About Heather Hutton

  • Heather has continuously held the IBCLC designation for the last 10 years - the highest level attainable for any lactation professional and the gold standard for clinical lactation care. In addition, she has been an exam prep writer for content that helps new IBCLCs pass their board examination.

  • Heather has advanced education and specialization in assessing for tongue and lip-ties as well as therapeutic oral habilitation before and after tongue and lip-tie release procedures to improve the outcomes of a release procedure. Heather also has advanced education and experience with low milk supply, medically fragile and ill babies, first time parents, and bottle feeding.

  • Heather is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and over 12 years of nursing experience. Her nursing background includes working in neonatal intensive care (NICU), labor & delivery, postpartum, surgery, hospital based lactation care and management, as well as a home visiting case management program for first time, low income mothers and their babies supporting enrolled families on a bi-weekly basis from pregnancy through their child’s second birthday.

  • Heather also hold the designation of Certified Case Manager and has case management experience with perinatal clients, pediatric clients, and clients with chronic conditions.

  • Heather is an independent lactation consultant and is the founder and owner of Optimal Nurturing, LLC.

  • Heather has received special recognition for her exceptional patient care and expertise. She has received a Daisy Award, employee of the year award, and has been designated a subject matter expert.

  • Heather believes that keeping up with the latest recommendations and research through annual continuing education is essential for providing quality lactation care. For this reason, she is a member of the International Lactation Consultant Association, United States Lactation Consultant Association, and is a member and serves on the board for the Appalachian Breastfeeding Network.

  • Heather takes a gentle, counseling approach to lactation care through shared decision-making. She seeks to encourage autonomy and self-efficacy. Heather strives to provide a judgement-free zone where we can determine what your goals are and provide you the education and support needed to work toward those goals and maintain realistic expectations in the context of the biology of the breastfeeding dyad and any unique challenges you may be facing.

  • Heather was born in Kingsport, TN and raised in Hawkins County, TN. She has lived in the Tri-Cities Tennessee area all her life and can’t imagine living anywhere else (except maybe the beach, but it would have to be part-time)!

Heather has attended the Nourished Young Reflex-Based Oral Function Course which is a 4+ hour course on assessing the innate reflexes present inside your baby’s mouth which help them feed as well as improving the connection between your baby’s brain and the muscles that control these reflexes. These reflexes can be diminished for a number of reasons, but together we can improve them and make feeding better.

Reflexes are important because they can help babies eat from the breast and from bottles and, if a tongue tie is suspected, this information and these techniques can help us rule out other causes before seeking a surgical release procedure - we want to make sure it is absolutely necessary before doing it! This can also help us see improvement in feeding faster after release, if it is necessary.

Heather has attended the Oral Habilitation of the Breastfeeding Dyad Masterclass which is a 33+ hour course on assessing for tongue and lip-ties, preparing both parent and baby for a release procedure, and teaching the tongue to move more efficiently after a release procedure.

A tongue-tie release is not only a procedure, it is a process. For the best outcomes, it requires preparation and therapy afterward like any other procedure for adults! Through the appropriate processes, we can ensure the best possible outcomes.

Heather has attended the Perinatal Support International Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders: Components of Care course. This PSI course is a 2-day course all about assessment for, common treatments for, and the importance of screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Your mental health is important!

What People Are Saying About Optimal Nurturing Lactation

  • Above & Beyond

    “Most other providers I have experienced spend 10 minutes or less with me/baby. They were not thorough and for the most part didn’t seem to care about previous breastfeeding struggles. Heather went above and beyond to know my history along with current baby. She spent hours and hours with us, giving us a completely individualized plan that I’m confident led to our current success in breastfeeding.”

  • Undivided Attention

    “With my first baby, my lactation consultant in the hospital had many patients and could not be as attentive. Also, I was a special case, and I'm glad I could get the undivided attention I needed [with Optimal Nurturing Lactation].”

  • Support Beyond Breastfeeding

    “You played a huge role in not only my breastfeeding journey but my mental health post baby. Thank you will never be enough!”

  • Responsive After Appointments

    “I appreciate that Heather took the time to answer any questions that I had outside of our appointments. Her response time and communication was the best I have ever received from a medical provider.”

  • Newborn & Self Care Support

    “Not only did she help me with all things nursing/pumping but she went above and beyond and gave us advice on how to help with my daughter’s congestion, how to help her cope better with bath time, and she even touched base with me on my own postpartum mental health and referred me to a counselor who could help me with my postpartum anxiety.”

  • Comfortable & Uncomplicated

    “Heather was wonderful! Easy to talk to and has a great way of explaining things! I was worried it would be “weird” since it’s my first time breastfeeding, but she made it so comfortable and uncomplicated things! We wouldn’t have made it this far without her!”

  • Knowledge & Expertise

    “Heather is so patient, supportive, and comforting. I’m happy to say that my baby and I overcame every single feeding problem we were experiencing. We would not have been able to do that without Heather! Her knowledge and expertise really shows.”

  • Holistic, Dyad-Centered Care

    “Her presence was easy and calming during quite a stressful time of breastfeeding challenges. She is not only knowledgeable and up to date with best practice, but she also looks at the whole picture and the dyad of baby and mom.”

  • Balancing Professional With Personal

    “I loved working with Heather. She is super professional, but felt like a really loving and fun big sister.”

  • Mother-Baby Nurse

    “Since Heather has an extensive medical background as a RN, Heather was able to offer us aid not only in breast feeding, but tips for changing diapers, soothing a newborn infant, nighttime feedings, etc.”

  • Empowering Parents' Decisions

    “She covered all my concerns and made me feel at peace and confident in what I was doing throughout our breastfeeding journey.”

We have over 50 five-star reviews on Google. read them all here!