Opportunities in Designing HCI Tools for Lactation Consulting Professionals

Long-term breastfeeding has been shown to exhibit several environmental benefits and health benefits for both the mother and baby. Despite the known advantages, several mothers choose not to maintain breastfeeding long-term. How long a mother breastfeeds is heavily influenced by lactation and latching, and so the mother's critical point of support is the lactation consultant (LC), who guides and provides instruction for creating a more positive breastfeeding experience. Empowering lactation consultants with methods to deliver instruction and support remotely is essential for advancing telehealth and wide-scale adoption. This paper presents findings from a need-finding study of 6 LC's that sheds light on ways to address some of the challenges faced by the LC community when providing remote lactation support. Based on the interviews, a number of potential technologies were identified around wearable sensing, annotation tools, and digital repository for virtual education.