Shona Cassels - Lactation Consultant

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Shona Cassels - Lactation Consultant

IBCLC (Lactation Consultant)
FEEDING-SLEEP-PARENTING
Practical, gentle, holistic. Let me help you find your happy feed!

I have over 15 years of supporting breastfeeding families, including over 10 years as an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) here on the Gold Coast. I can assist with sore/cracked ni***es, painful breastfeeding, difficulty latching on (positioning and attaching); mastitis, blocked ducts and/or breast pain; colic/reflux; tongue ties and lip ties; low milk supply or oversupply; breast refusal or fussiness; breastfeeding after breast reduction or augmentation (implants); relactation or inducing lactation; concerns about growth/weight gain; sleep issues; expressing/pumping; returning to work/study while breastfeeding; and weaning! I provide accurate and evidence-based information about breastfeeding, sleep and parenting, together with skilled, experienced, nurturing and practical support. No matter what challenges you are experiencing, together we can make a plan to help you reach your breastfeeding and parenting goals.

17/10/2025

There’s so much pressure on women who breastfeed to have the “perfect” diet so that their breastmilk is “perfect”. Luckily, nature gave protections to the milk-making process to make sure our breast milk always contains exactly what our baby needs, no matter what we eat* (*see below for exceptions)

THE FACTS

⚡️It takes a mum about 2,800 kJ per day to make breast milk. Some of this energy comes from pregnancy fat stores and around 2,100 kJ needs to come from extra food intake each day. Choose the most nutrient-dense foods that you can.

💦We make an average of 800ml of breast milk daily. Breast milk is 87% water, so make sure you stay well hydrated - especially when you’re exercising and when the weather is warm. (But note that drinking to excess will not help you make more milk.)

💪🏼We can’t control the protein levels in our breast milk with our diet. The protein levels do however naturally decrease as lactation progresses. Based on the average of 800ml of breast milk per day, we need to eat an additional 25g of protein per day when we are breastfeeding, so include this in your daily food intake.

🐠We cannot change the percentages of fat in our breast milk. Fat levels are only influenced by how full our breasts are at any given time – the emptier the breast, the higher the fat content. We can however influence the types of fats in our breast milk by what we eat – so if we eat more unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, more of them will be in our breast milk.

🌈There will always be the right levels of vitamins and minerals provided your diet is reasonably balanced - eat a rainbow!

[If you are concerned that your diet is deficient in any way, please consult a dietitian or other qualified health care professional.]

(*NOTE: If you are vegan or have had bariatric surgery, it is important to check your vitamin and mineral levels, especially B12, through pregnancy and breastfeeding. Being deficient in B12 can lead to deficiencies in your breast milk, which can have serious consequences for the growth and development of a baby.)

16/10/2025

Mum+Baby Group - Tues 21st October
INTRODUCING SOLIDS

When to start, how to start, what foods to offer, and how to tell if your baby is ready. A practical and down-to/earth guide to this exciting milestone.

Our Mum+Baby Group is every Tuesday morning.
💛 All mums and babies are welcome. 💛

☀️ Tuesdays 10.30am at Medical on Robina
💸 $30 per session
📞 Call 07 5690 1290 to book

10/10/2025

Are you returning to work or study and thinking about your feeding options? Here are 3 Feeding Tips to get you started:

One - Figure out how old your baby will be by the time you return to work.
This will affect the options you have for giving your baby milk (breastmilk or formula) and food (if they are around 6 months old or older), including how much of each they will need, whether you use a bottle or a cup, and more.

Two - Work out which days and hours you will be working.
This will help you decide how to feed your baby, whether expressing while at work is an option, or even breastfeeding your baby during breaks.

Three - Get informed about your feeding choices. Would you like to continue breastfeeding, wean completely, or mixed/combo feed? Our lactation consultant Shona is an expert at helping you work out what would work best for you and your baby, and can set you up with an individualised plan.

Send us a DM if you’d like to know more 👩🏻‍💻

09/10/2025

Mum+Baby Group - Tues 14th October
WEANING FROM BREASTFEEDING

When’s the right time? How do you start? No matter the age of your baby or child, we’ll guide you through the when, how and what to expect as you wind back from breastfeeding.

Our Mum+Baby Group is every Tuesday morning.
💛 All mums and babies are welcome. 💛

☀️ Tuesdays 10.30am at Medical on Robina
💸 $30 per session
📞 Call 07 5690 1290 to book

02/10/2025

Answer: Babies wake overnight for lots of reasons!

In the early weeks and months babies waken regularly for feeds, because their tummies are really small.

Babies also have long periods of light sleep where they may stir frequently and some are easily wakened by lots of little things (including their digestive system, which is growing and developing like their whole body).

Even as they grow, babies continue to waken for night feeds through their first year (and sometimes beyond). They may go through times of waking more frequently when they are learning a new skill (eg crawling), going through a developmental leap of some sort (hello, separation anxiety!), or due to discomfort (eg teething).

When our babies wake at night we need to remember that they are super-reliant on us for so many things, including comfort and reassurance. There are lots of gentle and effective strategies we can use to help them to sleep, always based on where a baby or child is at developmentally and what their personality is like.

Need more help with night waking? Book an appointment with us and we can fully explore your situation, your baby/child’s developmental stage and personality, and what sorts of night-time parenting strategies are open to you - and then we can make an individualised plan to help you through this stage.

25/09/2025

We’re told that breastfeeding is natural, or maybe instinctive (and that somehow we’ll just know what to do 🤷🏼‍♀️)

But breastfeeding is still a LEARNED skill - and it is so much easier to learn something new if we have someone to learn from.

In cultures where breastfeeding is the norm, first-time mums are much more likely to breastfeed, to find help easily if they need it, and to successfully navigate any challenges.

Every mum needs to be able to tap into the combined knowledge of other women who’ve already fed their babies. We all need that village.

At our clinic have a real passion for supporting women to meet their feeding goals. We will support and coach you as you and your baby learn together.

20/09/2025

It’s really common for our breasts to be different sizes.

We are most likely to notice the size difference in the first few weeks of breastfeeding, when our breasts are fuller because we’re over-producing milk.

There are lots of reasons for the difference in size, including:
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It’s just the way they are - our bodies are not symmetrical and neither are our breasts 😊
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One breast might make more milk than the other.
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One breast might let-down quicker, making it easier for your baby to get the milk.
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One breast might be easier for your baby to latch onto (different nipple/breast size or shape).
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You might find one breast easier to feed from. (We each tend to be either right or left-handed).
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Your baby might feel more comfortable on one side. (We see this with babies who have had a birth injury or have torticullis.)
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And of course, if your baby feels more comfortable on one breast they’ll feed better on that one, which increases its supply, and makes it even more “popular”!

So what can we do about this?

We can sometimes make our breasts more even if we feed more often from the less popular side.

Our breasts often become less lop-sided once our supply settles down anyway.

If otherwise things are going well then there’s no need to do anything.

Hands up if you’re just embracing the uneven look?
🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️

12/09/2025

✨ Navigating the early weeks and months with your baby?

Got questions even Google doesn’t seem to be answering?

Just want to be in a space with others that get it?

You’re so welcome at our Mum + Baby Group 💛

Each Tuesday morning join us – Shona Cassels IBCLC and Dr Frances Knight (Mum & Baby GP) – for a supportive, expert-led Mum & Baby group session – a place to learn, feel reassured, and connect with other Mums who are walking the same path 👶🏽👶

Swipe through to see what’s coming up next ➡️

📅 Every Tuesday at 10:30am
📍 Medical on Robina
💲 $30 per session
📞 Call 5690 1290 to book your spot!

Know another mum who’d love this group? Tag or share this with them.

And if you’ve joined us before, we’d love you to share what you found helpful about our group – it might be just the encouragement another mum needs to come along.💕

11/09/2025

This might be an old saying, but it’s a good one. Babies are born with a complex set of inbuilt reflexes that help them to signal or “cue” what they need. As a parent we just need to respond to these cues and figure out whether they are hungry, lonely, uncomfortable, tired, or whatever.

We don’t always need to follow a strict feeding routine but instead can feed our baby according to their cues. Some people call this “feeding on demand”, but “feeding on cue” sounds nicer. Their feeds may not be evenly spaced throughout the day (just as our adult meals and snacks are not). Sometimes babies cluster feed, having a few feeds close together, and this is normal.

The first few weeks of your newborn’s life are about getting to know each other, responding to their cues, building their trust, and noticing the patterns of feeding and sleeping and waking that YOUR individual baby naturally falls into.

Looking for more support on your parenting journey? Follow us for more useful information ⭐️

04/09/2025

The short answer is YES (usually).

The longer answer is…

The half-life of caffeine in most adults is around 5-6 hours. (Half-life is the time it takes for the caffeine in your body to fall to half of its original level.) So now you’re probably thinking, hmmm that sounds like caffeine will be in my breast milk for ages…?

But if you’re breastfeeding the caffeine level in your breast milk is only around 1% of what you’ve consumed, so your baby is getting a small amount. Also, the peak caffeine level in your milk is around an hour after your drink it.

With newborns we might want to be careful with caffeine, because newborns can take a long time to clear caffeine from their bodies - half-life of 50-100hrs - so if you had a number of coffees (or caffeinated drinks) over a number of days the caffeine levels in your newborn baby could build up.

The good news is that by 3-4mths old a baby can process caffeine much more quickly (half-life 3-7hrs).

In summary, one morning coffee will likely not affect your baby very much at all – but might give you the boost you need!

13/05/2025

It was lovely to meet so many mums and babies at our first Mum + Baby group session yesterday! 💜
This group is every Tuesday at 11am at and everyone is welcome.
A list of our upcoming topics will be available soon and you can register your interest via the link in my bio.
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15/03/2025

We still don’t have power at home but Liz and Rich at The Village B&B have been keeping our bellies full and raising our spirits. Thank you! 🥰💜🙏

Address

299 Scottsdale Drive, Robina
Gold Coast, QLD
4226

Telephone

+61468345174

Website

http://www.shonacasselsibclc.com.au/, https://bmc.link/shonaibclc

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My Story

I am an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and a member of the Lactation Consultants of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ). I provide private breastfeeding consultations on the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales (home visit or clinic at Ashmore).

My interest in breastfeeding originally came from my experiences of breastfeeding my own children, and then through supporting local mums and babies as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor. I feel passionately that parents and parents-to-be deserve the best evidence-based information about breastfeeding, together with skilled, nurturing and practical breastfeeding support.

Hundreds of local families have already benefited from my services - give me a call if you’d like to book a appointment.