Bethany Gallagher grew up in Pittsburgh and came to Baltimore for her master’s in speech therapy, which started her on the path to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Certified Neonatal Therapist in Towson, where she now is raising her family.
She lives with her husband, Kieran, and children, Nolan (12) Jack (10) and Maeve (8).
Gallagher helps new and aspiring moms with the process of breastfeeding and works with the development of infants, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and diet.
Gallagher says that her professional experience and personal experience with her three kids has helped her in her career and hopes to give advice to new parents about the realities of parenting.
Can you briefly describe the work you do?
[As an] International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, I treat moms and babies for a variety of reasons and needs. Everything from birth through whenever they decide to stop their breastfeeding journey, and I help them start, stop and prepare for it. So, like pre-birth, consults and things like that. [As] a neonatal therapist, I’m basically covering development of infants. While I do the lactation consults, I can see little things that [I may] notice be off, like head shape, neck muscle tightening, different things like that. I can, with confidence, refer them to other therapies
as needed.
What have you taken away from parenting that has helped with your career and vice versa?
The takeaways from parenting to my job that have helped is that some picky eating is normal. Toddlers don’t eat a well-balanced diet, and that’s OK … My pre-child self would be like, “Oh, your toddler doesn’t eat broccoli. That’s weird.” And now I’m like, “Well, yeah, a lot of toddlers don’t.” And then also, I think the work side of it is kind of disagreeing with myself here, but how important a decent, healthy diet is going forward.
While every toddler doesn’t eat broccoli, it is important to not just eat French fries all day and things like that. And [learning] how you establish lifelong habits, and it’s important to establish them early.
What has it been like managing work-life balance?
When I’m with my kids, I appreciate how, even when it’s hard, I see that it’s really not that difficult. They’re great kids. I love when I’m with them. I try to spend hands-on time with them, because I’m busy a lot of time with work, and work-life balance is really important and difficult to always feel like you [have] it.
A lot of it is realizing that it is hard, and all moms struggle with that. And I think just giving yourself a little bit of grace when you know you miss a play or a game. There’s always going to be more.
Having kids has been great, and it also makes you really humble and relate to moms. Before kids, it was really easy to judge, and having your own definitely humbles you and makes you a lot easier to relate to these moms who are struggling.
What has it been like seeing your kids grow up?
It’s really neat to see [the development]. You think you’re going to miss the baby years, but then the toddler years come, and then the elementary school years come, and you just enjoy every stage more than the last. And we didn’t think that was possible. And it’s neat to see how different they are.
What are some pieces of advice for new parents?
When you pick a pediatrician, you should never feel uncomfortable asking them a question. You should ask; that’s what they’re there for. There’s no dumb question. And I think the other thing is to remember that no one feels like they’re killing it at parenting.
We all have moments that we’re like, “Oh, am I doing it right?” No one’s doing it 100% right, because there is no right way to do it. And as long as at the end of the day your kids are safe, and happy and with you, you’re doing it right.
Family Favorites
Holiday: Christmas
Movie: “Clue”
Summer Activity: Visiting the beach
Dinner: Five Guys [Burgers and Fries]
Family Dinner: Butter noodles and broccoli
