Breastfeeding support services to be scaled back at Halifax clinic

Taryn Grant · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 07, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Polina Lerman was losing hope. Her beverage proviso was dropping and she knew that nursing wasn’t providing capable nourishment to her babe daughter.

“For weeks aft that I tried everything that you tin imagine. Every aged wives' tale,” the caller ma said successful an interview.

Things turned astir aft she started receiving guidance from a lactation advisor astatine a nationalist wellness session successful Halifax. Thanks to that specialized support, Lerman said she’s present producing 5 times much beverage and is assured successful feeding her three-month-old baby.

But that session is soon scaling backmost its breastfeeding support.

The caregiver practitioner who's been providing the work for a small implicit a twelvemonth is leaving the clinic, and the wellness authorization does not person a replacement for her.

Patients who had a referral from different health-care supplier could spot the breastfeeding adept by appointment, and patients without referrals — namely those without a superior attraction supplier — could travel to a play drop-in session.

WATCH | How babe feeding enactment helps caller mothers:

The drop-in was truthful fashionable that the session precocious extended its hours to conscionable demand.

Moms and babies tin inactive get superior attraction astatine the site, but not the aforesaid benignant of adept guidance that Lerman did. The drop-in volition extremity successful January.

Madonna MacDonald, Nova Scotia Health's acting vice-president of superior attraction successful the cardinal zone, said the wellness authorization volition effort to re-establish a drop-in, but the details, including location, person not been confirmed.

"We're not denying it's a precise important service," MacDonald said successful an interview.

"When providers bring specialized skills, we effort to clasp that. And unluckily erstwhile they leave, we past person to marque a program to effort to guarantee the work is not wholly lost. We person nationalist wellness and superior wellness moving connected that."

Polina Lerman says her beverage proviso was debased and she was astir acceptable to springiness up connected breastfeeding her babe miss earlier getting assistance astatine the babe feeding session successful Halifax. (Maria Digou/Submitted)

No substance the crushed for the change, Lerman said she’s disappointed. The sentiment is shared by Britney Benoit, who researches babe feeding.

Benoit, an subordinate prof of nursing astatine St. Francis Xavier University, said determination are “glaring gaps” successful entree to breastfeeding enactment successful each regions of the province, and that the request for enactment is “very, precise common.”

“I deliberation determination is an presumption that breastfeeding is easy, it's natural, but it's perfectly not,” Benoit said successful an interview.

“It is thing that tin beryllium challenging, that requires truly extended hands-on carnal enactment to breastfeed successful those aboriginal days,” she added.

Benoit’s statement of scarce entree to assistance and the captious request for it is reflected successful nationalist statistic connected breastfeeding. According to a 2022 study from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Nova Scotia lags down the nationalist mean successful breastfeeding rates successful the archetypal six months aft birth. 

Britney Benoit, subordinate prof of nursing astatine St. Francis Xavier University, says it's precise communal for moms to request assistance with breastfeeding. (Hilary Hendsbee/Submitted)

Benoit said there’s a beardown assemblage of grounds showing that exclusive breastfeeding successful those archetypal six months has important wellness benefits for some ma and baby.

“These see things similar prevention of corruption and chronic illness successful infants and prevention of reproductive cancers and different chronic diseases successful the breastfeeding parent,” she said.

Health curate has asked for much information

Mayela Lopez Rodrigues said she apt wouldn’t beryllium breastfeeding her three-month-old lad anymore if it weren’t for the enactment she received astatine the Halifax clinic.

“It was getting highly achy and I had already gone to a doc and person had different nurses astatine the infirmary trying to assistance maine retired with breastfeeding… None of that truly helped,” she said successful an interview.

After a fewer sessions with the lactation advisor astatine the Halifax clinic, she said her issues were resolved.

“I was raving astir the session … and telling a batch of my friends who are expecting to like, beryllium alert that determination is that assets for them if they ever request it.”

News that the clinic’s services are being chopped backmost near her feeling “extremely saddened.”

Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson said Thursday she had conscionable learned astir the wellness authority's determination and asked for much information.

"We cognize the aboriginal years are a captious clip for children, and I request to recognize the determination earlier commenting," Thompson said successful a statement.

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