Mammals have been nursing their young as long as there have been mammals, but human mothers often find breast-feeding to be a real beast. Baby wants to sleep. Baby won’t latch on. Baby nurses, but is baby getting enough nourishment? It’s enough to try the patience of the most eager new mother.

For new mom Loremi L. Mendoza, the issue was more challenging because her son had a growth on his liver and had to be hospitalized. When Mendoza, 22, traveled to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, lactation consultant Laurie Beck was on hand to answer her questions about breast-feeding.

“I had always wanted to breast-feed,” Mendoza said. “I know it’s healthier for the baby and I had read that you lose weight faster.”

Mendoza’s son, Alberto Mendoza IV, quickly learned to nurse when he was born Nov. 10.

At Driscoll, Beck loaned Mendoza an electric pump, which helped her pump milk for her son quickly and get back to his bedside. Knowing a consultant is just a phone call or e-mail away, Mendoza said she hoped to breast-feed her son for a year.

Beck said consultants support and promote breast-feeding. She helps patients’ mothers get the hang of using a breast pump and maintaining their milk supply while the baby is hospitalized. Breast-feeding, she acknowledged, can have a considerable learning curve.

“Most of the moms quit that first week because it’s a mess,” Beck said.

Kaleigh Bowen touches her son, John William, who is 40 days old. Bowen previously pumped her milk and stored it to feed her baby by tube into the incubator. Bowen has found the lactation consultants at Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, useful in learning about breast-feeding.

Beck said consultants could keep in touch with moms throughout the breast-feeding experience. Moms often call with questions about managing breast-feeding after maternity leave, about combining breast-feeding with introducing solid food, about feeding during flu season and so forth, all the way through weaning.

When it comes to breast-feeding challenges, Beck said, two or more heads are often better than one.

She often trades ideas with other consultants as well as networking with members of La Leche League, a group of mothers who help other mothers with breast-feeding.

“We all kind of work together,” she said. “If one hits a snag, we can talk. It’s everybody pulling together.”

Luckily, lactation consultants often have answers handy, and the Corpus Christi just got two more board-certified consultants. Registered nurses Lynda Wood and Cheryl Mills were certified Oct. 15, and will help new moms in the military community through the visiting nurse program of Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society

“In this community 99 percent of our (clients) are pregnant or postpartum,” Mills said. “They have newborn baby care educational needs and breast-feeding needs.”

With so many requests for help from new mothers, Wood and Mills decided to go through the certification process together. Just as they support new mothers, they supported each other through the grueling path to completion.

“You need to have 2,500 to 4,000 hours directly involved with breast-feeding education,” Mills said. “This is either provided in classroom instruction or counseling with mothers involving problems or visiting them postpartum.”

Mills also is encouraged by the growing numbers of fathers willing to get involved with their babies.

“Those fathers,” Mills said. “They can tell me the color, consistency and how many times — anything — about the baby’s poop.”