years before moving to Maryland in 2021. Amy completed her internship hours at Metropolitan Breastfeeding in the Fall of 2022. She has enjoyed serving families in the area and assisting women meet their breastfeeding goals. She has a desire to change the trajectory of breastfeeding rates locally and globally and to be part of the tribe that supports women in the childbearing years. Amy lives in Anne Arundel County with her husband and their two youngest children. Their oldest two have grown up and flown the coop!

Tamika Harris believes in every family's right to make an informed decision about their infant feeding choice. She is a board-certified Lactation Consultant and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Tamika is a human milk donor and has provided lactation support to families in home, hospital and community settings. As a WIC counselor, she focused on leading peer-to-peer lactation support groups. Tamika is also an instructor for Lactation Education Resources. She was elected to the Executive Committee of the D.C. Breastfeeding Coalition and the Board of Directors for Breastfeeding USA. Tamika has visited congress members on Capitol Hill with the United States Breastfeeding Committee to advocate for policies focused on supporting lactating families and was selected to a special advisory committee for the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners.

Thank you so much for stopping by! My journey to birth work began in 2017, following the birth of my first baby. I have been a fully certified childbirth educator and doula since 2018. Additionally, I recently obtained my Certified Breastfeeding Specialist certificate (CBS) from Lactation Education Resources in October 2025. Prior to getting into birth work, I attended Notre Dame of Maryland University, where I studied biology and graduated with high honors. I have since become a mother of 2. Both of my children were born without intervention and at home. When not working, I can be found reading for pleasure, exercising, doing yoga, hiking, or gardening. I reside in Bowie, MD and serve clients within a 50-mile radius of my home.