Nicola Coles-Carr IBCLC

05/08/2025

It's World Breastfeeding Week 2025. This year's theme will focus on environment and climate change.

Breastfeeding is a natural, renewable food that is environmentally safe. Breastfeeding is produced and delivered without pollution, packaging or waste and is the sustainable solution that is good for the planet and its people.

Prioritising and supporting breastfeeding will reduce the growing climate impact of artificial infant feed supply chains.

Find out more: https://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

05/08/2025

I made a choice when I qualified as an IBCLC that I wasn’t going to make posts for social media. I feel there are many great IBCLCs making amazing and informative content already, that I myself love to follow. I didn’t want to try and create my own versions of the same things and would rather re-post theirs. ☺️
I created profiles on Facebook and Instagram to hopefully make it easier for people to find me locally and hopefully access support near them. So while I may be quiet on here - I am here to support you! 💕

26/07/2025

Mother’s experiences of access to International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) support in the UK

We are conducting research to understand who accesses IBCLC support in the UK and what facilitates this access. You do not need to have breastfed, and you do not need to have received support from an IBCLC to take part.

As a thank you we would like to offer participants the opportunity to be placed in a prize draw to win one of 10 x £20 Love2Shop vouchers.

This is a Swansea University research project led by Emily Lunny as part of a PhD study, supervised by Dr Catrin Griffiths and Professor Amy Brown from the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences. You can contact Emily, Catrin or Amy for further details of the research.

Email Emily: 2457218@swansea.ac.uk
Email Catrin: c.r.griffiths@swansea.ac.uk
Email Amy: a.e.brown@swansea.ac.uk

The research has been approved by the Health and Social Care Research Ethics Committee (approval number 2 2025 13501 13457).

Our research aims to understand mothers’ experiences of accessing IBCLC support in the UK, whether they chose to or were able to access IBCLC support or not.

We understand that talking about infant feeding experiences can be upsetting if things didn’t go to plan. Please contact the Birth Trauma Association or any of the breastfeeding support associations in the UK if this is upsetting for you.
La Leche League: https://laleche.org.uk/
The Breastfeeding Network: https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers: https://abm.me.uk/
The Birth Trauma Association: https://www.birthtraumaassociation.org/

As part of this we are looking for mothers to complete a survey that will take between 20 – 30 minutes depending on how much you would like to say. Our survey will remain open for the next 4 weeks from 24th July to 21st August 2025.

We would like to hear from parents who:

• Are based in the UK
• Had a baby between May 2021 and May 2025
• Breastfed, formula fed, combination fed or anything in between

We would like to hear from mothers and parents no matter how they fed their baby, and whether they received IBCLC support or not.

If you’d like to take part please click the link for further information and the survey questions https://swanseachhs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8uGyfv2Nl3ugWZ8 The

16/07/2025

If you need support please do get in touch to discuss how I can help you. I offer a range of support options including; Home visits, video consultations and WhatsApp messaging support. You can find more information on my website: nicolacolescarribclc.co.uk

You can get in touch with me by message here or WhatsApp or by email.
Phone number: 07739341605
Email: nicolacolescarribclc@gmail.com

12/05/2025

La Leche League GB is launching a new free newsletter for healthcare professionals. it will be approx quarterly, and brief! You can sign up here if you’d like to receive it - you’re very welcome to share the link with colleagues:

http://bit.ly/LLLGBhcp

26/03/2025

Before pumps were invented, if you couldn't nurse, you expressed milk by hand (...) this method is still common."

📚The Art of Breastfeeding
9th Edition
(La Leche League International, 2024)

🧡 This sculpture - Idole de fécondité - from the 4th millennium BC is a wonderful depiction of a mother hand expressing milk into a bowl.

📨 Comment 'hand' to get the link to our Hand Expression article in your inbox.

📷 Photo (C) RMN-Grand Palais / Hervé Lewandowski

[Image description: sculpture of a seated woman with her hands on her breasts. There is a bowl balanced on her lap to collect the milk she is expressing.]

26/03/2025

Lovely client testimonial 🥰:

“Having had no struggles feeding our first baby, it came as a shock that it was such a different experience with our second little boy. He was fractious and distressed during and after feeding and had lost considerable weight. I had spoken with the GP, health visitors and also attended a feeding clinic before finding Nicola. Nicola came to visit us at home and helped us. She was incredibly sensitive, knowledgeable and listened to our concerns and preferences regarding feeding. Following Nicola’s visit, and with her ongoing support, we were able to achieve healthy weight gain and continue breastfeeding. We are enjoying watching our boy grow and thrive and this would not have been possible without her support.” Lydia

31/12/2024

31/12/2024

Important information for anyone breastfeeding and baby wearing 💕

😯 IT’S NOT HANDS FREE! 😯

Breastfeeding/chestfeeding in a sling is NOT hands free. Not what you want to hear?
When people want to breast or chestfeed in a sling, it’s usually so they can do something at the same time so want their hands free.

It’s not HANDS free, but it IS HAND free. You will have one hand free, and when you become a parent, you know how much you can still do with one!

Depending on the position you choose to feed in, babys head is not supported, this is why you need to do it. Babies head is the heaviest part of their body, and they cannot support it very well.

Covering babies head with the sling or carrier is NOT the solution either. This presses babies head into the breast/chest and doesn’t allow them the movement needed to latch and unlatch. It can also be an asphyxiation risk.

When feeding in the sling or carrier, you must monitor baby at all times. Check if they have fallen asleep and resposition them high on your chest upright.

Babies under 4 months, premature, low weight or have medical issues are at a higher risk and it’s important to get 1:1 support at all times in these circumstances.

If you do not feel you can monitor baby the whole time then do not try to do something else and stop to feed first.

If you want to learn how to safely feed in your sling or carrier get in touch.

Daisy 💚

Credit and thanks to for the wording and putting this post together 🙌🏻

09/10/2024

When out walking the dog I saw a mum walking down the road, baby in arms, pushing a pram with her free hand. Oh how I remember this, struggling along with the pram steering with 1 hand, trying to fully support baby with the other. By the time baby 2 came along I had a much more realistic attitude and didn’t even get the pram out of the roof space - I just walked with a sling / baby carrier.

Mums / Dads, please don’t worry if this is what happens when you go walking - this is NORMAL. It won’t always be like this. It will change. You will get to a time where your baby sits and looks out and you can chat to them and point out things and they may even fall asleep while you push them - yes this miracle will likely happen….. with time.

But your young baby - particularly in that 4th trimester phase - is unlikely to be happy with this situation. They are just biologically and psychologically not ready for long stretches out of arms yet. It’s ok. If that’s the case, a sling might work better right now, the pram can wait a little bit, or maybe keep the pram for naps in the living room?