03/11/2025
Sharee shares: Why I became a Lactation Consultant...
When I was pregnant with my first baby in 2020 I had been a Registered Midwife for about 4 years. I fully expected to learn a whole lot more about having and raising babies, but what I didn't anticipate was the learning curve I'd experience with breastfeeding. When my daughter was less than a week old, I suddenly became very unwell. My ni***es were very sore and bleeding, my breasts were engorged and I felt like trash - but I had barely slept in a week, my hormones were probably all over the place and my milk had just come in, so this was normal, right? I soon realised I was very unwell - I was pale, aching all over, my blood pressure and heart rate were high and I had a fever. After 6 days of being just Mummy, the midwife in me switched back on and I realised something was very wrong. We went to hospital and ended up staying there for several days. (I'll never forget the look on the student nurses face when she took my obs in ED! 😅) There were a few things going on in my body and one of them was mastitis due to oversupply. I hadn't pumped once in those 6 days as a midwife had directed me not to, to prevent oversupply! But my oversupply wasn't caused by me, I had a pathological condition where my body made far more milk than my baby needed. I was treated with antibiotics and saw 3 lactation consultants whilst in hospital and the 3rd one gave us a plan that helped settle my supply within a couple weeks. But wow, I realised how little I knew about breastfeeding even as a midwife and I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for so many women without the midwifery background I had! Soon after I'd settled into motherhood I realised my dream, to help mothers through this beautiful but challenging part of becoming a parent. Two more babies and three different breastfeeding journeys later I'm living my dream, providing lactation support as a Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and working towards becoming an Endorsed Midwife to help make this vital service more accessible for families. 💖
