Katie Howser, IBCLC

Can’t recommend Katie enough. We were having a difficult time getting our 2 month old to take a bottle. We tried every bottle, nipple, position, and milk temperature possible, but baby was not having it. I sent Katie an email on a Friday morning, she responded soon after, and was at our home the following Monday morning. I didn’t know what to expect as I was under the impression that lactation consultants skewed «pro boob» but found Katie to be realistic and down to Earth as could be. With her guidance and support, we were able to have our daughter bottled trained within a couple of days. While I’d say she’s worth every penny, it’s good to note that she is in-​network with Aetna.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about Katie – if you are in need of any support with a new baby, stop reading this right now and contact her. I promise that she will get back to you promptly and make everything better! I had my first baby in December and had mastitis almost immediately upon returning home. Not only was I overwhelmed with the general challenge of learning how to care for a baby, I had extremely sore breasts and bleeding nipples. Katie came in and not only established a feeding plan that was manageable for me and healthy for my baby (he regained his birth weight quickly under her care), her calming demeanor and knowledge in ALL things baby (sleeping, toys, swings, etc.) gave me confidence and peace. The lactation support in combination with Katie’s comprehensive knowledge put the logistics of having a baby to one side so that my husband and I could get down to fully enjoying our new son!

We feel so fortunate to have found Katie. Before working with her, it was really painful to nurse and my baby was gaining weight but VERY slowly; the pediatrician was concerned.
But on the first day of working with her, we already began to see results. She introduced the nipple shield to help me protect and heal my injured nipple. And she introduced a different way of nursing that was MUCH easier and more ergonomic for both me and my baby. She showed me how to help him latch.
And without her, we would not have known that our baby was tongue-​tied (for which he had a frenotomy that week!), and after his procedure his latching and milk-​intake greatly improved. Now, breastfeeding is no longer a painful experience, my baby is gaining weight much better, he’s less fussy and baby and mom are happier!
We really loved how knowledgeable, non-​judgmental and highly responsive she is. I had lots of questions and she helped me with every single one of them and was so reassuring. She is really great to work with and we can’t thank her enough for all her help! I highly recommend working with her if you have breastfeeding issues!

When my son was born, I had a lot of issues with breastfeeding, including sore/​cracked nipples, low milk supply (such that we had to supplement with formula), etc etc. We didn’t find the nurses at Kaiser to be all that helpful and some of them even tried to tell us that «this is just how it is at the beginning.» So I really thought that I just needed to buck up and power through the pain or stop breastfeeding altogether.
I remember talking to my doula about this and on her recommendation, we decided to check out the group lactation clinic that Katie and Farrell Topham offered at Community Well on Tuesday mornings before giving up on nursing.
These two ladies changed our lives! My son and I (and even my husband) literally became regulars at their clinic for our first few weeks postpartum. Katie and Farrell helped me troubleshoot every breastfeeding issue I had and they were able to solve every single one of them. They taught me alternate nursing positions for different situations, how to use a pump properly (that was apparently the cause of my bruised nipple and not my son!), etc etc. I’m SO proud to say that all thanks to them, my son and I are now a happy breastfeeding pair!
And even now, I still go back to the clinic every once in a while when I run into a question, such as when my son decided to stage a «bottle boycott» a few weeks ago and when I needed their advice on how to prepare for going back to work. Or when I just need a sanity check about how many ounces my son is actually drinking during a nursing session or whether he’s still gaining weight, because they always have their high-​resolution scale with them at the clinic.
In addition to breastfeeding help, Katie and Farrell also taught us a bunch more stuff about being new parents. Farrell showed us how to use a Moby, a ring sling, and an Ergo properly and now, we LOVE wearing our baby! They also gave us lots of advice about our upcoming international trip with our three-​month-​old (eeek!).
Thank you Katie and Farrell!

I had a great experience with Katie, she is warm, calming and professional. As a first time mom I was stressed and exhausted over breastfeeding in the first weeks of mommyhood, it hurt so much and baby lost too much weight so we were at the pediatrician every few days for weigh ins. Katie helped diagnose our daughter with tongue tie and we got it clipped twice, once at the pediatrician’s office and then later by an ENT at UCSF. Katie also helped me get on a plan and schedule of pumping and soothing sore nipples and treating clogged ducts until we resolved the tongue tie issue. It was such a relief when she came over, not just for the boob issues but general newborn care reassurance. I also appreciated her not being overly pushy on exclusively breastfeeding, in the early days I was so tired that it was a relief to pump and bottle feed and take a rest for a day. You have to be realistic on what you can handle! A happy and rested mama=happy baby! Now my daughter is 2 months old and over 12 pounds, she’s definitely gaining weight now with no issues!

Katie is awesome. She definitely knows her stuff. She helped with latching issues and got us on a plan to get our baby’s weight up and increase my milk supply. She is quick to answer texts, is reassuring, and very pleasant to be around. As an added bonus, when she had time at the end of our session, she would show us some tricks of the trade for calming and taking care of baby. We are so happy we found her!

We started working with Katie a couple of weeks after returning home from the hospital. As a first-​time mother, I was in a lot of pain and in desperate need of some help. We were very lucky in that Katie was able to see me the very same day that I contacted her. She advised me on how to address the pain while still continuing to nurse. On subsequent visits, she has helped us with latching and a pumping strategy. Katie is also very responsive to our many questions both during her visits and over e-​mail. She is professional, knowledgeable, supportive, and warm. Nursing can be challenging on so many levels, and I am certain that without Katie’s guidance, I would have given up long ago. We are so fortunate to be working with her.

Katie is great! While I haven’t had any breastfeeding challenges, I had Katie help me figure out how to start pumping when my daughter was 4 weeks and then help me plan for my first trip away from home where my husband would be feeding my daughter. I was really anxious for the trip as it was to NYC, but all of Katie’s guidance helped make pumping logistics/​milk transport/​etc go as smoothly as it possibly could have! I plan to work with her again before I go back to work. She’s very sweet with my daughter, a pleasure to work with, and very responsive to email questions as well!

Katie was a big help during the early breastfeeding months. She was not at all judgmental, which is not something I can say for all lactation consultants, and she replied to my e-​mail inquiries promptly, even months after we originally met. She also made it very easy to get reimbursed for her fees by my insurance company.

There are no words to describe how much Katie helped me in my breastfeeding journey. She is the only reason I am healthy today and that I am able to breastfeed my little boy. I went to 2 lactation consultants prior to Katie and did not receive the care and assistance I needed. I reached out to Katie desperate and feeling helpless. Katie was sympathetic, caring, and on point. She is up to date on research, intelligent, and it was quite obvious that it actually mattered to her that I healed and my goals were reached. She did not push me to breastfeed but knew I wanted to. She helped me get there and I will be forever grateful. This was something that really mattered to me and I owe my success to her. Breastfeeding is really hard but with Katie’s help it does not have to be.

Katie was awesome. She made a last minute appointment (which is so important when you are having issues feeding your newborn). She knew everything about breastfeeding, and made us feel like we were going to survive as parents. If you are worried about breastfeeding at all, make an appointment. It’s worth it to know the answers.

Amazing! My baby is officially a breastfeeding baby after a month of solely being bottle fed!!! Thank you soooooo much Katie! You’re a miracle worker!

Six stars! Katie is as knowledgeable as she is a pleasure to work with. Katie gave us a visit and provided one-​on-​one education before the baby came, which was extremely valuable and helped me understand what to expect. She is always eager to help. I cannot imagine doing it without Katie. Highly, highly recommend!

Katie came by to help us bottle train our 3-​month-​old baby after she’d been refusing a bottle from multiple family members for several weeks. Our pediatrician had warned us that if a baby isn’t trained to drink from a bottle by about 3 months, then the window to get said baby to do so may be forever closed. Well that didn’t sound good at all, so I reached out to Katie with a bit of desperation!
I never would’ve believed it if you’d told me that our baby would be drinking from a bottle that very same day. In a single session. Whaaaat?! Sure that initial feed was brief, but it was major progress from her rejecting the bottle entirely with that tiny but strong little tongue of hers… and it was hope! I was SO excited. Katie laid out a very clear plan for us, customized to our schedules and preferences, to have baby drinking from the bottle within about a week. Katie was also awesome about having to do her lactation consulting thing with us while simultaneously doing an amazing job entertaining our toddler, who’s usually not very open to new faces but was *very* interested in Katie, probably because she’s got such great energy.
I’m 100% certain that if we’d stuck to the plan, that we’d have had ourselves a little bottle drinker in less than a week. But, life and other plans happen and after three straight days of increasing success, we realized that we were going to be just fine and therefore kinda fell off the wagon a bit. We ended up stretching Katie’s plan out over the course of weeks instead of days. And it still worked like a charm! And she was (and still is) quick as a flash to answer questions, needs for reassurance and/​or reminders, etc. over email.
Now, our little one used is drinking from the bottle like a pro. And I am a newly liberated and happy mom. Thank you Katie!

Katie Howser has been a huge help to us with our 2 month old son. Since he was born very low birth weight, help with breastfeeding and creating a schedule for feeding with both breastmilk and formula was important from the day he came home. Katie helped me with a plan to get his weight up, while helping establish a milk supply etc. She came over 4 times over the course of the first 2 months to get the baby and I on track and I really believe that without her help I may have given up breastfeeding completely. Her plans were always reinforced by our pediatrician who always agreed completely with how she advised me. She also showed me how to pump and the parts of a pump etc. which is pretty foreign for a first time mother.
She is not only super knowledgeable about breastfeeding and infants, but she is also very kind and easy to work with. My whole family got to know her and she is truly incredible. Will likely work with her in the future for our second child!

Katie has been amazing after the birth of our baby girl. She came right as we got home from the hospital and diagnosed a tongue tie the L. C at CPMC had totally missed. She was also fantastic when we had to go back to the NICU when my daughter was 3 days old, calling me to check in and coming up with strategy to ensure we could keep up the breastfeeding.
I will absolutely recommend her to anyone.

Katie is a boob fairy! I only wish I asked her to come to the hospital when our baby was born. I had no idea that a couple of days could make all the difference in nursing success. My daughter had already caused blisters on my nipples and I developed thrush. Katie intervened and got us on a great nursing path. I’m not sure I’d be nursing today if it wasn’t for her. I highly recommend Katie!

Definitely going to work with Katie on any future kids we have after the success with our first baby!
We have a 16 month old who still needed to nurse to nap and sleep. He would also need to nurse whenever he woke up at night. We tried a cry it out method and, yeah, I’m, like, never subjecting myself or my kid or any future kids to that again. Katie jumped in on a moments notice to give my wife and I some direction on what to do. Now I can put my kid to sleep and any time he does wake up, I can easily get him back down in a few seconds.

When I started looking for a lactation consultant, I didn’t really get all of these effusive reviews. I felt like it was kind of like looking for an OB/​GYN. No matter how good they are, it’s still an OB/​GYN! Then I met Katie. She was like an angel from heaven.
I called Katie after my son nursed off a huge piece of my nipple skin desperate for help. She came to see us that morning, diagnosed a posterior tongue tie, and referred us to a specialist to correct it. She took measures to help me heal while preserving the breastfeeding relationship (nipple shield and APNO). She helped with our positioning and latch and I could finally breastfeed my son without clenching my teeth and curling my toes. She helped us wean from the shield when we no longer needed it.
Katie continues to be available for questions via text and email, which I am very grateful for. As a first time mom, I feel very lucky to have Katie as a resource during this critical time.

I breastfed our first baby girl for 13 months and felt I was a pro at breastfeeding… I was mistaken! I learned that every baby is different and I felt like a newbie at breastfeeding when our 2^nd baby girl arrived. Right out of the gate, we had latch issues and it was extremely frustrating. After not getting much helpful advice from other LCs, I was finally referred to Katie, she came to our home and suspected our little girl may have a posterior tongue tie. She gave great and effective advice on how to fix the poor latch, and also got us into see a specialist at UCSF right away who confirmed our girl had tongue tie and we had it taken care of.
I highly recommend Katie if you’re need of an LC, she’s very responsive and has a lot of helpful advice that actually works. I was also thankful that she caught the tongue tie, it’s made a huge difference in how our girl is nursing and things have really improved since getting Katie’s help!