Services: breastfeeding, infant feeding and parent mentor

Breastfeeding Support: Breastfeeding Baby

Breastfeeding and Early Infant Feeding

Breastfeeding or formula? All parents will discuss this during their
pregnancy, but many do not realise the huge advantages to giving human milk and I have often heard parents say ‘I wish I had known that’.

My aim is not to persuade you to breastfeed, rather to arm you with sufficient information so you can make your own choice. I respect your decisions and support you whatever you choose. The aim is to find a solution that suits both you and your newborn baby.
Should breastfeeding be your choice, I can provide the support for the following and more:

• Preparation for birth, the magic hour and your hospital stay
• Latching hurdles or concerns
• Feeding positions
• Learning your baby’s hunger cues
• Assessment of tongue or lip tie
• Recommendations for establishing or maintaining a healthy milk supply
• Care of sore nipples
• Laser therapy
• Overcoming engorgement
• Newborn feeding patterns
• Identifying if your baby is getting enough milk
• Pumping and storage
• Planning for return to work

Should you decide to feed formula, I can guide you for making up feeds, paced feeding techniques, and practical tips as you learn to read your baby's feeding cues.

What is an IBCLC?
IBCLC stands for International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. An IBCLC is a health care professional who specialises in the clinical management of breastfeeding. This is the highest recognised standard for lactation care, requiring years of experience, education and documentation of competency. There are many other types of lactation assistants with lactation skills, (clinical lactation specialist, or lactation advisor) but they are not substitutes for an IBCLC who is a clinical professional.

Breastfeeding Support: Mother Holding Baby's Hand

What to expect during a consult
Expect to spend at least 1.5 hours for an initial consult, either at my practice or in your home. I will take the time to gather your health history, hear the story of your pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding experience, and explore your goals. If needed, I will do a physical examination of you and your baby. I will observe you breastfeeding and provide suggestions to optimise your comfort, improve milk transfer, and help you to know when your baby is swallowing and feeding. I will aim to find solutions if there are challenges that you are facing and together we will put together a plan of action with you leading the way.
It may help to be accompanied by your partner, mother or key supporter. They can provide encouragement or may hear things that you miss during the consult that can help when you are at home. If it is possible, please do not feed your baby right before a visit. I will try to be flexible, so we can fit with your baby’s feeding needs.
My mission is to elevate you to your full potential, helping you to reach your own personal breastfeeding goals.

Low Level Laser Therapy
Nipple pain is common, especially in the early days and is usually due to baby not latching well. To truly treat the issue, the reason for the pain needs to be found. To help heal, low-level laser therapy can be extremely effective in accelerating the healing process and works well with blocked ducts and mastitis.
The treatment works by the laser light passing through the tissue of the breast harmoniously. It is painless but can give a warming sensation and it does not cause any damage to the breast tissue. Some women feel pain relief by the next feed with continual progress up to three days later. read more here

Parent Mentor and Coach

The first few weeks and months at home with your newborn should be a joyful and special time, but the reality for many parents is that the mix of the unknowns of caring for a baby coupled with the challenges of recovering after birth can be overwhelming.
Unfortunately babies do not come with an instruction manual and you may face confusion with all the well-meaning advice from every angle. I can be your baby manual. Providing practical advice and guiding you to find your own answers and solutions for you and your baby as you navigate your roles and you learn how to care for the newest member of your family.
The transition to parenthood is profound, as many parents already know. Developmental scientists consider it to be one of the biggest reorganisations in the lifespan. There are changes in the brain, endocrine system, in your behaviour, identity, relationships and more.
A reorganisation like this can take its toll and it is not surprising when mothers and sometimes fathers too, feel emotionally unstable.
I can support you through these times, provide coping strategies when you feel out of control or anxious, show you how to navigate your way through the emotional ups and downs and to accept them and not to fight against them. I will guide you and support you so you can emerge stronger in mind, body and soul to embrace your new life as a parent.
Tragically, sometimes a baby is born asleep. This is a most awful experience and one which I have sadly witnessed as a midwife. I have specific training for this and using a combination of counselling, meditation and visualisation, I aim to provide you with the tools you need to move forward and have hope for the future.