How is Joyful Start Unique

KNOWLEDGE, INTUITION AND A HEALING TOUCH

Holistic Care

At Joyful Start we blend modern Western health care & ancient Eastern traditional therapies.  Our entire team collaborates to offer our clients the best possible blend.

 

Joy Funston, our founder / director, is experienced in Western healthcare.  She is a Registered Nurse & an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant, an IBCLC.

 

Joy’s Western health care experience has been as a certified newborn intensive care RN.  She understands & acknowledges the value of research-based practice.  She continues to have access to cutting-edge study information, as a contributing member of multiple professional organizations.

 

But uniquely, Joyful Start also mixes in strengths from Eastern healing heritages

 

Joy has studied energy balancing techniques, including Body Talk.  She is a long time yoga practitioner, and she teaches meditation.   These varied areas of interest & expertise are utilized to fully customize our consultations.

 

Joyful Start offers a multidisciplinary approach, using many strong differing philosophies.   Our menu includes massage, nutritional counseling, and mediation instruction to complement our Professional Breastfeeding Support.   We refer to doulas, Pediatric chiropractors & Cranio sacral therapists.

 

We tailor a complete package to meet your needs.

We Consider Mom & Baby One

At Joyful Start we all agree that the mother & baby are one unit….

 

Too many care providers are mired in treating either only the baby or only the mother.

 

Truly, to thrive the couple needs to be thought of as one entity.

We Specialize in Overcoming Breastfeeding Challenge

We have a special focus in supporting Mom / Baby couples beyond the average breastfeeding experience.  We can help during challenging times.

 

Areas of Emphasis

  • Tongue Tie challenges.
  • We are expert in the assessment & care of babies with Ankyloglossia – tongue tie.
  • As central Virginia’s only active members of IATP , this is Joyful Start’s area of expertise.
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  • Extreme maternal complication… episodes of mastitis, clogged ducts, or nipple trauma.

 

  • Severe milk supply issues …  IGT (insufficient glandular tissue),  PCOS  (polycystic ovary syndrome), or after breast trauma….  reductions or augmentations.
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  • Supporting breastfeeding Special Babies...  Our founder was an IBCLC within an intensive care nursery for over 20 years.  She has a special passion for the care of sick & premature babies.  Babies with cardiac conditions, Cystic Fibrosis , Down Syndrome, clefts, ….  Just to mention a few.   We love these little fighters… we are here to see they successfully receive mother’s milk.
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  • Supply maintenance ...  helping you maintain availability while pumping as you return to work or school during lactation.
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  • Induced Lactation for  Mothers of Choice…  adoptive moms, surrogate situations, within same sex couples….. or even re-lactation if desired.

 

We Come to You

At Joyful Start we understand it may be a challenge to pack up your newborn & drive to an appointment.

 

Or you may really need an outing ….   We are flexible.

 

In your home or at our office, we are here to be the support you need.

ASK JOY A QUESTION

Ankyloglossia Tongue-Tie

We are expert in the assessment & care of babies with Ankyloglossia – tongue tie.

 

The rate of tongue ties in the general population is agreed upon by most experts as greater than 10%.....

 

Just stop for a moment….   imagine how many babies that actually is….

 Let’s say you are in the local Mommy Facebook group.

 

 There are say 350 moms in that group – so 35 of their babies have a tongue tie!

 

And, that is a conservative guess – many experts on the topic understand the rate is in fact higher.

 

As central Virginia’s only active members of IATP , this is Joyful Start’s area of expertise.