Lactation Consultant Leeds

26/07/2025

Away for the week! ☀️

Apologies to those im slightly delayed in getting back to (follow ups I’ll always reply daily) and new submissions on my website I’ll redirect you to others locally.

At present all Leeds/York based requests id recommend heading over to www.lactationconsultantyorkshire.co.uk - Anne is excellent

-Rachel x

20/07/2025

⭐️ Webinar for Health Care Professionals on the Theory of Lactation, Saturday 6th September 2025 09:00-12:00 ⭐️

We can’t wait to see local Health Care Professionals there, we’ve had a lot of interest from GPs, Paediatricians, Obstetricians, Midwives, Health Visitors, Chriropractors and Osteopaths who work with families in the postnatal period

To book email and we will send you the booking link which is now live!

We can’t wait for this shared learning.

(We will be running a similar class in October for birth workers who are non Health Care Professionals - watch this space 👀)

08/06/2025

When you were learning to drive did you ever look out at the road and have the overwhelm wondering how on earth everyone else managed to work this out and pass the test?

Are you looking at mums feeding their self latching baby in Costa coffee (everyone’s idea of passing their test!) and having the same feeling…

No one ever learnt to drive without a car. You can do all the reading and theory you can, antenatal classes and prep (which I do think are hugely important) but until you have your baby in your arms and your instructor by your side it’s not all going to click into place.

But on top of these things … there’s the need to practice practice practice.

And as for your instructor - that maybe a village of people ranging from your partner, your female family members, peer support at your local group, a midwife, health visitor, doctor or IBCLC.

But one thing is required from all those people is competence and consistency of advice

Strive for progress NOT perfection 🙏🏼

07/06/2025

The next string to my bow is to start teaching training packages for other health care professionals, birth workers or affiliate postnatal practitioners who may benefit from additional either basic or more in depth feeding support training focussing on:
- the breast anatomy
- physiology of milk supply and milk production
- how birth can impact feeding
- Impact of feeding trauma on mental health
- The principles of a deep latch
- common issues of colic, reflux, tongue tie, lactose overload
- managing mastitis and breast abscesses
Etc

This is in a push to increase awareness among allies of new vulnerable mums in order to bridge the gap from opinions to evidence based advice and referrals within your remit.

Let me know if this would be of interest and whether a face to face session or virtual would be appropriate

Sessions would be split into groups of similar categories with tailored training based on need.

*Sessions do not lead to any form of formal qualification in lactation*

02/04/2025

Out of office until after Easter 🐣

09/03/2025

A little late to the game with celebrating International Women’s Day 2025 yesterday due to being a busy bee but absolutely loving being part self employed and having the freedom to make a difference in a different way.

Having worked for many years in the NHS it was a huge leap of faith going self employed part time last year and with it has bought a huge sense of pride, humility, sense of achievement and awe of the amazing mums in business around me.

It is so hard getting the balance right of putting your family first alongside building a business with families at the heart and centre.

This year was powered by the deep grief of baby loss and channeling my sadness into positivity and good for others and I couldn’t be more grateful for all the amazing women around me waving their Pom Pom’s 📣.

Thank you to the lovely Anna at for inviting me to work with her on her classes and the amazing women I work with daily both the nhs and privately alongside friends and family who give inspiration 🦹🏼‍♀️

We got this 💪🏼

25/02/2025

Such an excellent example of a nice horizontal bottle slowing down the feed and letting the baby take control 🙌🏻

16/01/2025

Last night our team was honoured to be shortlisted for the Yorkshire and Humber Infant feeding awards.

It was such a special evening and a credit to our whole team that we were shortlisted in the first place. It was a real honour to be in the room with so many fantastic feeding supporters from the council, to nhs services, IBCLCs and breastfeeding families that have been through a lot of hardships.

There is still so much to be done in this area of public health but this was a great first step in recognising the need on a higher level.

20/12/2024

Last of my Christmas private visits done and feeling really festive and ready for my last few days of NHS work then Christmas with the whole family down south 🎄

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas whether you are my colleagues working supporting all the new families into the world or one of the lovely families I’ve supported this year.

I hope you are able to eat (lots) drink (some) a be merry!

I’ll be back working in the new year 🎊

Ps I’ve received some amazing photos recently with updates from previous clients mainly featuring Santa hats and smiles … keep the updates coming!

14/12/2024

Thank you so much to Bernice for sharing Nancys story:

“Nancys symptoms from an early age were this facial rash, mucousy stools with occasional specs of blood in, very unsettled in between feeds, disliked being layed flat, silent reflux and constantly wanted to feed for comfort due to being in gastro discomfort all the time which led to a vicious cycle.

I knew that some of these symptoms could mean other things so first of all had a breastfeeding assessment to check my latch, milk flow and tongue tie check which were all normal.

I suspect looking back that my son had some of these symptoms but just put him down to being quite a fussy baby and frequent feeder.

Nancy has always gained weight well and been well hydrated which was reassuring.

I didn’t want to treat her reflux with medication due to the side effects and the fact that she was already constipated. I knew all her symptoms had a root cause and I needed to find that out.

I decided to exclude milk due to no improvement excluded soya quite quickly too (lots of babes with CMPA will have soya allergy due to proteins being so similar)
Due to little improvement excluded egg too. This is when I saw a complete improvement. She was a happy baby with clear skin and normal poos.

I have seen an NHS dietician - I asked for referral right back at the start as was aware of long waits and despite not being sure if I’d need it and the GP saying they didn’t agree and it would be on maternal request.

Have not seen a NHS paediatrician or had any testing on the NHS as dietician said due to not having ige symptoms didn’t qualify. I chose to pay privately to see a private paediatrician allergy specialist. This was partly due to my anxiety- I was worried if baby was reacting so much via my milk what would happen if I was to give her something direct she was sensitive too.
I also had done a lot of reading that by not weaning properly and avoiding certain food groups especially nuts you can actually increase the chances of an allergy and I didn’t want to cause a problem because of my anxiety.

It was confirmed based on a negative skin prick test for IGe reaction that she is IGg allergic to dairy/soy/egg.”

29/11/2024

Layed back feeding, what’s all the fuss about?

This feeding position can be super relaxing for mum and baby if gotten right but can be a stress and can induce feelings of failure and anxiety if not achieved. Perhaps the “home birth” of the breastfeeding world.

Layed back nursing may not be a correct fit for all babies, some need a more structured approach as do some breasts and mothers!

This position CAN help babies to latch using their primarive instincts and is often the position adopted in their first feed after birth. Laying back can aid gravity to deepen babies latch and therefore be more comfortable for mum. It often involves some element of self latching however can also be achieved by a more supported latch and then leaning back into a reclined position.

I’ve seen this approach used beautifully in a bath for a bottle fed baby who had a bottle presence and for mums struggling have their milk let down due to stress levels. Often skin to skin is the perfect compliment to this feeding position (and any!).

As with everything, give it a try and see if it works for you.

First picture my little girl at 1 week old, second picture a friends baby at 3 months.

28/11/2024