About
I’m a Mum and I’ve been a midwife for over 30 years. When my daughter was born, I assumed breastfeeding would be easy, I’d even attended 18 hours of breastfeeding education with the Unicef baby-friendly initiative. The reality was that my experience was a roller coaster of challenges, I didn’t ask for help, I just persevered alone. It was only when I trained as a lactation consultant, 12 years later, that I fully understood my struggles with breastfeeding. It truly is a case of wishing I knew then, what I know now.
I’m currently the lead specialist midwife in infant feeding within a busy Maternity unit . I teach midwives, nurses, doctors and support workers about breastfeeding, bottle feeding and relationship building. I see Mums with complex feeding issues and where appropriate perform oral assessments for tongue function and mobility. In addition I run an NHS tongue tie clinic and teach on this course at the University of Wolverhampton.I also teach for a private company that offer online antenatal classes.
I’m passionate about supporting families to reach their personal feeding goals and help them through their feeding journey wherever that may take them.
I’m non-judgemental in my approach and my aim is always to work together with parents to develop a feeding plan that really works for them. My hope is that Mums will be able to feel confident in their ability to feed their baby/babies.
Qualifications and Credentials
- Infant feeding lead specialist midwife since 2012
- International Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 2012
- Tongue tie practitioner 2023 (NHS only)
- Registered midwife since 1993
- Registered nurse 1989
I am a member of the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain.
I carry professional liability insurance and hold a current DBS check.
What is a lactation consultant and why might you want to see one.
An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) is the most highly regarded qualification for supporting breastfeeding and lactation knowledge. As the title suggests this is an international qualification. The training requires 90 hours of lactation/ breastfeeding specific training and a further 1000 hours of clinical practice supporting Mothers and Babies. This needs to be evidenced and verified before sitting the exam. Once qualified an IBCLC is required to recertify every 5 years and be able to show evidence of additional study and professional development. Recertification after 10 years is currently by exam. There are many less qualified people using the title ‘Lactation Consultant’ and the gold standard is the IBCLC qualification. This can be verified at https://iblce.org/public-registry/
