COVID-19 and Infectious/ Contagious disease:

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) at Creating great beginnings will wear a uniform, a procedural mask and eye protection during the visit. The mask and the eye protection will be in place as per recommendations of health Canada during the pandemic, and might be subjected to change depending on the measures required by the government. (Home care setting COVID-19 infection prevention and control: Interim guidance - Canada.ca) Before and after each visit, the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings will wash her hands with soap and water or with an antimicrobial hand sanitizer.

When touching the dyad, the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings will wash her hands with soap and water or with an antimicrobial hand sanitizer before and after each assessment. The IBCLC at Creating great beginnings will wear gloves when making physical assessments of the dyad like breast assessment, physical newborn assessment, weighing of the baby and when making a visual and physical assessment of the baby’s mouth. The PPE will be removed at the end of the meeting when the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings leaves and respects a distance of 2 meters/ 6 Feet. The gloves will be removed when the assessment is done and that she can safely keep a 2 meters/ 6 feet distance.

The client will be required to wear a facial mask during the visit. If the client doesn’t have a facial mask, one can be bought by the client at a fee of 2$ and will be applied to the client on his billing. If a client refuses to wear an adequate PPE (facial mask), the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings reserves the right to refuse to make an at-home visit and can refuse to provide services to the client in person. A virtual option might be suggested but that doesn’t replace a home visit assessment.

Exposure policy:

The client or a member of their household will have to report an exposure to any infection/ contagious disease contracted prior to or after the in-person contact as it is required by Ontario Public Health. You can see an extensive list here: Infectious Diseases Protocol - Ontario Public Health Standards - Programs and Services - Health Care Professionals - MOH

The IBCLC at Creating great beginnings or a member of their household will report exposure to any infection/ contagious disease contracted prior to or after the in-person contact as it is required by Ontario Public Health.

Both parties, the client and the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings will engage themselves in reporting exposures to infectious/ contagious disease by the preferred way of communicating either a phone call, email, or text, to either parties.

Illness Policy:

The client and the IBCL at Creating great beginnings engage themself to take a self-assessment for COVID-19 and report any symptoms that would require cancellation of the visit. The self-assessment can be done here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) self-assessment (ontario.ca)

List of symptoms that would require rescheduling or be offered a virtual option:

Fever or chills
Shortness of breath
Nausea and/or vomiting
Diarrhea
Fatigue (more than usual)
Muscle aches and headache
Congestion, coughing, or sneezing (not related to chronic conditions such as seasonal allergies)
Skin rashes (not related to a chronic condition such as eczema or psoriasis)

The IBCLC at Creating great beginnings can cancel the appointment without any notice if infectious/ contagious symptoms appear. The client will be required to notify the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings of any symptoms 24 hours prior to the appointment. If the client fails to notify the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings of the symptoms 24 hours prior to the appointment, the 25$ deposit will be retained by the clinician. The client has the option to reschedule or may be offered a virtual meeting using a Zoom platform with Practice Better.

To be able to reschedule, the client and IBCLC at Creating great beginnings must be free of symptoms for at least 48 hours and not have family members that are exhibiting symptoms or in quarantine related to infectious/ contagious disease.

If the client doesn’t cancel his appointment but is presenting with the listed symptoms at the time of the in-person appointment, the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings will cancel the appointment and will leave the premises. The 25$ deposit will not be refunded. The same conditions will apply if a member of the client's household has symptoms or is quarantined: having the appointment being canceled.

Any cancellations related to illness and not notified within 24 hours prior to the appointment will incur applicable fees or penalties of the 25$ deposit.

Notification Policy:

If the IBCLC at Creating great beginnings receives a diagnosis of an infectious disease or virus after an in-person contact, the client will be notified within 48 hours after the in-person visit either by text, email, or secure messaging.

The conditions under which Creating great beginnings is requesting to be notified by our client:

You (or someone in your household) have been in close contact with a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19.
You (or someone in your household) are waiting for your COVID-19 test results.
You (or someone in your household) have any of the following symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath, nasal congestion, sore throat, difficulty swallowing, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, unexplained malaise, and new loss of smell & taste.
You (or someone in your household) have developed a new rash that is not related to chronic conditions like eczema or psoriasis.
You (or someone in your household) has traveled outside of Canada within the last 14 days.
Any diagnosis in your household of contagious disease like if they are suffering from an infectious disease (chickenpox, rubella, measles) or if they have the following symptoms:

-diarrhea;

-fever;

-vomiting;

-cough;

-sore throat;

-conjunctivitis, etc.

Prevention policy:

The IBCLC at Creating great beginnings vaccination is up to date and she has received three doses of COVID-19 vaccination as required by Health Canada. If you have made the choice of not vaccinating your household, you can still receive care and will not be penalized for your choices. You understand that Creating great beginnings does not assume any responsibility if symptoms present following an appointment.

Creating great beginnings is taking every measure advised by the government to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, including the use of PPE and virucidal disinfectants before and after every appointment. However, this does not completely eliminate the risk of exposure. You understand that Creating great beginnings does not assume any responsibility if symptoms present following an appointment.