Venti knew she wanted to breastfeed her baby, so her doula recommended that she take a breastfeeding class.

“I’m really glad we went because I didn’t know there was so much stuff to know,” Venti recalls. “I didn’t have any idea what we were getting into before the class or that it was possible to have 10 pages of notes just on breastfeeding.”

Venti felt confident with positioning her baby for breastfeeding when she arrived and was armed with knowledge, notes and all of the appropriate supplies, but admits that putting knowledge into practice is a challenge. “It sounds like it makes a lot of sense but when you get the baby there in your arms, trying to feed it is very different.

Nursing was “a little uncomfortable” at first but after a few visits with Jenny Bailey at Mesa-based Every Mother & Child, things have improved, Venti says. Her daughter is “gaining a tremendous amount of weight and doing beautifully.

Lewis planned to take a breastfeeding class but was overwhelmed by the prospect of classes and more information. When her baby came two weeks early, realized she had missed her chance.

“That information would have been really helpful,” she admits. “That first night was really difficult. I didn’t know what I was doing. A breastfeeding class seemed kind of silly but I think the biggest thing it would’ve done is built confidence. I think it would make your more comfortable with breastfeeding and less nervous.”

Lewis notes that it is easy to become overloaded on information and begin cutting things out but counsels that breastfeeding is not the area to cut. When her baby came, a hospital lactation consultant helped her work things out and breastfeeding is now going smoothly.

“I had to trust my baby," she says. "She seemed like she knew what she was doing. I didn’t know what I was doing but my baby knew what she was doing.”

“I had read a lot of stuff online but I wanted to hear it in person," says Coberly. "I wanted my husband to hear it from someone else. He was afraid he’d come and be the only guy here.” He wasn’t. Lactation consultants strongly encourage the presence of a support person in class and outside.

“My husband said that he didn’t really think it helped him so much but when Charlotte was born and had to be taken to the NICU (newborn intensive care unit), he was really prepared to do what I couldn’t do. He made sure that they didn’t give her any bottles.”

The hospital offered the new parents a ‘nesting room’ to keep the family together. Nurses woke Coberly through the night for feedings but breastfeeding was not going well.

“I knew something wasn’t right," she says. "I didn’t know what was wrong but I wasn’t getting good help.”

A hospital lactation consultant told Coberly that Charlotte’s mouth was too small and nursing would be painful for a while but this contradicted the information she’d been given in a breastfeeding class so Coberly visited Bailey the morning after Charlotte’s release for more personalized help.

“Things have been going really well since then,” claims Coberly. “One thing I found helpful about the class was making a connection with Jenny. I knew she’d be willing to help me.”

“I had a lot of misconceptions about breastfeeding and how difficult it can be for the woman and the baby,” admits Zacher, who attended Bailey’s breastfeeding class with his wife. “The class was extraordinary. We were peering into the world that we were getting into.”

Zacher heard about the breastfeeding class at Bailey’s store and knew that his wife needed to take it. They signed up and Bailey asked if both parents would be attending. Zacher asked, “Do I need to be there?” to which Bailey responded, “Are you going to be there that first night coming home from the hospital?” He responded affirmatively. “Then you need to be there,” Bailey assured him.

Zacher and his wife found the information gleaned at their class invaluable when it came time to implement their knowledge and were grateful they had prepared. “There was a delay in my wife’s milk coming in,” he explains. “Our son was starting to get hungry, demonstrating frantic signs. We came home on Friday night and we were at Jenny’s Saturday morning. She was tremendously reassuring. She weighs the baby, then you feed him and she weighs him again and announces, 'See, you did feed your baby.'”

When the Zachers had to introduce formula at one point, Steve fed Ryder with a syringe to avoid nipple confusion and was able to bond with his baby that way. “I was clueless as a man and I didn’t know how much I was going to be a part of breastfeeding but I wanted to be supportive. I think it’s allowed my wife and I to be closer. I think in helping my wife to get through that tough period where I syringe-fed the baby it was all part of a movement toward getting everybody on a successful plane. I would tell other dads to participate. Really try to be involved. It’s damn hard work. Just because your breasts don’t make milk doesn’t mean you can’t be involved in the breastfeeding experience.

“Being successful at breastfeeding takes a team.”