Ashley Garrison
BA, RN, BSN, IBCLC
I knew I wanted to work in lactation consulting ever since I met an IBCLC on my Labor and Delivery rotation in nursing school. I started lactation consulting after my second child was born, and it grew from there. I believe in meeting mothers and parents where they’re at in their breastfeeding journey. I work to give research-based information so they can build confidence in their parenting skills and make informed decisions throughout their breastfeeding or chestfeeding experience. My goal is to celebrate the accomplishments and walk beside you when you want to quit on your worst day. I specialize in customizing feeding plans that honor the baby needs, the mother’s hopes and wellbeing, and the family’s values.
I am very experienced in all areas of lactation including difficult latches, suck issues, breast and nipple pain, moving from bottle to breast, low supply, oversupply, exclusive pumping, drying up milk, pumping at work, flat and inverted nipples, tongue and labial ties, plugged ducts, mastitis, food introduction, teething, colic management, gas and reflux, slow to weight, weight loss, weaning, tandem nursing, and many more.
*My unique specialty is premature babies, NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) babies, special care nursery babies, small for gestational age babies, and late preterm babies. I initiated and developed UNC Rex’s NICU lactation program from 2020-2022.
(There’s more about me dofwn below)
Education and Qualifications
Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Duke University 2007
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, minor in Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2002
Registered Nurse in North Carolina since 2007
International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 2011
La Leche League Member 2012-2016
Volunteer Doula at UNC Healthcare in Chapel Hill 2004-2005
Daisy Award Nomination at Rex Healthcare 2020
IBCLC Cares Award 2022 – NICU Lactation Program at Rex Healthcare 2022
TOTS training completion April 2023!
My journey to lactation consulting
Doula Volunteer and Nursing School
I’ve been an IBCLC lactation consultant for 15 years and a nurse for 19 years. I started working in women’s health as a doula volunteer at UNC Healthcare while going to nursing school. My doula training has been a foundation of my practice as a nurse and lactation consultant. Mothering the mother is an essential part of supporting a healthy, thriving community.
UNC Women’s Health and Pediatric Nurse
After nursing school, I worked in labor and delivery, postpartum, antepartum, newborn nursery, and lactation at UNC Healthcare for several years. I especially loved building relationships with my high-risk pregnancy families.
I took a few years off of work to my two children in their infant and toddler years. When I went back to work, I enjoyed working as a nurse and lactation consultant at UNCPN Pediatrics at Southpoint. I gained a lot of knowledge and experience in infant growth and development.
Breastfeeding Mother
I breastfed my daughter and son into toddlerhood (and in tandem for some of the time). I never had a plan, just a hope that breastfeeding might work out for a while with our family. I had a love-hate relationship with it. There were special times for sure. But, it was an incredible amount of work, and there were many days that I wanted to quit. I always gave myself permission to stop any time, but I made myself wait until the next day to decide. Usually, the next day I wanted to keep going, so that became my pattern, to check in with myself periodically. I didn’t allow myself to quit on my worst day, AND I respected my energy and needs when it was time to start a new journey with kids. I will always be grateful for the snuggles, laughter, and pure silliness and ridiculousness that comes with breastfeeding. My husband, Wes, was a critical part of our family’s breastfeeding journey. I have deep gratitude for his love, kindness, flexibility, advocacy, and support. It takes everyone to make it work. I also want to thank my mother, aunts, grandmothers, sisters, mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, coworkers, friends, and many family members who supported me through all of it. I have enormous gratitude and respect for each of them as well as all mothers and families trying to provide milk for their babies.
Inpatient Lactation Consultant
At the beginning of Covid, I worked as an inpatient lactation consultant at UNC Rex Healthcare. I developed the NICU lactation program at Rex so those families could have consistent access to lactation services. I have a passion for working with NICU, preemie, late preterm, and small for gestational age babies.
