Refer a family, and we’ll close the loop.

What we handle

We are a nurse-practitioner-led breastfeeding medicine practice. We evaluate and treat the parent and baby together as a couplet, and we can examine, diagnose, test, prescribe, and perform an in-office, minimally invasive frenotomy when one is truly indicated. Common reasons colleagues send families our way:

• Persistent feeding pain, nipple damage, vasospasm, or thrush
• Slow weight gain, poor transfer, or failure to thrive
• Low or oversupply, including medical workup when indicated
• Recurrent mastitis and plugged ducts
• Suspected tongue-tie, for a thorough, function-based evaluation
• Newborn jaundice where feeding optimization is part of the plan, with home phototherapy when appropriate
• Postpartum mood and wellbeing screening alongside feeding care
• Prenatal planning for families with prior feeding challenges, low supply, or other risk factors

Evidence-based, assessment-first approach

Our assessment is thorough before it is interventional. We evaluate the parent and baby together as a dyad, watch a full feed, and work through the many causes of a feeding problem before we consider a procedure. When the history and exam point to a tongue-tie that is genuinely limiting function, we perform a precise, minimally invasive, in-office frenotomy. When they do not, we say so and treat the real cause, so families are not sent for procedures they do not need.

Care follows current lactation and breastfeeding-medicine standards of practice, including Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine protocols, with shared decision-making and clear parent education at every step.

Our prescribing clinicians

Referrals are seen by nurse practitioners who are also IBCLCs, so the medical evaluation and the lactation expertise sit with the same clinician.

Angelica Hibbs, FNP-C, IBCLC

Founder of Barrio Babies. A family nurse practitioner and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who has cared for newborns and their mothers since 2004, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. In 2018 she joined the newborn nursery at Tucson Medical Center as a hospitalist nurse practitioner, caring for infants with hypoglycemia, jaundice, feeding difficulties, and respiratory concerns, and coordinating referrals and continuity of care. She built the practice around treating mom and baby together.

Heather Davis, FNP-C, IBCLC, BHRT

Lead clinician for Barrio Balance+, our hormone and functional medicine service. A family nurse practitioner and IBCLC, a maternal-child nurse since 2004 and an IBCLC since 2015, with BHRT training. She cares for patients across the lifespan with an individualized, prevention-minded, education-first approach.

Services for referring clinicians

What we can evaluate and manage for a shared patient:

• Lactation and breastfeeding medicine, including couplet visits, latch and positioning, and milk-transfer assessment
• Tongue-tie evaluation and minimally invasive frenotomy when clinically indicated
• Low milk supply and oversupply, with medical workup when indicated
• Mastitis and plugged ducts, often same-day
• Nipple pain, vasospasm, and thrush
• Slow weight gain and poor weight transfer
• Newborn jaundice, with in-office bilirubin (TCB) checks and at-home phototherapy under provider oversight
• Gassy and fussy baby evaluation
• Home visits across greater Tucson and Southern Arizona
• Telehealth visits
• Prenatal lactation planning for families with prior feeding challenges or risk factors
• Newborn and transitional care while a pediatric home is established

When to refer

Early is easier. If a feeding problem needs more time than a routine visit allows, is not resolving with first-line guidance, or sits between the parent and the baby in a way that needs both seen together, that is a good time to send them our way. We triage urgent feeding and breast concerns quickly and can usually see new families the same week.

How to refer

• Fax a referral to (833) 471-2668, or call (520) 869-3565 to coordinate directly
• Families can also self-refer; no referral is required to schedule unless their plan requires one
• We accept most commercial plans, AHCCCS, and TRICARE, and help families sort out benefits

How we close the loop

You stay informed. After the visit we send a concise summary of our assessment, what we found, what we did, and the plan, and we coordinate directly when a shared patient needs it. For babies without an established pediatric home, we provide early newborn care and help the family choose a pediatrician, then transition care to you smoothly.