Fairhaven, Bellingham, Ferndale lactation consultant

Professional, supportive lactation consultant (IBCLC) for nursing families in Bellingham, Ferndale and the surrounding area

Fairhaven Lactation helps parents achieve their breastfeeding and chestfeeding goals with nurturing, nonjudgemental clinical care. Mary Francell, IBCLC is committed to serving all individuals regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or ability. Lactation consults are available in your home, through telehealth or in Mary’s cozy home office in Bellingham’s Fairhaven neighborhood.

learn to breastfeed

If you’re pregnant, planning to adopt, or have special circumstances, learn how to welcome and nourish your baby.

troubleshoot challenges

Support for questions or concerns about pain, milk supply, and health and wellness for you and your baby.

reach your goals

Your family is unique and deserves personalized attention and recommendations. Together we’ll find your way.

“When our son was born, he was full term but small for his gestational age. My hope was to exclusively breastfeed, but that seemed to slip away as he struggled to latch, stay awake through feedings, and gain weight consistently. We were supplementing with formula before we even left the hospital. Feeding was such a struggle, and while we were happy to see him eating, I worried that I missed the opportunity to establish breastfeeding. Leading up to his birth, I read everything I could get my hands on and took a breastfeeding class – the amount of information (often conflicting) was overwhelming. I was close to giving up when we first met with Mary. Her help had an immediate and substantial impact. Mary offered specific and targeted feedback, tips and techniques, and personalized plans for reaching our goal of weaning off formula and nursing successfully. Her warm and assuring energy was invaluable in helping quell our doubts and find an approach to breastfeeding that worked for our family. Over several sessions, her support and encouragement helped us realize that we could do it – and in fact we were. Most importantly, it gave us the confidence to keep up the hard work. And it paid off – 6 months in we have a (nearly) exclusively breastfed baby who is happy, healthy, and thriving. I would highly encourage any family who wants to breastfeed to work with Mary!” – Annalise

I accept most Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana and Cigna PPOs through Lactation Network, along with First Choice Health (look for the logo on your insurance card) and Aetna (along with subsidiaries like Meritain). For self pay clients, I provide a superbill for your to submit to your insurance. If you have one of the insurance plans listed above, please call, text or use the contact form to make an appointment instead of using the online scheduler (if you have BC/BS, Cigna or a MultiPlan logo on your insurance card, you can also contact me through Lactation Network).