Eastern Ranges Lactation

Some important things you should know about ni**le shields -

🔸They should always be the last option & not a replacement for skilled lactation positioning & attachment help.
🔸They are handed out way too often and unnecessarily
🔸They pose a big threat to establishing & maintaining a healthy milk supply without expert lactation guidance & monitoring
🔸It's a sign you need expert lactation help & assessment (IBCLC) if you are handed a ni**le shield.
🔸Ni**le shields need to be sized to your baby's mouth NOT your ni**le! (yes! It's not a pump fl**ge!)
🔸Most babies above 2.5kg can & should use a 24mm or L shield. You want room for areolar to be pulled into the shield - hence pulled into a baby's mouth!
🔸You shouldn't be able to see the shield when a baby is latched properly on a shield.
🔸Ni**le shields don't prevent or help heal ni**le damage.
🔸They don't help ni**le pain
🔸Weaning off a shield should start as soon as possible. The longer you leave it, the harder it is to get rid of.
🔸They can be a disaster for naturally low milk producers with significant risk factors or medical reasons for low milk production.
🔸Ongoing assessment of milk production is essential if using a shield
🔸Most mums need to do some pumping along side using a shield to protect milk production.
🔸Not using a shield helps to make more milk

Ni**le shields can be a helpful short term tool or bridge to get to successful exclusive breastfeeding, if used correctly & under expert lactation guidance.
They can help to increase breastfeeding confidence when mums & bubs are really struggling with positioning & latching.

My motto is - if a baby is swallowing lots of milk, switching frequently & the latch is comfortable using a shield it is better than no latching at all & spending hours on a pump & bottle feeding.
If not used correctly though & this is when they do get a bad wrap, they can really sabotage breastfeeding & run mums into low milk production problems.
Beware! Ni**le shields are a Band-Aid, NOT a solution. They should be correctly sized, used short term and under the guidance of a trained lactation professional.

We made it through my baby sister's wedding without a baby 🙌
Although, 38 weeks pregnant and doing the nut bush 💃, my baby girl is feeling it
today 😂
Her hospital bag is packed ✅
Her antental breastfeeding session done ✅
She has her breastfeeding essentials - her b***s, a good organic ni**le balm, good supportive bras, frozen peas in the freezer and me 😀
Now we just wait for this precious little baby to make her way into this big wide world, and for my baby to be birthed as a mother for the very first time 🙏❤️❤️

Unrealistic expectations really cause new parents a lot of stress, anxiety and grief 😕
Sure, I can provide many strategies to help parents to feed, settle and care for their baby.
However, my most valuable offering is my education to help them to understand WHO their tiny humanbeing really is!
Once you gain an understanding of why babies are behaving like they do, you can then work from a platform of knowledge which builds acceptance, confidence and resilience.
Once you appreciate the wide variances in what our society pitches as "normal" for all babies, you can stop worrying & searching to “fix" your baby. You can lean into the unpredictability a baby brings & stop feeling like you are doing something wrong.

Babies are constantly changing and how we respond to them has to keep changing with them.
Once your baby is a baby no more, they will continue to do things THEIR way and at their own pace, nothing much changes, just the achievements are different. 🤷‍♀️
Some will be sprinters and some will not have it in them to win a race.
Some will be talkers and some will be listeners.
Some won't be able to sit still for a single minute and some will take a lot to get going.
Some will have the ability to show great patience and some will not.
Some will be as stubborn as hell.
Some will be the most sensitive of souls.
Babies show their unique human
characteristics which go on to be strengths and/or weaknesses from a very early age. Temperament plays a huge role from birth and impacts on both breastfeeding & sleep
The challenge for new parents is being able to recognise the humaness in their tiny people.
To sit with them in uncomfortable spaces as they learn how to fit into this world, develop and grow (and not just physically)
Being able to do this is a lesson in resilience for ourselves!
Mothering or parenting does not always come easily or naturally.
Finding ways to nurture yourself while YOU, yourself are changing & growing and are immersed in this intense chapter of your life helps you to not only survive but thrive.
Surrendering to hard things, imperfection, sometimes ugly moments and being able to relinquish control with self compassion IS the reality of parenting!
You are doing an amazing job & the most important job you will ever be asked to do. 🙏❤️

The truth IS - breastfed baby's don't drink or NEED increasing feed volumes as they get older & bigger because the COMPOSITION of breastmilk changes and grows with them. 🙌

Total average daily intake of breastmilk consumed by an exclusively breastfeeding baby after 6-8 weeks is around 750-950mls.

It's normal for milk volumes to fluctuate as a breastfeeding journey continues, but your baby isn't drinking higher and higher volume feeds as they grow.

Once your baby is eating other foods & drinking water after 6 months of age, peak feed volumes start to decrease, not increase!
This is what naturally happens!

The idea that baby's need increasingly larger bottles is driven by recommendations on formula tins 😡 This information comes from formula companies themselves & is over inflated right from birth to sell more formula! 💰
It's also based on larger less frequent feeds which breastfed baby’s just don't do. And from the expectation that babies should be sleeping & do not need to feed overnight 🤯

Medical feed volume calculations cited a lot after birth working on mls/kg/day decrease not increase as a baby gets older.✅
From 6 months this calculation is down from to 100ml/kg/day. You do the maths?? An 8kg baby only would need 800mls of milk a day.
A 100- 120ml bottle feed would be plenty! A breast baby would never need 200mls of breastmilk in a bottle!
Some may drink if it is offered YES, but do they NEED it - NO!

So plessd don't be fooled and please don't stress mumma 🙏 You don't need to be pumping more and more milk to keep up with your growing baby!
Your clever body & constantly changing breastmilk does this for you 🙌
Your milk supply is healthy, perfect & just fine 🙏

Breastfed babies absolutely need to snack!!
Small tummies need small frequent
portions ✅
Human milk is to quench thirst as well as for hunger ✅
Think how humans eat and drink?
How many times do we wet our whistle and take a slurp out of our drink bottles?
Think how toddlers eat?
Toddlers graze - this is developmentally appropriate ✅
Babies are no different!!
A baby is a not a robot or
tamagotchi programmed to eat on a schedule 🤷‍♀️
They don’t eat “full” meals at every breastfeed.
Feeds are short, quick, effective, frequent and unpredictable ✅
Appetite fluctuates, thirst fluctuates, the need for comfort fluctuates and milk production fluctuates.
Breastfeeding is organically matched to match a human. A tiny human with unpredictable needs.
Get into your flow and go with it, and be prepared to change as the flow changes. Babies are forever changing.
Breasts can never be drained or emptied, they don’t need to be 🤷‍♀️
Frequent snacks, scattered with some longer meals at the breast is what drives healthy growth and a healthy sustained milk supply.
Don’t overthink it ✅
Block out the noise ✅

Anxiety is a "normal" human emotion.
Every new mum will experience anxious thoughts.
Anxiety becomes "abnormal" when worrying or scary thoughts start to dominate the majority of our thinking and influence all or most of the decisions we make. Heightened anxiety makes normal functioning feel hard and scary.
Anxiety is MORE than just worry, it's an intruder and manifests as repetitive thoughts which visit too frequently and hang around long after they have been asked to leave.
It's a state of living in "fear" and a difficultly in the ability to feel "safe"
Anxiety sabotages Joy 😔
Anxiety changes our perception of everything we can feel.
There is SO much to "feel" both physically & emotionally when breastfeeding. Heightened anxiety can manifest in physical lactational pain, it can drive behaviour causing many breast or baby concerns.

One example of this is a mother who is experiencing an intolerance for the feeling of “fullness" in her breasts.
Fear is driving this intolerance.
Her trying to “empty" her breasts is driving physical symptoms of mastitis.
The root cause of her reoccurring mastitis is ANXIETY.
I see quick fixes offered for symptom relief, without understanding or looking for the true underlying cause.

People we turn to for breastfeeding support often shy away from even contemplating anxiety is at play, due to their own personal discomfort, lack of skill & bias.
Some new mothers can mask anxiety well & still function at a high level. Some are not ready to acknowledge anxiety, some are waiting for us to help them to get help.
We need to meet people where they are at while not conjuring up incorrect physical pathology.
Humans are complex, pregnancy, birth and everything after is complex.
We are more than just physical beings. Women are transforming or evolving into a mother not just on a physical level.
So much is happening and mental health is in its most vulnerable state during this time of immense change and transformation.
The care I provide honours and acknowledges all of the parts that make us human. ❤️
Good lactation care, correct education, support and a respect for maternal mental health & how it is impacting on breastfeeding is what really helps.
Our emotional body is just as, or I would argue even more important than our physical body.
Treat and look after both 🙏

Perfect day at Chelsea’s baby shower 🌸
My baby having her first baby 💕
Extra special sharing this experience with Luke’s mum Gail ❤️
This baby will be showered with love and this new mumma will be well cared for.
Not long to wait now 🙏 🐣🤱

A very early start & a big day talking to many breastfeeding mums & expecting parents Belly, Birth & Beyond Gippsland
Spreading awareness around the changes to mastitis understanding and management. Many were unaware recommendations have changed and walked away feeling more knowledgeable and reassured 🙏
Perfect timing to be volunteering my time during world breastfeeding week 🤱
Early to bed for me tonight! 🤪

The best and easiest way to meet a baby’s sensory needs and build sleep pressure is to use the outdoors and nature.
A baby can never “catch a cold” from being out in the cold. 🤷‍♀️
It’s quite the opposite; over winter, babies still need lots of exposure to natural daylight and fresh air to help build healthy immune systems and to help regulate sleep.
They need natural daylight hitting their retina (eyes) to help build healthy levels of vitamin D and melatonin.
Getting out in all weathers instead of staying home to focus on “wake windows” will help a cranky, bored baby feel happier and a tired mum feel less stressed. 🙏
Spending time out walking is so beneficial for maternal physical and mental health. It may seem the best and easiest option to stay home enclosed in four walls to keep warm, but it can honestly drive you and your bored baby mad!

Dr Katrina Mitchell has taught me so much For the last 6 years. She has been my mentor and sounding block 😂
She has helped me to make sense of the
"lactation nonsense" I honestly wouldn't be where I am today and still specialising in this space if it wasn't for her friendship, knowledge and support 🙏
During all the times I have felt
totally gaslit while trying to question traditional teachings, she has been there to remind me to keep going!
Her book has been over 2 years in the making. I have helped Katrina to gather incorrect advice circulating so she could turn the lactation medical nonsense into sense. 🙏
Her book will help mums to "fact check" every social media and google breastfeeding myth out there. There are some missed as we couldn't keep up with the rubbish that is continuously emerging 😕
But she had to finish!!
It's for the mums, it's the truth.
It’s written by an incredible woman, breast surgeon and breastfeeding medical physician who is passionate not only about breastfeeding but about supporting, protecting & treating maternal mental health in the process 🙏🙏🙏
No wonder we get along so well 🙌