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I saw one at the hospital once a week for the first three weeks. We had delayed milk, lazy latch, 12.5% weight loss, cracked nipples, thrush, and clogged duct all in the first three weeks. After that it was smooth sailing!
My ped is also IBCLC so I talk to him about troubleshooting at her well visits.
We had some of those marathon sessions in the beginning and my LC said if it goes longer than thirty minutes that LO was just hanging out on the boob. She suggested I do breast compressions to increase the flow to encourage her to eat. Is she actively swallowing when she's on the breast for an hour?

I saw LCs in the hospital, then I saw one in-home and one at my pedi. I wouldn't still be breastfeeding if it weren't for the LC at my pedi's office! She has been a lot of help.

I saw a doctor who is a pediatrician who is also IBCLC (is that right?) and is a breastfeeding specialist and had a LC come to my house before I could get in to the doc (LC at day 2 and doc at day 5). I kept seeing the doc (who prescribed me Domperidone) for months after my LOs were born!

Just at the hospital, she came in the room twice I think.

There is a LC at my pedis office and he likes all his BF mamas to meet with her at least once. We were doing fine, but I'm so glad I went. I needed the reassurance that we were doin okay, that LO was getting enough to eat, had a good latch, etc. I got a ton of great info, and now I have a resource when things get weird. I've call the LC so many times in the last few months, and it's great because she knows me and my LO so I like that Im getting advice and suggestions based on our personal BF experience.

If you have a LC available to you, I'd go. Even if you're doing great now, it definitely won't hurt!

Oh, and about the long feeds, my DD was the same way. Is she actively eating for an hour or is that the total time it takes to get her to eat? My DD would actively eat for 40-45 minutes, but to get her to do so would take an hour to an hour and a half. Compressions helped a teeny tiny bit, but the biggest factor was just time. She's 16 weeks now and a feed takes 20-25 minutes from start to finish.

The hospital where I delivered has three IBCLC's on staff who do in-room visits to every new mother plus a short class at 10am every morning.

Once we got home I saw one of the hospital IBCLC's at three and five weeks but she was of limited help, at six weeks my midwife referred me to an IBCLC who specialises in tongue and lip ties and also helped with our thrush.

We saw the second IBCLC again at eleven weeks old when I had a dip in supply and was still having trouble with thrush.

Fortunately LC visits are covered under our public health system so were free.

We saw an LC a few times during our 48 hour stay at the birth center, and then several times postpartum, when we discovered that DD wasn't gaining weight. The lactation department was fantastic, and tirelessly worked with me to increase my supply.

Every consultant we interacted with was truly angelic. They had many great tips and tricks, all of which I appreciated, immensely. Unfortunately, my milk never really came in enough to feed my daughter exclusively at the breast, but I still consider working with them a very positive experience.

Personally, I paid for the services up front, but will be submitting the bill to my insurance. I believe it will be mostly, if not entirely, covered.

Beyond the hospital, I didn't with DD. She was a champ (I was so luck!) With DS, oh yes. We had huge issues. It was rough.

I met with one during our hospital stay and she also had a LC group for BF/pumping mamas that met every Tuesday &Thursday and I went almost every week. It was nice to get to know other mom's and only a few blocks from home so super convenient! I learned a TON. I wouldn't have made it 5 weeks without her.

@Foodnerd81: I also wasn't sure whether to see an LC or not - BFing was fine, except for a couple small issues that just weren't going away - it would hurt whenever he latched on the right side (just for the first 15 seconds or so), but I thought that should have gone away by 5 weeks or so and it hadn't, and he was sometimes fussy when BFing, so I had an LC come by the apartment to check things out.

I'm glad I did - she fixed his latch on that side and noticed that he had damaged that nipple a little (I hadn't realized, as it wasn't cracked or bleeding or anything). I pointed it out to my OB at my appointment the next week and she prescribed a cream that allowed it to heal, and everything was totally pain-free after that.

So if you're thinking an LC might improve things, I'd say meet with one just for the peace of mind.

i only utilized the LCs in the hospital, and then i had free, anytime access to an LC by phone for the first 6 months. i think i had a relatively easy time breastfeeding (i.e. no pain or other issues) so i didn't feel the need to have an LC come see us.

I saw a private lactation consultant twice for serious over supply and aggressive let down problems in the first month. She was amazing. I'd recommend looking around for an IBCLC you gel with if you dont hit it off with the first one. I went along to a BF support group run out of the same practice a few weeks after my appointments and didn't respond to the other LCs style at all.

I didn't see the one in the hospital because I thought I had no issues. Well when I got home it was awful. The nurses were helping me so much in the hospital that we ended up having issues when we were alone. After many tears, DH demanded I have one come out and it was so helpful. My biggest regret was not seeing the LC in the hospital. It could have saved me many tears!

I saw one throughout my pregnancy. It was great because things keep changing and new issues arise. Ours was a "support group" offered by the hospital.

Yep, a lactation consultant made all the difference. I saw one in the hospital and one after for a few appts. I think I would have been ok trying without a LC but DH was worried while waiting for the milk and the latch was inconsistent as LO was learning in the hospital. There's so much to worry and learn about in motherhood, the LC was like a personal tutor or coach that took away all the pressure, tweaked my style, answered specific questions to my needs, came up with a plan and reassured me about everything. I had to do the nurse, bottle, pump, repeat for a week or two. I was very grateful to have LC support a few times right at the beginning. I ended up nursing for 2 years straight.