KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — TennCare announced on June 1 mothers receiving TennCare Medicaid benefits could start getting some coverage for lactation consultation. Without this coverage, mothers could need to pay up to $200 for help or find formula to feed their infants.
They said MDs, DOs, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives can perform the care as independent TennCare providers. When supervised and billed by a registered, in-network provider, certified lactation counselors and certified lactation educators can also provide lactation support.
Around nine years ago, Natasha Carr, a certified lactation counselor and specialist, first held her newborn in her arms. She said lactation consultation coverage could help mothers by preventing extra stress as they try navigating motherhood.
Carr said there were complications at the end of her pregnancy.
"I was happy I had a healthy, baby boy. They called him, 'The Healthy Preemie,' because he had pretty much no issues whatsoever. It was me, that was the problem," she said. "Something called HELLP Syndrome. It's a form of preeclampsia, and it can be fatal."
She faced another obstacle when she started breastfeeding.
"The biggest challenge was just getting him to latch and not hurt," she said.
A lactation consultant said it's a common problem new mothers face when they start trying to feed their children. However, fixing it can result in more money leaving their wallets.
"The thing I see the most is pain with latching the baby. Most of the time, we can fix that with a couple of very simple positioning things. It seems really hard, and that once you do it and you're shown how it can make everything a million times easier," Jade Potter, the owner of Milk and Honey and a lactation specialist, said. "It's so important that lactation is covered by people on Medicaid because they typically tend to be the more underserved populations in our community."
According to TennCare data, most people receiving benefits are low-income pregnant women. They will cover prenatal exams as well, and TennCare is hosting a webinar on July 11 at 12 p.m. central time to speak about the new benefit.
"Everybody should have access to all lactation care, to all pregnancy support, because it's health care," said Carr.