Professional

I trained at Kingston and Epsom hospitals. I then started work as part of the Infant feeding team at West Middlesex hospital. After 4 happy years there, I was lucky enough to get a job as part of the Infant feeding team at my local hospital.  I worked within the local community supporting families to get their breastfeeding journey off to a good start.

I am currently in an NHS role as Infant feeding coordinator, I train and support the health visitors to deliver a high standard of breastfeeding information.

My qualifications include a foundation degree in Health and Social Science – Midwifery Branch. I have presented to staff the UNICEF breastfeeding and relationship building course. In January 2017 I attended a breastfeeding specialists course ran by ‘Breastfeeding London’, where I achieved a distinction in my assessments. This was the last qualification I needed to be eligible to sit the IBCLC exam.

I qualified as an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant in July 2018.

In order to keep my knowledge up to date and offer the best evidence-based care I complete many relevant study sessions. I also attend annual conferences, including ‘Lactation Consultants of Great Britain’ and ‘UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative conference’

I love teaching infant feeding antenatal classes, assisting new mothers to get feeding off to a good start in the early days and supporting women to feed for as long as they wish to continue.

I have completed a course in mindful breastfeeding and love using these techniques with parents both during pregnancy and once your baby arrives.

My passion is offering holistic family centred care, supporting you to achieve your personal feeding goals whatever they may be. I have interest in alternative therapies, and will happily chat through any ideas you have about using any of these; looking at how different remedies and therapies can help support you.

Personal

I’ve been involved in breastfeeding support for over a decade. The love of my life is being a mother and partner to my fantastic husband, with my work a close second.  I enjoy being with friends and love the outdoors, particularly loving the sunnier months when we can enjoy camping trips, a glass or two of wine and getting out in the garden to grow things.

My passion was sparked when undergoing my midwifery training; it enabled me to see how important good breastfeeding support was crucial to helping women achieve their feeding goals. On reflection, I realised that my breastfeeding journeys with each of my four children had been more difficult due to lack of knowledgeable support being available to me.

I was thrown various challenges with each of my children. My firstborns were twins, and then another baby arrived 18 months later. There was then a fifteen-year gap until I had my fourth baby, she was a very large baby and I found meeting her needs a real struggle and even though I held a wealth of knowledge around breastfeeding finding the support I needed was difficult.