Kathryn Stagg IBCLC - lactation consultant

Kathryn Stagg IBCLC - lactation consultant Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Kathryn Stagg IBCLC - lactation consultant, Medical and health, Harrow.

Private breastfeeding support, antenatal feeding education and holistic sleep support
Videocall or home visit
Areas covered: Harrow, Brent, some NW & W London, S Herts, W Bucks
https://linktr.ee/kathrynstaggibclc

18/11/2025

As a parent of older children, I never ever think to myself I cuddled my baby too much!

Cuddle them!!

Transitioning a premature baby to breastfeedingSo is it actually possible to move to exclusive breastfeeding when a baby...
17/11/2025

Transitioning a premature baby to breastfeeding

So is it actually possible to move to exclusive breastfeeding when a baby is born early? The answer is yes, but it takes lots of time and perseverance, and having the support of an experienced infant feeding team, breastfeeding counsellor, or IBCLC will help immensely.

At around 32-33 weeks gestation, many babies begin to develop their suck, swallow breathe pattern, and can feed in short bursts. Offering once or twice a day to start with means babies don't get too exhausted. During kangaroo care, they can be encouraged to explore, have a lick, and even a few sucks. Non nutritive sucking on a pumped breast is often the first step, so babies do not get too overwhelmed with the flow of milk. A fuller breast can be introduced a bit later. The babies will still be tube fed the majority of their milk.

Once they begin to get stronger and start to suck and swallow more effectively, then more feeds can be introduced. But babies will still likely need to be topped up through the tube for a while. They may do a test weight before and after a feed to estimate how much milk a baby is taking.

There is some evidence that a ni**le shield can help premature babies get more milk. This can be useful if the parents are struggling to pump as the babies can take more milk directly more quickly. However, it is another intervention! But most babies move away from using them within a couple of months.

As babies begin to take more milk, the top ups can be reduced. Some babies will be able to exclusively breastfeed as early as 35-36 weeks gestation. For others, it may be somewhere after a 40-week due date. A full feeding assessment will help to work this out.

If babies continue to need some extra milk, hospitals will often introduce a bottle so that the babies can go home more quickly. Obviously, this is not ideal if the parents want to breastfeed. But if the bottle is paced, it reduces the risk of bottle preference developing. With good support, babies should be able to move to exclusive breastfeeding once home. Babies can also be topped up by a cup, syringe, or an SNS.

Have you been through this? What tips do you have?

17/11/2025

World Prematurity Day
sharesher journey

At 31 +2 gestation, my waters broke, and 33 hours later, my identical girls entered the world. We then entered the world of NICU, and I began pumping religiously every two hours to provide milk for them. My “twin one”/Florrie was unfortunately intubated and transferred to a level 1 unit but made a quick improvement. She was lucky enough to receive donor breast milk during this time, and we are forever grateful that this was an option.
When reunited, the girls continued to receive my EBM via NG tubes as they had not yet developed the sucking reflex. Weeks of perseverance and practice meant we were able to get the girls feeding with ni**le shields by the time we left the NICU.
Once home, the hard work really began with cluster feeding, learning to tandem, and general life with preemie twins!
We were eventually able to drop the ni**le shields - 4 months for Florrie and 5 months for Ottie - and this made tandem feeds so much easier!
We are now just a few days short of seven months, still exclusively breastfed and thriving with no plan to stop anytime soon. I’m so grateful for the support of this group, from the expert advice when asking a question, to reading other people’s stories and knowing you’re not alone.

14/11/2025

Back from UNICEF Baby Friendly Conference

OMG, I think we talked to pretty much every single one of the 1100 delegates at least once. We gave away all of our leaflets, flyers, business cards, badges, mirrors, and pens.

And lots of people left their contact details to find out more about our webinars and training. Emails will be sent once we have organised ourselves!

Lots of informative talks, .infant.nutrition.alliance
and personal highlights. The microbiome talk also blew my mind. Will reflect on that in a few days and try to write something.

And catching up with lots of lovely colleagues, old and new, of course!

But one of the best parts was when we had lots of twin/triplet mums who are also breastfeeding supporters and health care professionals come over to the stall to tell us how important our support was in their breastfeeding journeys and to keep up the good work. It was wonderful to get this feedback

I had loads of people "fangirling" me, saying they love my videos and resources which wqs lovely. Lots of signing of books and selfies taken! I am famous in a very small niche of the population! Thank you for making me feel like a rock star for 48 hours. I am humbled that my small corner of the internet has such a positive effect. Feeling empowered and oxytocin fuelled to continue to fight the good fight, after a sit down in a quiet room with a cuppa.

Back to normality today, school run, van MOT failed, and a wet dog walk.

Comment below if you were there. What was your favourite talk? What was the best bit?

13/11/2025

Are you worried about clicking & gulping noises and whether it means your baby is swallowing air?

Gulping is just fast swallowing. Think of someone “downing” a pint of water. They tip back their head, pour & gulp. They are not taking in a load of air - they are swallowing. Gulping is fast swallowing, and it can be noisy, but that doesn’t mean there is air.

Clicking is about changes in vacuum. Everyone can make the click noise. Push your tongue upwards against your palate hard. Now quickly pull it downwards. You’ll hear a click, but you didn’t swallow! The click is from the break in vacuum, not from a swallow. When breastfeeding, the click usually happens when the tongue loses contact with the breast in the same way that you lost the contact with your palate.

ALL babies will click sometimes. They will click if the positioning isn’t quite right and they are struggling to keep up with the milk flow. They might click if feeding from a really full breast. They will click simply because they are a bit immature. Remember that a baby goes from no breastfeeding in utero to suddenly breastfeeding for hours a day - perhaps 6 hours? Imagine if you went from doing no exercise to exercising 6hours a day. Muscles get tired. The tongue is a muscle. Sometimes the tongue drops and then re-engages. A little clicking is not an issue. If your baby is constantly clicking throughout every feed however, then get some feeding support to see if a change in positioning or feeding pattern might help.

Studies do not back up the idea that clicking causes a baby to swallow lots of air. MRI of babies actively feeding found no air in the oral cavity while the baby remained latched (Mills et al 2020). I have spoken to someone who has watched ultrasound of babies feeding and has told me that even when you hear the click, no air is seen in the oral cavity. Ultrasound of breastfeeding babies stomachs show that breastfeeding babies do not have a lot of air in their stomach (Gridneva et al 2017).
All of us swallow a little tiny bit of air when we swallow - including adults, but there is no evidence that babies are taking in large quantities of air when you hear a click.

We at are at conference today and tomorrowCome and find us and say Hi. Come and pick up some leaflets, pens, badges, m...
12/11/2025

We at are at conference today and tomorrow

Come and find us and say Hi.

Come and pick up some leaflets, pens, badges, mirrors, sweets

Come and find out about our training opportunities, webinars and workshops.

10/11/2025

If you don't use it
You lose it!

I see so many people where their bay is not really latching, and they are only pumping once or twice a day. And their supply just drops

It is so important to breastfeed frequently in order to make lots of milk. And if baby isn't latching or isn't latching well, then pumping whenecer the baby would have fed is crucial to make lots of milk.

Today, there was misiniformation about mastitis treatment on National TV . Guidelines have recently been updated, and t...
07/11/2025

Today, there was misiniformation about mastitis treatment on National TV . Guidelines have recently been updated, and the GP was obviously not up to date with her knowledge. Here is the correct information that should have been shared:

Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast, sometimes with infection. Risk factors for mastitis are poor milk drainage or oversupply. Common things that can cause mastitis are a baby not latching well, inefficient feeds, tongue tie, use of ni**le shields, timed feeds, long gaps between feeds, and too much pumping. It is important to seek support from a trained breastfeeding specialist, either an IBCLC or an experienced breastfeeding counsellor

Mastitis may come on abruptly and usually affects only one breast, although it does occasionally affect both.

Symptoms may include:
* A hard lump or wedge-shaped area of engorgement that may feel tender, hot, swollen, or look reddened. On black and brown skin, redness is less visible.
* Area may feel hot and can be quite painful.
* There may be red streaks extending outward from the affected area if redness is visible.
* Fever, chills, flu-like aching and feeling unwell.
* Milk may take on a saltier taste – some babies may refuse the breast due to this temporary change.

Treatment
* Use a cold compress between feeds to reduce inflammation
* Take ibuprofen for pain relief, reducing inflammation and reducing fever. Paracetamol can also be taken in between for pain relief and reducing fever.
* Continue to feed frequently with a deep latch.
* If you can not bear to feed or if baby refuses, then make sure to pump when the baby would have fed. You do not need to pump extra as this can stimulate an oversupply. Oversupply increases the risk of mastitis
* Gentle lymphatic drainage massage from ni**le towards the armpit to help drain the excess fluid and milk. No firm massage. This increases inflammation.
* Rest
* Drink plenty of fluids and make sure you have adequate nutrition

IF YOU DO NOT SEE AN IMPROVEMENT IN SYMPTOMS within 12-24 hours, go to the GP for some antibiotics. Infected mastitis can worsen very quickly

Thanks to for the fabulous infographic

Nursing mannersSome babies and toddlers try lots of different behaviours when they are feeding. Things like pinching, tw...
06/11/2025

Nursing manners

Some babies and toddlers try lots of different behaviours when they are feeding. Things like pinching, twiddling the other ni**le, kneading, grabbing hair, putting hands in your mouth, biting, coming on and off, feeding standing up and all sorts of acrobatics. Some are cute. Some hurt!

It's important to remember that although all of these behaviours are normal, if you are finding something intolerable, nursing is a 2-way relationship. You don't have to put up with it!

Start early! If your child starts to do something you don't like, start to work on it immediately. It's true a lot of behaviours are temporary as they are just exploring, but you don't want them to keep doing it if you can't stand it!

Distraction - if it is something baby's hand is doing, give them something else to play with; a toy, or scarf perhaps. Or move their hand to a part of the body, which is less sensitive

Offer alternatives. Try offering to do something else. Maybe take them off and offer a toy, play, go out, give them a teether to chew, a snack or drink instead. If they want to nurse again, offer the other breast as sometimes the faster flow reduces the behaviour

If unwanted behaviours continue, take baby off and explain simply that they can't feed if they do that as it hurts or it make you don't like it. Offer them an alternative or if they want to continue feeding then they must not do it. Even quite young toddlers can understand this concept, although they might not like it! But boundaries are important. Gentle parenting is not permissive parenting!

Use a code word - some have concerns about the way their child asks to nurse. Maybe they yell BOOOB! or start to help themselves by undoing your bra or pulling your top down. Having a baby sign or code word can make this easier

If your child is asking to breastfeed very frequently in the daytime and you are struggling, there are some things you can do. Distract! Go out to play. Offer a snack or drink or cuddle. Go out for nap time. Use "after ... " type language so you're not saying "no" but "later". Remember it's OK to negotiate and its a good way to introduce body autonomy

05/11/2025

Explore the impact of lactation consultation when it comes to support, active listening, and reflection: https://www.goldlearning.com/ce-library/all-lectures/strategic-clinical-decision-making-in-early-lactation-detail

Kathryn Stagg, IBCLC shares key information on:
💡 Ways consultations can vary between families for individual clinical, emotional & relational support needs
💡 How case studies can illustrate the value of presence over problem-solving
💡 Different communication techniques can be used to provide parent-centered care
💡 Situations where counselling skills may be more important than breastfeeding support

This presentation is part of our GOLD Learning Day: Hands On or Hands Off? Strategic Clinical Decision-Making in Early Lactation! Learn from 3 expert speakers live on January 20, plus watch recordings at your own pace for 6 weeks.

Explore the impact of lactation consultation when it comes to support, active listening, and reflection!  Kathryn Stagg,...
05/11/2025

Explore the impact of lactation consultation when it comes to support, active listening, and reflection! 
 
Kathryn Stagg, IBCLC shares key information on: 
💡 Ways consultations can vary between families for individual clinical, emotional & relational support needs 
💡 How case studies can illustrate the value of presence over problem-solving 
💡 Different communication techniques can be used to provide parent-centered care 
💡 Situations where counselling skills may be more important than breastfeeding support 
 
This presentation is part of our GOLD Learning Day: Hands On or Hands Off? Strategic Clinical Decision-Making in Early Lactation! Learn from 3 expert speakers live on January 20, plus watch recordings at your own pace for 6 weeks. 
 
Click the link in the bio or send them a message to register!   
   

Address

Harrow
HA11NZ

Telephone

07719312795

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kathryn Stagg IBCLC - lactation consultant posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category