http://www.easternrangeslactation.com/

Eastern Ranges Lactation, P. O. Box 735, Cockatoo (2026)

29/04/2026

I bumped into a client of mine today who is still happily breastfeeding 14 months after I saw her once at home not long after her baby was born.

She told me, her journey this time has been markedly different from her previous short & traumatic breastfeeding experience with her first child.

Her gratitude for my support & education, she attributed to getting her this far, was a source of both joy and sadness for me. 🫤
It made my day, but also highlighted the significant lack of lactation expertise among other healthcare professionals working with new mothers. 😔

I acknowledge the privilege of having the knowledge I have, & time with these mothers, but I also imagine the positive impact any mandatory formal & accurate breastfeeding training would have on every nurse and doctor. And the positive impact this would have on every new mother’s feeding experience. 🙏

Imagine if every health care professional involved with infant feeding could confidently teach mothers how to breastfeed in various comfortable
positions 🙌
Imagine if they felt confident enough to avoid recommending premature formula supplementation & triple feeding plans 🙌
Imagine if they could correctly diagnose & manage lactational pain and medical conditions affecting lactating breasts 🙌
Imagine if they had just 30 minutes to spend solely educating a new mother about breastfeeding 🙌
Imagine if they understood how to help pump milk 🙌
Imagine if they recognised the significant mental health overlap into lactation and saw how a positive breastfeeding experience can support mental health 🙌
Imagine if they all really appreciated the value of breastfeeding to our society and to long term public health. 🙌

The breastfeeding space is really a tragedy when you are buried in it. 🫤
When you can really see the mess.
The consequences of not having adequately trained health care professionals I never truly appreciated before this became my sole work.
96% of women initiate breastfeeding. The majority are led to believe they can’t continue through misinformation, lack of support, and a gross lack of health professional lactational knowledge & skill 😔
It’s hard to fathom how medical infant feeding “specialists” are not required to train in lactation. 🤯
How breast surgeons are not required to learn about lactation 🤯
How every GP relies on social media , google/ AI to diagnose and treat breastfeeding medical conditions 🤯
Why aren’t paediatricians trained in lactation 🤯
Obstetricians??
Why aren’t all midwives and maternal child health nurses also IBCLC’s or hold qualifications in lactation??
Why wasn’t I trained in lactation as a paediatric & neonatal RN?? Why did I have go and train myself??
Why aren’t paediatric dietitians trained in lactation 🤯🤯🤯🤯
I could go on and on and on 🙈

I am trying to do everything I can to fix this - mad to think I can, I know! 🤪😂
But with the help of my wing woman Dr Katrina Mitchell we are having a crack 🙌
A big crack at the lactation world, correcting
knowledge and asking the questions????

17/04/2026

Number 4 precious grand baby is on its way. Due earth side this Spring.
It’s the best feeling helping your own daughters to breastfeed their babies 🙏❤️
Chelsea is already preparing to be my next boobie model 😂🤪

11/04/2026

Breastfeeding is a whole body and mind experience.
Good lactation support is essential to not only continuing to breastfeed but to the protection of maternal mental health. ✅

No breastfeeding experience should ever feel “traumatic” 😔

New mums need from me, straight forward correct, common sense education & advice to leave them feeling reassured , cared for and not fearful or uncertain.
They need to be “held”, & they need TIME. Time with my mums is something I can prioritise now that I am out of the health system and practicing privately. 🙏

Establishing breastfeeding can sometimes feel like a race with a forever moving finish line. Slowing the journey down and supporting a mother’s recovery & mental health helps with feelings of overwhelm and helps to keep mums breastfeeding.

Realistic expectations are a must, feeling “heard” is a must, support and encouragement to recognise when more help with mental health is needed is a must.
Being comfortable and skilled enough to normalise when mental health needs help & not feel like it is the elephant in the room is essential to providing quality wholistic lactation and postpartum care 🙏
The mental health overlap into lactation is huge!

Many breastfeeding challenges I see stem from a place of maternal nervous system overwhelm, from a deep place of vulnerability, disempowerment, and conflicting information overload.

Sometimes I find new mothers are not ready to acknowledge when more help with mental health is needed to really help breastfeeding. Gently I urge, I support and advise, never pushing too hard & never with any judgement. Never do I need to send mothers who I know are struggling on a wild goose chase looking for answers when I know what they need.

In a world that feeds us fear it’s hard to find calm. My mission is to be the “calm” in my mums world during this vulnerable time.,The empowering force working against the overwhelm.

There is no shame in the fact that the majority of women find the mental toll really hard, when we are continually told breastfeeding is meant to be natural and easy. 💜

There IS shame in the gross lack of skilled expert breastfeeding support available to all mums out there 😔

06/04/2026

Pumped milk volumes very often do not reflect how much milk breasts are actually making ✅
A pump can never remove as much milk as a baby can ✅
Incorrect breast pump use can sabotage healthy milk production. ✅

So many factors can affect pumping and influence how much milk can actually be removed.

Some of these factors include -

🔹Incorrect size pump flanges (this is a big one!)

🔹Ineffective pumping equipment/ worn out or poorly functioning pump parts.

🔹The type of breast pump

🔹Incorrect use of a pump & not utilising correct settings.

🔹Not pumping for long enough or pumping for too long

🔹Performance anxiety - stress hormones blocking Oxytocin, the hormone that is essential for milk release or for the "let down"/ milk ejection reflex. It's not uncommon for a mum who CAN and IS making enough milk to not respond well to a pump due to the “oxytocin factor”

🔹Sheer exhaustion from inappropriate pumping schedules that demand too much and do not account for rest/sleep and protection of mental health.

🔹Engorgement and inflammation which compresses on milk ducts, physically blocking the path for milk to be released. Pumping increases swelling in these situations.

🔹Milk volumes naturally changing/ fluctuating at different times of the day/night

Pump education is a vital part of all my consultation types.
It's SO important to get pumping RIGHT from the beginning if you are relying on a pump or pumping along side breastfeeding.
Breast pumps can be a great help when used correctly. Incorrect use can lead to many avoidable complications and can trick a mother into believing she is not making enough milk.
Correct or often ANY breast pump education is non existent unfortunately in our health care system.
Expert lactation support is worth it’s weight in gold ✅

01/04/2026

I spend so much of my time reassuring worried new parents & explaining the crucial fact that babies are complex tiny humans with HUGE human needs!
It's SO important to recognise this and not forget this when looking to "fix" problems that are behavioural changes in babies, 'expected' and 'normal'

It's so easy to be sucked into believing there is a physical problem that needs fixing or maybe that you are not doing a good enough job as a parent.
Our society and culture loves to tick boxes and standardise everything!
It separates out the physical from the emotional body.
They are so entwined it's not funny!!
Physical symptoms manifest in difficult emotions and emotional symptoms can manifest as physical pain/discomfort.
Babies are highly dependent, emotional, raw, immature HUMAN beings. Their emotional state is highly sensitive and strongly connected to their physical state. This is true of every human and of us adults too.
Is it that we struggle to handle their outbursts of raw emotion because we are SO suppressed by our own conditioning and a culture that suppresses ours?? 🤷‍♀️

Babies cry, they change like the wind, they are unpredictable, they crave connection, comfort and safety. They react to situations from a place of complete immaturity of every bodily system, physical and emotional.
If your baby's behaviour is changing, if they need you more or differently, it's just that they need you!
Usually nothing to fix!
They need to be held and have space held for them while they wrangle with their rapidly changing body and mind.

Parents need 'holding' too in order to give these tiny precious humans what they need. I help parents to have a better understanding of human behaviour right from birth. This helps to protect them from scrolling through all the things that cause them to believe something is wrong, when their little human is just being human 🙏❤️

27/03/2026

The wait is nearly over!!

“Go with the flow” is going to be the beacon of calm for lactating women in the sea of conflicting, convoluted, confusing and made up lactation knowledge flooding their phones and minds!

Every breastfeeding myth busted!!!
Except for the ones we are still hearing after the book has been completed 🤪

Katrina explains the “science” of lactation problems accurately. The anatomy & physiology of this unique organ and gland accurately. And cuts through the crap that is making breastfeeding more difficult than it should ever be.
She not only see’s breasts, ni***es and babies, she see’s WOMEN when they are finding breastfeeding a struggle ❤️
A true & passionate advocate for womens physical and emotional health 🙏

I am so excited to see this book in the hands of mums wanting to breastfeed.
I know social media will still be here conjuring up the next myth, trend, crazy gadget or home remedy but this edition of the holy grail of lactation will serve as the fact checker every mother needs to experience breastfeeding sanity and continue breastfeeding 🙏

Nothing has changed in so long!!!!!!
THIS IS the change we have been waiting for 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

20/03/2026

Having a personalised lactation assessment and education session with me BEFORE your baby is even born IS worth its weight in gold!!

✅Get off to the best start (just so important!)

✅ Flag and prepare for any possible breastfeeding challenges.

✅ Have the opportunity to ask any feeding questions before you are in the thick of it.

✅ Have my voice of calm, reassurance and correct knowledge your corner right from the beginning (the noise out there is loud, confused and conflicting 🥺)

✅ Avoid wasting money buying unnecessary breastfeeding products and gimmicks.

✅ Gift vouchers available- ask for the gift of my support & knowledge over baby items you may never use. 🤷‍♀️

Knowledge is power and helps you to advocate for both you and your baby ✅

Correct breastfeeding knowledge = breastfeeding sanity ✅

Breastfeeding is a learned skill for both you and your baby. You shouldn’t be expected to know what to do 🤷‍♀️
You have probably haven’t even thought it was necessary 🤔
I help so many mums after having their baby who wished they knew what I had to teach them before their baby was born.

You NEED to know how to breastfeed, how to prepare, what to expect and how to use any equipment correctly if required.

Learn what not to do in order to not have your breastfeeding experience sabotaged by incorrect advice. 🙏

Expert lactation support & education is just as important as birth education 🙏

After your birth it will be ALL about the feeding and settling 🤱👶🍼

My antenatal sessions are available in the comfort of your own home, via video Telehealth or as a shorter power session over the phone.

18/03/2026

This very common practice does not help a baby who is struggling with very fast milk flow 🤷‍♀️
Instead of taking the "top off", it's going to speed up milk production creating a bigger “top" for future feeds. Faster more forceful let downs, as milk production keeps speeding up, in response to extra stimulation and milk removal.

Some tips for helping with very fast flow ✅

✅ Feed in very reclined laid back positions or with your body very horizontal. (lay flat with your baby on top of you
YOUR BODY POSITIONING can really help your baby (my top tip!)

✅ Allow your baby to come on and off for a break when milk is coming too fast. (Imagine trying to skull a large volume of fluid fast without being able to come up for air? i) Add to this, a baby positioned under the breast, and a hydrant going down! How hard would it be to hang on in a deep latch and swallow really fast? 🤷‍♀️

✅ Avoid any pumping / expressing, just exclusively breastfeed, allowing your baby to regulate milk production.

✅ Shorten feed duration if your baby is having consistent high weight gains.

✅ Block feeding (feeding off one breast only for a few feeds) can help if overproduction is continuing and causing issues in either your breast or baby or both. (if you are needing to block feed I highly recommend involving an experienced IBCLC for guidance)

Babies who are feeding off mums who are overproducing can click, gag, splutter, come on and off, spit up a lot, vomit have lots of explosive, frothy, or watery green poos They can be very unsettled and gassy wanting to "suck to soothe" which can set up a vicious cycle for continued overproduction and Gl discomfort
Attaching a Haakaa or pumping off milk in an effort to slow flow down is a
counterproductive strategy that has been made popular by people who do not correctly understand how milk is produced.
It's ALL about "speed" of milk production. It is continuous and dynamic process, nothing to do with jugs emptying and refilling
Once we can begin to understand how milk is really produced and how these glands really work, then we can really help mums to avoid any problems associated with them working too well!

Reach out for my help if your baby is struggling with fast flow ✅

12/03/2026

"Neuropathic ni**le pain" is a term which is very new to the lactation world.
It is giving validity and hope to many lactating mums who have been suffering with terrible persistent ni**le pain which could not be cured.
The recognition of neuropathic pain being a plausible cause of lactational pain is a breakthrough which now explains why so many women treated for pathology such as thrush, infections, vasospasm and babies for “oral function” problems were never able to escape their pain.
Unfortunately many mums wean due to unresolved pain & they wean not even realising they were experiencing neuropathic pain 😔
Neuropathic pain is a 'type' of nerve pain. It's well documented and researched in other areas of the human body, it just has never been thought to occur in a lactating breast before now. 🤷‍♀️
Dr Katrina Mitchell and myself have been closely following neuropathic ni**le pain cases for the last 3 years. We have been joining forces to help understand more about this terrible ni**le pain which can strike during pregnancy, immediately after birth & continue throughout a breastfeeding journey.
Dr Katrina Mitchell has found a highly effective medication treatment option in a group of SSRI medications that are safe to use during lactation.
Her treatment outcomes have been amazing & have enabled mums to continue breastfeeding pain free!
We are observing that neuropathic ni**le pain has a wide spectrum. Some mums on the severe end will never be pain free without the help of an SSRI ( which works to desensitise the ni**le) Some not so severe can find relief without medication by working with a lactation expert who understands this pain & what drives it.
The relief having someone be able to describe exactly what you are feeling and know how to help is palpable!
Now comes the challenge of educating others to see what we can easily see and identify as a
"real" lactational diagnosis. 😕
If you are suffering with ongoing persistent ni**le pain which no one can understand or resolve, you are not going mad or doing anything wrong 🙏❤️ You are being “gaslit” by a lactation world which is so confused and stuck in its ways. 😔

02/03/2026

Separation starts with the severing of the umbilical cord, this is just the beginning of a long process of human adaption. Every baby needs to be held close to gradually learn to trust separation. Some will need to be held more closely than others and for longer. This is normal ✅
The road to independence involves the development of secure attachment, some baby’s will have longer attachment needs before any level of independence is easy.
Babies wake, are unsettled and cry due to physical hunger but this is only one reason they are asking for your attention. The need for human connection is just as strong and important as feeding tummies. ✅
It is a huge adjustment existing in the outside world. The loneliness and fear they can feel is way out of proportion to what you might think they ‘should’ be feeling.
Relying on only natural primal instincts until they learn that is it safe to be left alone and that you will return, is all babies have 🤷‍♀️ Babies are not robots who instantly fit into our world.
They need time and some need more time than others to feel safe enough to rest and sleep alone.
Aligning expectations with your baby’s biological and emotional developmental needs is being realistic and vital to reducing worry and stress.
It’s easy to think something is wrong or that you are not doing something right, when our society focuses so heavily on what is needing to be fixed 🤔
The majority of babies I see don’t need to be fixed, they need to be understood 🙏
Unpredictable human behaviour during this intense time is inevitable and normal.
Breastfeeding plays an important role in your baby’s emotional development. It promotes a closeness that sometimes our society perceives as lingering or not normal. In a world that is becoming more and more fast paced and disconnected breastfeeding is something which forces you to stop and connect. ❤️❤️
Hold your baby close and for how long you need to 🙏
These early years fly by so quickly. 🙏
I see babies who once needed to be held a lot, grow into the most independent and secure human beings
Hold them close as one day you will have no choice but to let them go ❤️

28/02/2026

A BIG “NO” from me!!!!!!
I keep this post on a regular rotation in the hope I can prevent any followers wasting their money on these potentially harmful gadgets 🙏
I and many other IBCLC’s are seeing an increase in nasty ni**le wounds caused from skin maceration since the rise in popularity of these gadgets. The worst ni**le wounds ever!!
Ni**le damage which started out as
'superficial' progressing quickly to tissue loss & hypergranulation (abnormal tissue healing) 😡
Instead of making things better, silver cups have quickly made things a hell of a lot worse!
Soggy skin predisposes ni***es to tissue breakdown and damage.
'Maceration' weakens the natural protective structure of the skin.
Healing damage or trying to prevent damage by covering the ni**le with a solid silver cup creates a very high moisture environment which IMPEDES healing. It INCREASES the risk for ni**le damage!!!!
Ni**les sweat & they sit in a bath of breastmilk. As great as breastmilk is, it's high in water content. You don't want ni***es soaking in water 🤷‍♀️
There IS a reason why solid silver is NOT used in any other area of wound care in the human body - it's pseudoscience!
To add to the problem, knock offs of sliverette’s are not made from silver!
I have seen some nasty skin reactions to the “metals” in these products 😡
A good organic ni**le balm and hydrogel will work effectively to heal superficial ni**le damage.
If a wound is deeper then a filler dressing works effectively to promote healthy granulation tissue healing .
Something like Polymem or mepilex foam are excellent "effective" healing treatments for ni**le wounds ✅
Proven wound care products with actual research evidence ✅✅
Any damage or “need” to use a sliver cup is a red flag for needing expert lactation help ✅ And from a “real” trained, expert breastfeeding medical practitioner with skills in both lactation and wound care. One who can see through the heavily marketed pseudoscience which targets a very vulnerable population 😕

22/02/2026

Mastitis management is so easy when you fully understand what mastitis really is and how it looks & feels as it is progressively resolving. How to manage breast tissue appropriately and how not to panic!!
Most mums WILL be in a state of panic which in itself worsens symptoms and the mastitis presentation.

For my 3 mumma’s, they contacted me with early symptoms of mastitis at different stages of their breastfeeding journey.
My first mum is relatively early postpartum. The other 2 are much further along.
All felt like they had been hit by a train initially with a fever, sweats/ chills , aches and very painful, hot breasts. This gland is so highly metabolic, mastitis can make you feel like utter crap 💩. They were all frightened by how unwell they felt and how suddenly it came on.
They all felt better generally and improvement within 24hrs of starting lots of icing and receiving my reassurance and help ✅
All their breasts got redder while they were beginning to feel better. ✅
Less pain and more softness was experienced in their breast but the skin was redder looking and had spread.
They all knew that the redness would peak and likely spread, hang around for a few days then suddenly go away. They all continued to feel less pain and better within themselves, despite still having a red breast.
Mastitis generally resolves completely within a week when it is managed correctly. ✅
It can take longer if a mum has been massaging 😔 You potentially have tissue damage which does increase the risk for abscess formation and infection.
It’s SO important to not massage (not even gently 🙏)
By midweek my mumma’s will all have normal breasts again and feel like themselves again. 😃
They knew not to massage, not to apply heat, not to overstimulate, to rest, care for themselves and most importantly not to panic 🙏
They kept the frozen peas on 🙌🙌
I check in on them via SMS each day until all the symptoms are gone. Reassuring support helps mastitis to not be feared🙏
Anxiety and fear increase pain and exacerbate symptoms ✅
So simple!!
Maintaining my 100% mastitis resolution success rate 🙌
Why can’t the whole world get how simple it actually is 🤔🤷‍♀️

Eastern Ranges Lactation

29/04/2026

17/04/2026

11/04/2026

06/04/2026

01/04/2026

27/03/2026

20/03/2026

18/03/2026

12/03/2026

02/03/2026

28/02/2026

22/02/2026

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