Services that provide support with breastfeeding and infant feeding.
Private Practice: Some people look for support from a Certified Lactation Consultant® (IBCLC®). Search for a Lactation Consultant online outside of this guide. Some Lactation Consultant services may be free with provincial healthcare (OHIP) if you get a doctor’s referral, or there will be a cost to the service. If you are unsure if a service requires payment, please check with the individual or clinic.
Primary Care: Some family doctors, midwives, Community Health Centres or Family Health Teams have breastfeeding support available for their patients. Check with your primary care provider to find out if they have breastfeeding support. If they do not have support, your provider may be able to complete a referral form for services outside of their practice.
Open to all breastfeeding.
Contact for an appointment. A referral from the child's primary care provider is preferred.
Lactation Consultants work with clients to help manage any challenges and to help reach infant feeding goals.
Common challenges include (but are not limited to):
Women who have delivered at Joseph Brant Hospital, and/or women who have a family doctor, midwife, or care provider with privileges at Joseph Brant Hospital. Not appropriate for babies over 6 weeks of age.
Contact for information.
Assists new mothers and babies (up to 6 weeks) with breastfeeding during their hospital stay and provides support and assistance after discharge both in the clinic and over the telephone. Visits are by appointment only.
Open to all breastfeeding families in Hamilton.
Contact for information.
Support and assistance with breastfeeding challenges and concerns, provided by a Public Health Nurse or Lactation Consultant. Free in-person, virtual, or phone support is available to eligible families with infants up to one year.
For French-speaking expectant and new mothers and their partners, as well as parents of children up to one year of age.
Contact for information.
Aims to educate new mothers on healthy interactions with their babies through prenatal classes, nutrition counselling, and postnatal home visits. The program includes:
Individuals with mental health concerns.
Complete and submit the online application form. If the fillable form will not open, download the flattened referral form, complete it by hand and fax it to 905-389-3815
Connect is a centralized intake service for St. Joe's Mental Health and Addiction outpatient programs.
Accepts and processes referrals for the following clinics:
Expecting families who are willing to learn through Indigenous styles.
Contact for information.
Encourages and promotes healthy pregnancies for Aboriginal mothers and their babies, offering culturally appropriate support for babies up to 6 months of age and their families by improving maternal infant care, promoting healthy birth weights, and overall better health promotion for expecting mothers and their families. Services offered include:
Open to all residents of Ontario.
Phone 811, or visit website for live chat.
A free, confidential service which provides health advice and general health information from a registered nurse, as well as assistance finding health care providers, symptom assessment tool, and medical library.
In emergency situations a person should always call 911.
Also offers 24/7 breastfeeding support line. Breastfeeding experts available 24/7 to answer questions, provide breastfeeding plans, and provide referrals to in-person breastfeeding services in Hamilton.
Open to parents, their support people, and their children.
Email or phone to receive support.
Provides peer-to-peer infant feeding support, from pregnancy to weaning. Support is available through email or phone.
Families with infants born at McMaster University Medical Centre and are 7 days old or less.
Contact for information. Lactation support available to inpatients at McMaster by referral only. Appointments are subject to availability.
Follow-up medical care once discharged from the hospital relating to breastfeeding support, providing health teaching and care support from a Lactation Consultant.
Open to all First Nations, Metis, and Inuit community members living in Hamilton.
Contact to book an appointment.
Provides primary and holistic medical care integrated with traditional Indigenous approaches to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit community members. Staff includes both family doctors and nurse practitioners. Care provided includes illness prevention and screening, assessment, treatment and monitoring, counselling, chronic disease management, breastfeeding support, pre and post-natal care and more.
Pregnant individuals can join and stay until their babies are 6 months of age. A participant can only be registered in one Prenatal Nutrition Program (Welcome Baby) group.
Choose one Welcome Baby group to attend and register on your first visit. Email cpnp@hamilton.ca or call Health Connections at 905-546-3550 for information.
Free weekly groups for pregnant individuals. Discussions with a Registered Nurse and Registered Dietitian include pregnancy, labour and birth, managing stress, eating well and cooking healthy food, breastfeeding, and community supports. Grocery gift cards, multivitamin gift cards, and bus tickets are provided as needed.
Infants and their mothers
Registration may be required depending on the program. Contact the program unit for more information.
Provides parents with informed support before, during, and after the birthing process. Services include:
A virtual tour of these units is provided online.
Open to all.
Referral may be required for some services. Contact for additional details or to book an appointment.
Provides care for individuals pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, labour, and delivery, and birth care. Services include obstetricians, midwives and family physicians, modern birthing facilities, pain management options, lactation consultants, genetic counselling in pregnancy, maternal fetal medicine, and critical care.