ABOUT US - FUNDING

The Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute was founded and created in 2005 by co-owners Edith Kernerman and Jack Newman as the culmination of 20 years of working with mothers and their babies. We accommodate approximately 2500 mother/baby visits/year and are working toward seeing 3x that many.

In our clinic, we train medical students, interns, residents, naturopathic students, nurses, midwives, midwifery students, lactation consultants, chiropractors, nutritionists, etc. Mothers and soon-to-be mothers see our exceptionally-trained lactation support staff and a physician on each visit.

Though the physician part of the appointment is covered by OHIP, (the Provincial Health Insurance available to all Ontario Residents) the rest of the visit is not. Though we charge a nominal administration fee of $35 per visit (zero if there is any financial hardship) the patient is not billed for the lactation counselling/assessment/treatment portion of the appointment. Appointments usually last an hour or more.  Mothers may come in for as many appointments as they feel are necessary.

In order to provide such a service (we have a staff of 8 working alongside Edith and Jack and other physicians) the clinic relies on private donations as there is no funding provided (by any level of government) for lactation services.

If the Clinic is to maintain its position as a lifeline for new mothers, we must increasingly seek private support committed to the importance of breastfeeding in the life of a child. (Again, there is no government funding whatsoever for our clinic). To this end we have recently focused our efforts on fundraising and profile building using staff time.

The Newman Breastfeeding Clinic & Institute gratefully acknowledges the fantastic financial help and support we receive from the Zukerman Family Foundation, and the wonderful support we receive from the Canadian Breastfeeding Foundation.