During the pandemic we’ve all perfected our use of virtual visits. This should be the first method used to address breastfeeding issues not resolved by phone, email, and texts.

If an in-person visit is needed and agreeable with the NMC counselor, here are the guidelines NMC counselors must follow. If possible, an outdoor visit may be preferable to an indoor one. 

 NMC strongly recommends that all counselors (full members) should be up to date on the CDC recommended vaccines if they may be in contact with infants under 6 months of age, and especially the following vaccines: Tdap (Whooping Cough), Flu (during flu season), and Covid-19 as recommended by CDC.   This link will give you guidance:

2024 CDC link Adult recommended vaccines: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/adult/adults-schedule-easy-read.pdf 

NMC understands that there may be medical/personal reasons to avoid certain vaccines.  If your contact needs an in-person visit and has an infant who has not been who has not yet been fully vaccinated (generally around 6 months), we encourage you to contact the Assignments Chair.  The Assignments Chair could reassign the contact to another counselor if there are any concerns. 

Prior to the visit, counselors should contact the family by phone or email with the following screening question.  If the answer to any of these questions  is “yes”, the home visit should be delayed.

• Have you or anyone in your household had a flu or virus with a cough, runny nose, sore throat, or fever in the past few days?  If so, please notify the counselor to re-schedule your home visit. 

NMC counselors will provide the following information to inform families about precautions the counselor will take and what the counselor expects of them.

• All NMC counselors are to wear an N-95, KN95, or 2 surgical masks that have a snug fit around my mouth and nose.

• Counselors will wash and use hand sanitizer upon entering the home. 

• You may choose to meet outdoors, or if indoors, open windows and/or doors to increase air-flow.

• Ask if the lactating parent has another adult who can observe the session and be the extra pair of eyes, ears, and hands to help at the visit and in the future.

If a counselor tests positive for COVID-19 or develops symptoms of the virus in the 10 days following the home visit, she should notify the family of possible exposure.