D.C.'s 'Breast Whisperer'

Part Detective, Part Cheerleader, A Popular Lactation Consultant Aids Stressed-Out Moms

Laura Osuri's eyes, bloodshot from lack of sleep, were rimmed with tears as 2-week-old Isaac slept in his car seat carrier, oblivious to his mother's worry and frustration.

"The first week, he was nursing fine, no problem," Osuri, 31, said as she collapsed into a chair at the Breastfeeding Center for Greater Washington. Then, she said, the baby started to arch his back and cry. He had become so uncooperative and she so sore that she had stopped nursing four days earlier.

"It just wasn't worth it," Osuri said, almost apologetically.

It was another mystery for Pat Shelly, one of the Washington area's best-known lactation consultants, who set about exploring Isaac's mouth with a rubber-gloved pinkie and quietly studied the baby as he finally began trying to suck.

Nicknamed "the breast whisperer" by some clients, Shelly, a registered nurse, has gained traction as breast-feeding has increased across the country. She is also part of a booming breast-feeding industry that in the past 15 years has given rise to specially designed pillows such as "My Brest Friend," hands-free pumping bras and charm bracelets that keep track of a baby's feedings.

In the Washington area, where parenting consultants specialize in everything from infant sleep problems to college applications, Shelly is in high demand. House calls, billed at $150 an hour, begin at 7 a.m. and end about 11 p.m. In between, she is booked solid, seeing about 80 women a week for classes and private consultations at her center on K Street.

Office appointments cost $85 an hour, with two free visits reserved each week for low-income families.

"I think every woman I know in this city has seen Pat," said Margaret Lidstone, 37, of the District, who has had two consultations with Shelly about her 4-month-old daughter, Maisie.

For Shelly, breast-feeding is less a business than a 25-year cause. Her center is nonprofit, and many of its classes are free. Her message: Breast-feeding may not always be easy, but it's the healthiest option for babies' development and immune systems, as well as for their mothers' stress levels and improved protection against some cancers.

Getting that message out, she said, means battling the influence of well-financed formula companies, brief maternity leaves that allow little time for mother and baby to get in sync, workplaces with no place -- or no time -- for working mothers to pump and an American society squeamish about a woman's breasts providing a child's food.

When working with clients, Shelly is like a detective, ferreting out whether a problem hinges more on a baby who might have issues such as a small tongue or high palate or a mother with challenges such as a low milk supply.

"I look at mother and baby as dance partners, both physically and emotionally," Shelly said.