I flew across the country to attend Melissa’s tongue and lip tie course. I had taken such classes with other ankyloglossia experts, but Melissa’s material and opportunities for hands-on assessment practice far surpassed what I’d heard and done before. The information shared and discussed during class was extremely detailed and comprehensive. The small-group format allowed me to ask very specific questions and receive one-on-one feedback. I returned to my private practice as an IBCLC much more confident in my own skills and with vastly more knowledge.

I enjoyed having the hands on experience and families. I feel so much more confident with oral assessment and found that understanding oral strength was eye opening.

This was a wonderful learning experience. Thank you so much. Was wonderful to see Real Babies!! Thank you!!

Excellent training. I feel so much more confident about what to look for – especially by comparing ‘healthy babies’ in order to recognize muscle weakness in addition to tongue tie. Group size was good.

I really enjoyed your presentation, your style and grounded information. I look forward to joining you again. Thank you!

You are an amazing speaker. I have learned so much. I did not fully understand how to “diagnose” tongue tie. The difference between posterior or anterior was confusing. I now understand and feel a little more confident to recognize this.

I would be happy to hear Melissa speak again on any topic with the breastfeeding dyad. She is a dynamic speaker with a great breadth of knowledge in her scope of practice. Good day!

Excellent presentation. It will really help me to refine how I discuss herbal support with my clients.

Thank you for an excellent presentation. I am so happy to see a galactagogue talk from an herbalism perspective.

Melissa, very informative! I appreciate your advice to start slow, improve my knowledge of three herbs well, rather than minimal knowledge of many. Great detailed information of the lactogenic foods as well.

I just wanted to write an email as we are finishing up this course and congratulate you on a job well done. You are really doing such a great service, I love how you answer questions and help your students solve problems and get great quality information. So many ladies who are nursing use herbs and it is really awesome to see someone so competent training. It is great for me too. Lactation is not something that was thoroughly covered in any of my course work as deeply as other subjects and I am happy to take your course and I feel confident if something comes up contacting you for mentoring help since you work in this area so much.

I've enrolled in three webinar courses over the past nine months and several others over the years. This course was excellent. This is what I think you did so well:

1. Clear focus of the course and clear agenda for each module. This was lactation/infant specific and avoided slipping into more pediatric maladies or maternal general health.
2. Your weekly video introduction to each module was personal and also set us up for learning specific topics.
3. Beautiful and clear slides. The photos are lovely, the text was legible and not crowded with information.
4. The follow up on FB was helpful. I enjoyed being able to share ideas and resources. I felt like I was in a class with an attentive teacher.
5. The case studies made us put the information into action. I look forward to keeping in touch with the FB group.

Well done Melissa! Yours was the best online course I took all year and I’m using what I learned with all my clients….I have taken other trainings on herbs but didn't feel fully confident in suggesting them to clients until taking Melissa's course. Her Plant Medicine chart was one of the best educational tools I've ever used, and I refer to it all the time. I highly recommend this course not just to learn about herbs, but to develop your critical thinking skills.

Thoroughly enjoyed this course and the ability to take it at my own pace and re-watch modules. It was full of useful information, well organized, and a balanced perspective! Thank you!!

I just want to thank you so much for this amazing course. I can tell how much time and effort you put into this and I so appreciate it how detailed it is. Clearly the info on the galactagogues was quite helpful. I always feel lost when trying to help guide my clients because I'm not an herbalist but I do see that they really can help. At least now, I feel better able to match herbs with conditions. Thank you so so much!

I love it all! I will take all workshops taught by you.

This was the BEST tongue tie course I have taken...you put the most important info into an hour. I loved how you communicated and stayed on the research side...you are truly a gift!!

...I loved the practical recipes, the resources, the depth of information in the lessons. I also knew that it was important to have good sources of supplements, but I don't think I realized HOW important. This was an amazing class and I'm so thankful I got to participate!

The whole presentation was just amazing. From the TT release video to the post care exercises. I loved how you incorporated communication strategies for parents/caregivers because it is hard to paint the picture for parents in a way that informs them appropriately without scaring them. You are amazing to this field, thank you for your dedication.

I absolutely love this course and feel drawn to learn more. I would love to have an herb pantry to experiment for myself and my family! Thank you

I had definitely not been recommending therapeutic doses for my clients and I'm so glad I have better knowledge about appropriate dosages now! Thank you so much! This was fabulous!

This course by far is one of the most amazing courses I have ever taken and believe me I took many.  Thank you for this course.

I took the class with an interest in herbs to help with supply issue. But discovered herbs for postpartum issues, and stress and and herbs to help with mastitis and breast pain and baby’s colic. Such a wealth of information. Thank you Melissa. Eager to go back over the articles and continue learning.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable class! Melissa's deep understanding of the subject matter was impressive. I took 5 pages of notes on herbs!

This workshop was so informative! All the modules and videos were broken down into clear and concise education topics. Thank you for taking the time to put the education modules, videos, homework, discussion topics, recommended reading and case studies together!

I LOVED the workshop and I can definitely say it changed the way I practice - and it truly changed the outcomes for a lot of the families I am working with! Thank you so much!

She knows her stuff, she truly cares, and she makes herself available to answer follow-up questions (I don't know how!). She helped me go from exclusive pumping/low supply/supplementing to fulfilling all my daughter's needs for breastmilk until we weaned at 22 months. Without Melissa I probably would have given up on breastfeeding. With my son she has helped me through reflux/colic and a terrible bout of mastitis. I HIGHLY recommend Melissa.

Melissa has provided invaluable support to my family following the births of both of my children. Each had his/her own nursing challenges (lip tie, tongue ties, reflux, colic, low weight gain) and Melissa offered the expertise, compassion, and guidance that we needed. I had visits with lactation consultants in hospital, but those visits paled in comparison to working with Melissa. She is the BEST! I now consider her lactation support to be essential postpartum. I can’t recommend her enough!

Melissa was wonderful! She was warm and inviting and was very knowledgeable and helpful with her suggestions on how to improve my sons tummy issues. She was great with my son as well! I would highly recommend her to anyone having issues with lactation or other issues with your child's digestive needs. Thank you so much 🙂

Melissa is amazing!! So knowledgeable and insightful about lactation, child development, supplements and all things baby related. She helped us so much with breastfeeding and also our son's GI troubles. She was incredibly responsive and supportive. I couldn't ask for a better lactation consultant. I highly, highly recommend Melissa!

Melissa is a savior!! I was so traumatized by my 5 month olds nursing strike. I was hesitant that a virtual visit would be beneficial, but it was the best thing I could have done. Not only did Melissa comfort me in the fact that "more was going right than wrong", but she identified some digestive issues and reflux, acknowledges that pumping more was not a good choice for me, and recommended herbs to manage my postpartum anxiety. I can’t thank her enough!

I am so glad that we were referred to Luna Lactation. Melissa really knows her stuff!! My daughter and I have been struggling for months with poor latch, ties, and major digestive issues. I have learned more in the 1.5 hrs we spent with Melissa, than all the HOURS combined that my daughter and I spent at dozens of visits with 6 different LC's from 3 different Providence Lactation clinics. I will refer everyone I know that is struggling in their nursing relationship to Luna Lactation! Thank you!

Melissa is worth every mile driven and every dollar paid. She has helped me and my son with our breast feeding problems, and also has helped heal my son's leaky gut & eczema issues. She's my go-to gal for my family's health. I HIGHLY recommend her!

Melissa is a wonder! Once I found out I was pregnant with my third child, I immediately thought, "Yay! I get to work with Melissa Cole again!" The greater Portland area is so lucky to have this resource. Melissa has helped me through latch issues, nursing strikes, how to feed a baby through a nursing strike, gassy baby issues, eliminating dairy from my diet, rashes, and supplements to help both me and my babies. She is a breath of fresh air and my family is so grateful.

Melissa has helped me with both my childrens breastfeeding and digestive issues. She is holistic, knowledgeable and compassionate with her care. I strongly recommend Luna Lactation.

It took awhile to get into Melissa's busy schedule and it was totally worth the wait. She fixed my baby's persistent inability to latch correctly with simple positioning and now it's just a matter of practice to resolve her latch issues. She also helped pinpoint the reason behind my daughter's other digestive issues.

Even if you are not having nursing issues, you should still see Melissa--her comprehensive approach to baby wellness could benefit anyone! I went to her desperate for answers about digestive issues and was so impressed with her kind, gentle manner and knowledgeability. The previous 2 lactation consultants made errors in their diagnoses that she spotted immediately. Mamas, don't hesitate to get help!

I highly recommend working with Melissa. We are struggling with food allergies, digestive issues, and reflux, and after seeing a pediatrician, GI specialist, and other lactation consultants we were discouraged and running out of ideas. Melissa was very knowledgeable and understanding. She listened to all of my concerns about every aspect of breastfeeding and gave me specific suggestions about my diet and supplements.

Melissa is a savior!! I was so traumatized by my 5 month olds nursing strike. I was hesitant that a virtual visit would be beneficial, but it was the best thing I could have done. Not only did Melissa comfort me in the fact that "more was going right than wrong", but she identified some digestive issues and reflux, acknowledges that pumping more was not a good choice for me, and recommended herbs to manage my postpartum anxiety. I can’t thank her enough!

I find remembering which herb works best for what to be intimidating. Going through and filling out the Plant Medicine Chart made me feel like I was truly getting a deeper understanding and that some mastery was possible. I've been putting what I've learned from you in to practice and it's a joy to see families benefiting from more holistic care. Thank you Melissa!

I am an herbalist, previous to this course. This course let me be less wary and more confident in my skills and knowledge of herbs! It very greatly inspired me to keep learning and keep pursuing what I love. And good resources listed for checking safety and interactions.

Realizing just HOW MUCH herbs can actually do and that I can recommend herbs that will not only have an impact on milk supply but also on postpartum mental health. Fantastic course that has helped me become more confident in making personalized herbal recommendations for my clients. Thank you!

Thank you! So informative. I'm looking forward to helping out families and am more confident when recommending herbal products. I really enjoyed all the modules. I'm a little sad that I'm done! Recommending herbs is not as scary as I thought it would be. I love the way the Plant Medicine Chart is organized. Makes it so practical and less intimidating.

I know a lot already but wanted to learn more about embryologic development and more in-depth individual functional assessment. This course was very clinical and practical, teaching information that can be put to use today to improve assessment skills.

I really appreciated hearing the advice to examine ALL babies - I had noted that I was starting to not know what "normal/functional" looked like and really needed to hear to look in all babies mouths to get the full spectrum - which is what I had started to feel, but hadn't put into words!

Great presentation! I loved the video of you doing an assessment it really helped me to understand how to streamline my own oral assessments.

I've worked for several years with infants and feeding. It was good to see that I am doing most of the things mentioned in this course, however the detail to which it was explained was really helpful. I have not thought about embryological development for quite some time. That was really helpful. The handout was great as well. As always, much respect to you Melissa. Thank you.

I just wanted to reiterate that your sessions are simply wonderful. They honor the student, the parents, the baby. I love how you thank the baby throughout each session, letting the baby know that they are in charge and have control over their world when they are working with you. It is such an important model of care. Seriously, I almost started crying with your sincere thanks to the baby doing tummy time. Thank you so much, Melissa. These sessions will positively impact all of the future students who take this course.

Recommending herbs is not as scary as I thought it would be. I love the way the Plant Medicine Chart is organized. Makes it so practical and less intimidating. Thank you! So informative. I'm looking forward to helping out families and am more confident when recommending herbal products.

I just finished taking your Supporting Optimal Healing Outcomes course for Infant Frenotomy and wanted to just drop a line to tell you how much I appreciate your compassionate, but clinically based education and care. I’ve been taking your courses for several years and they were a very big part in how I chose to devote my career to infant feeding. I’ve also been a parent of an infant with a tongue tie and learned first hand how rough that aftercare can be when in the throws of newborn life and post partum. It means so much to know there is a clinician I respect and whose voice I trust putting education out of quality care for tongue ties that is comprehensive, effective, compassionate, and realistic. I’ve modeled much of my recommended wound care post-frenotomy after what you have recommended and have had loads of awesome feeding success for my babies. The lack of comprehensive research and high quality evidence in this particular area continues to prove a challenge for me in getting some of my providers to refer appropriately, but I’m hopeful that the stories of success and compassionate care from my families will make it back to them so that we can continue to support infant feeding as much as possible. Anyway, I just wanted to drop a line beyond the course evaluation to let you know how impactful you are.

I liked the talk about on infant oral assessment and being aware of the different problems that can present and how to look for problems in order to help solve them.

The infant oral assessment session was most interesting today.  I really learned a lot.  The explanation and videos were also very effective.

I struggle in my communication with getting families to understand what I am seeing in my assessments, so this was fabulous as a guide in communicating with caregivers.

This was very helpful! I was able to determine where I was doing things correctly and where/how I could improve. I can take what I learned into my practice immediately. [My "A-HA" moment was] that orofacial development (specifically the palate) can be impacted by positioning in utero. To this point I had made the (incorrect) assumption that a high palate automatically meant tongue tie when in fact, it could be related to how much room baby had as they were growing. Assess beyond the frenulum!

I loved the before and after pics! It was really helpful to review the stages of wound healing and how the wounds can look different with laser vs scissor.

Very helpful to see how easy [the exercises] can be. This will be helpful to alleviate some of the parents' apprehension about post-op-involved care.

I VERY much liked the real time clinical video of the after care stretches and interaction… 1000% better than using a doll or describing.

The triangle approach really helps to simplify what may feel like a complex situation, and also knowing that herbal medicine is more of a craft/art than an exact science and that getting to know each herb like a friend with it's complexities and uniqueness, can be the most important element in providing guidance for utilizing their medicine.

I love the handouts. Clear, easy to follow and teach from, great photos. Thank you for creating and sharing them with other LC's. I've been an IBCLC for 12 years, recently transitioning from hospital to private practice. I've listened to hundreds/thousands of lactation presentations over the years. I just started my Herbal Support course, and I have to complement you Melissa, you have a gift in public speaking.  The lessons are well organized, the presentation of the material is excellent, you clearly are prepared and know the data as you elaborate on each slide. Well worth the investment in time and money. Thank you for sharing! In addition, you were probably my favorite presentation in the most recent GOLD Tongue Tie Symposium.  You share the facts and tangible tools in a clear, organized and professional platform. Much appreciated. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

As a new IBCLC, I sometimes feel lost in the world of TOT controversy... I felt your assessment areas to be so clear.. the how's & the why's... thank you so much!

Melissa was thoughtful, respectful, easy to understand, and very patient with all of our questions!

Melissa, I have said this before and I will say it again, you provide well thought out presentations and I absolutely love that you are willing to answer questions in a non-judgmental manner. It definitely allows for further interest and desire to learn more. Thank you for this course. Looking forward to course 2:)