Frequently asked
The ones we’re asked most.
These are the questions that actually arrive in the front desk inbox, in the words families use. Open the one you came for. If yours isn’t here, ask us and it probably will be next time.
OHIP, referrals and cost
The money questions.
What does OHIP cover, and what will I pay?
The OHIP-subsidized rate needs two things on file: a valid referral, and your health card numbers. With both, the visit is billed at the subsidized rate.
Every subsidized appointment still carries a fee covering your International Board Certified Lactation Consultant’s time, which OHIP does not cover. You can pay by credit card, e-transfer or cheque.
Without a valid referral or health card number on file, we won’t make your baby wait for a fax. You are welcome to keep your consult with the IBCLC at the same rate as the OHIP copay. How to get a referral.
How much is an appointment?
It depends which appointment, and whether there is a referral on file, so the price lives with the appointment rather than in a list here that could go stale.
Answer a few questions and you’ll see the options that are actually available to you, each with its price beside it.
A receipt comes after every consult. Some private plans and health spending accounts reimburse lactation consults, so it is worth asking yours.
Do I need a referral, and how do I get one?
Only for the OHIP-subsidized rate. You do not need one to be seen.
It has to come from a family doctor, midwife, nurse practitioner, OB or walk-in doctor, and it has to cover both you and your baby.
You do not have to sort it out before you book. Book the appointment you want and we will do our best to help you request one. Your baby doesn’t have to wait on a fax and you won’t pay more. How to request a referral.
Have you got my referral? Is it valid?
Email the front desk and we’ll check what’s on your file before your appointment. Contact us.
A referral we can use is addressed to the Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic and covers the parent and the baby, with health card numbers and version codes for both where the baby has one yet.
If your provider used our online form it reached us the moment they submitted it. The forms are here, if they still need them.
Can I have a free visit? Shouldn’t OHIP pay for all of it?
We think you deserve IBCLC care at no cost to your family, and we keep working with our partners toward fully subsidized consults. What we can offer today is the subsidized rate, which needs a valid referral and Ontario health card numbers.
If cost is what stands between your baby and this appointment, say so. That is what the subsidized rate is for.
Partners, grandparents, siblings and friends also buy gift certificates in any amount. More on consult types, insurance and gift certificates.
Booking and appointments
Getting the right hour.
Which appointment should I book?
If you already know, book it. If you don’t, that is normal and it is what the questions are for: tell us what is going on and we’ll point you at a sensible next step.
You do not need to know what is wrong before you book. That is part of what the appointment is for. Find your next step.
How soon can I be seen?
The booking page shows what is genuinely free, which is a better answer than anything written here could be. See what’s available.
A virtual visit is usually the soonest, and it reaches everywhere in Ontario. If there is no office or home visit near you in the next day or two, book the virtual one.
Evening and weekend consults may be available too, so it’s worth a look even if weekdays are hard.
Is my appointment virtual or in person?
Whichever you booked, and your Thanks for Booking email says which, along with the office address and parking or the link to join.
Virtual visits are offered anywhere in Ontario. Offices and home visits exist in some areas and not others, so the booking questions ask where you are before offering you either.
Waiting for an in-person appointment does not mean waiting to be seen. A virtual visit now and an in-person one later is a perfectly good plan. How to prepare for either.
Which location am I at, and can I switch?
Your Thanks for Booking email has the address and the parking. Some areas have more than one office, so the address is the reliable answer rather than the town.
To move an existing appointment to another location, email the front desk rather than rebooking, so nothing is charged twice. Change and cancellation fees apply. Contact us.
How do I prepare for a virtual visit?
It helps if your baby is ready to eat when we start. A laptop, a device stand, or a helper holding the camera makes your latch much easier for us to see.
We email you instructions and a link beforehand. If it isn’t in your inbox, check Promotions and Junk. When it’s time, go back to that email and click Start eVisit.
Use WiFi rather than phone data, unless your reception is better on data. Sitting near the router helps, and so does taking other devices off it. Have your device charged or plugged in, and off battery saver. More on getting ready.
When should I book my prenatal breastfeeding class?
About a month before your due date, if you can manage it.
Running out of time? Book it as soon as you can. See prenatal options.
Can I come back?
Please do. Book yourself in as often as you need until you’re symptom free and on your way to your feeding goals.
New pain? A new feeding worry? That’s reason enough, and your baby is never too old for a follow-up. Book a follow-up.
What if I need to change or cancel?
The Please Play Nice Policy
Your appointment time is reserved just for you. A late cancellation or missed visit leaves a hole in the practitioner’s day that could have been given to another family. As such, we require 48 hours notice (2 full business days, not including weekends or holidays) for any cancellations or changes to your appointment. Cancelled appointments with less than 2 business days notice are subject to the full visit fee. Cancelled appointments with more than 48 hours notice (2 full business days, not including weekends or holidays) are subject to a $20+HST cancellation fee.
Rescheduling appointments with more than 48 business hours may be done at no charge. Rescheduling fees do not apply if due to Physician or LC unavailability. Refunds are subject to a $20.00+HST admin fee. In the event of a non-sufficient funds (NSF) occurrence, a fee of $20+HST will be charged.
Without a VALID referral or health card number on file, patients will not be eligible for an OHIP subsidized consult with the physician and if they choose to keep the appointment they will be automatically charged the non-subsidized rate to see the IBCLC only. Patients must commit to ensuring parent and baby(ies) will be in attendance for 60 minutes during subsidized appointments and seen by the physician unless not yet born, or consent to paying the non-subsidized rate for a consult with the IBCLC only.
Tongue tie and lip tie
Releases are only recommended when necessary, and are properly timed.
We never want to do an unnecessary procedure on a baby, and recommend a properly timed release for optimal results.
Someone told me my baby has a tongue tie. What happens now?
The first step is a proper look at how your baby is actually feeding. Your IBCLC will assess it and talk you through whether a release is worth considering.
So the appointment to book is a feeding and oral function assessment, not a procedure. Nothing is decided before somebody has watched a whole feed. Book an assessment.
If a release turns out to be the right thing, the next question is answered below.
What happens if my baby does need a release?
To see Dr Forrester for help with your complex infant feeding concerns, including tongue tie assessment and release, please book a consult with any of the amazing IBCLCs on our team and our admin can help you request a valid referral. Find your next step.
How does a release actually work here?
Opt in to learn more about our Release Process
How a release works here, start to finish: what happens before it, where it is done, what it costs, and the aftercare we recommend.
Yes, email me how the release process works.
On its way. Reply to it and we will note that you would like Dr Forrester at your follow-up.
Please use the address we already have for you, so it reaches the right file. Would rather ask a person? admin@ontariobreastfeedingclinic.ca
A valid referral is not required for IBCLC support, but is a requirement for MD support and access to OHIP subsidized rates.
Most families need a few consults before a release and some aftercare afterwards; your IBCLC will plan that with you.
If your baby’s release is being done somewhere else, we can still look after the rest of it. Our IBCLCs give the same prep and aftercare around a release performed by another provider.
Your care team
Who you’ll actually see.
What can you help with?
Latch, nipple and breast pain, tongue tie, mastitis, supply, pumping, bottles, combination feeding, starting solids, going back to work, weaning, and the ones that are harder to name.
Our IBCLCs have gone well beyond the basics, with advanced skills and professional education across several areas of lactation, and complex feeding problems are what they do.
You and your baby can’t be treated separately yet. Care given to one of you lands on the other, so our IBCLCs treat you as a dyad, a single unit, and look after you both.
Will I see the doctor as well as the lactation consultant?
Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic IBCLCs work in co-operation with the Ontario Breastfeeding Clinic physicians specializing in Breastfeeding Medicine.
A valid referral is not required for IBCLC support, but is a requirement for MD support and access to OHIP subsidized rates.
Please let our admin team know you would like Dr Forrester to join the appointment when booking.
Answer a few questions and you’ll see the options that are actually available to you, each with its price beside it. Find your next step.
Not in the list
Then ask us, or just book the hour.
The front desk answers email by the next business day. Admin is in Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, and closed on stat holidays. If it is urgent and clinical, please don’t wait on us: we are not an acute-care service.
