Heidi Cochran, RN, IBCLC

SouthernMED Pediatrics was pleased to welcome Heidi Cochran to our team in 2018 as our Lactation Consultant. Heidi sees patients at our Lake Murray location on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am-1pm. To schedule an appointment, please call 803-520-9370.

Heidi was raised in Saluda, the second of five children. She is a 1998 graduate of Saluda High and went on to study at the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg, from which she earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing in 2002. Following graduation, she fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a neonatal intensive care nurse. Over the course of her 16 year nursing career as a neonatal nurse, her love of lactation and assisting breastfeeding mothers grew. She cross trained in mother-baby nursing and was a member of the pilot team that implemented couplet care at Palmetto Health Richland, later aiding the hospital in earning Baby-Friendly designation. In 2012 she trained with the Healthy Children Project’s Center for Breastfeeding and became a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor. Prepared with additional hours of lactation specific education and clinical experience, she earned her IBCLC credential (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) in 2014.

Heidi has worked as a lactation consultant in the NICU, Special Care Nursery, Mother-Baby and Children’s Hospital units at Palmetto Health Richland prior to joining theSouthernMED Pediatrics team. She assisted hundreds of mothers, each having her own, unique birth story and breastfeeding journey. From the mom who went into premature labor at 24 weeks to the mom who had to be induced at 42 weeks, Heidi has experience supporting mothers of high and low risk infants in meeting their breastfeeding goals. Understanding that being a new parent can be both exciting and overwhelming, she has a passion for caring for families by providing guidance and encouragement during this very special time in their lives.

Heidi is married to her best friend, Jarrett, and they are the proud parents of four sons, Nolan, Easton, Cannon and Brogan. And though life with four boys can sometimes resemble a circus (she credits them for teaching her all about patience and having a sense of humor), the time they share as a family on a baseball field, basketball court, sandy beach or her family’s farm will always be counted among her life’s greatest blessings! She is a member of Mt. Horeb UMC, where she enjoys serving in the children’s ministry.