Caoimhe Whelan, IBCLC

09/12/2025

08/12/2025

I'm so thrilled that June Magazine is featuring an excerpt from 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents' in its Winter edition.

Caoimhe Whelan looks at how we gain the skills and confidence needed to breastfeed our babies

30/11/2025

I attended a fundraising lunch today in The Talbot Hotel in Stillorgan for , a charity that helps sick, injured and orphaned children in Gaza. It really was an incredible event - so well organised by Karen Prunty from and . I sat at a table with some fabulous women and , and I won a raffle prize of a book, candle and journal by The Good Glow and 2 personal training sessions with ! (Aoife this is exactly what I need - I'll be in touch).
The food was surprisinly good - sometimes at these kinds of big events it can be a bit meh, but kudos to The Talbot Hotel The turkey and ham was amazing 🥰

28/11/2025

We are really thrilled that Juno Magazine has included an extract from our book 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents' on Learning to Breastfeed in its Winter edition.

Juno is a really beautiful print and digital edition parenting magazine that promotes a natural approach to family life and aims to support parents through the challenges they face. Find more info at www.junomagazine.com

Practical Breastfeeding is available at all good book shops.

17/11/2025

Yes! I am still seeing clients! I just have limited availability for the next couple of months and I often forget to update my website 🙈

I have finally upated it though (www.latch.ie) with my availability for antenatal and postnatal breastfeeding consultations, either on zoom or at the lovely office I share with above in Churchtown, Dublin 14.

You can book on my website or email me at caoimhew@gmail.com. Thanks 😊

11/11/2025

Audre Lorde was an American writer, poet, activist, feminist and academic. I love her work. If you'd like to know a little bit more about her, I'd suggest starting with her fascinating memoir, 'Zami: A New Spelling of My Name'.

The above quote, a reflection by Lorde on raising her two children, is from an essay by Lorde 'Turning the Beat Around: Le***an Parenting 1986' included in her collections 'I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde'.

10/11/2025

This book 'Unraveling Motherhood: Understanding Your Experience Through Self-Reflection, Self-Care and Authenticity' is by Irish journalist and writer Geraldine Walsh

It is a guide for self-reflection on the experiece of being a mother, having become a mother, all the factors that shape that experience and how you feel about it. I like the way it is structured and the way that each chapter has a little section at the end to encourage self-reflection, or unraveling your motherhood identity. The book explores societal notions and myths about what it is to be a mother (eg perfect Vs good enough), the process of becoming a mother and mental health challenges.

The chapters are really nicely laid out, so you could read the book cover, or dip in and out - there are little nuggets of wisdom on every page.

Here's a little excert from the book which I particularly like

"We perhaps do not acknowledge how vulnerable motherhood can make us. Pregnancy and birth physically pick us apart piece by piece and motherhood psychologically reconnects us in a twisted, unrecognisable fashion, rearranging us entirely. There is a beauty and honesty in pregnancy, birth and motherhood but we are ultimately raw and exposed".

14/10/2025

I was very lucky to receive an invitation to the breastfeeding event in the Aras, hosted by Ireland's first lady Sabina Higgins. Nicola (author of the chapter in my book on pumps and pumping) was my plus one. All the voluntary and advocacy breastfeeding organisations in Ireland were represented, including Gaza Infant Nutrition Alliance (GINA) which supports mother/baby dyads in Gaza with feeding.

13/10/2025

The received wisdom* that many of us in the breastfeeding world have absorbed is that women make more breastmilk in consecutive lactations. The thinking is that there is increased growth of glandular tissue during each pregnancy, and that that means more milk.

This Australian study sought to investigate this theory. It compared milk intake over 24 hr periods in infants between 2 weeks and 6 months, with the same measurements for a subsequent baby (the 2 lactations were 2.3 +/- 0.9 years apart). Total milk intake was calculated using pre and post feed weighing by the mothers.

It was found that there was no significant difference between the data for the first and second lactation for the mothers who were exclusively breastfeeding. For mothers in the study who were partially breastfeeding, a small increase in milk production was observed.

The study concludes by saying that

- in exclusively breastfeeding women there is no effect of consecutive lactation on 24 hr milk production.

- women that supplement with formula may have a higher milk production in a subsequent lactation, provided there are no intrinsic causes of low milk supply. The study seems to suggest that the increased milk production could be attributed to breastfeeding education and support.

Please note: Participants in this study did not have underlying causes of low milk supply. We need another study that explores milk production in consecutive lactations in mothers who have IGT.

Did you make more milk with second or subsequent babies?

I've seen mothers with low milk supply who seemed to have a slightly better supply with second or third babies. But I think that was more to do with the effort they put in to breastfeeding & optimising milk production, than having more glandular tissue.

Warden, A. H., Sakalidis, V. S., McEachran, J. L., Lai, C. T., Perrella, S. L., Geddes, D. T., & Gridneva, Z. (2025). Consecutive Lactation, Infant Birth Weight and S*x Do Not Associate with Milk Production and Infant Milk Intake in Breastfeeding Women. Nutrients, 17(6), 1062

*something that people accept as true, without question

09/10/2025

It was a lovely morning at Aras an Uachtarain. I was there for the latch on event that Sabina Higgins has been hosting for a number of years to celebrate national breastfeeding week. I'm not sure when the first one was held - maybe 10/11 years ago. I've been twice already - once representing Cuidiu and once representing the Association of Lactation Consultant of Ireland. Today I was representing myself, the author of 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents'. (author of chapter 10 in Pumps and Pumping) was my plus one.

The best thing about today? Seeing so many gorgeous breastfed babies 🥰 🤱

It was also particularly good to see a representative from GINA .infant.nutrition.alliance speak about GINA's work in Gaza (I'm afraid I didn't catch her name).

08/10/2025

The Irish Trade and Professional Association for Doulas .ie and Roberta Hynes has very kindly funded the purchase of 20 copies of 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents' for distribution to breastfeeding volunteers/healthcare professionals/student midwives or PHNs/maternity settings/breastfeeding orgs.

I've already given a copy to the neonatal unit in The Coombe Hospital.

Please DM if you'd like a copy.

07/10/2025

The goal of this Chinese cross-sectional study was to investigate factors that influence the volume of milk a baby takes during a breastfeed. 162 nursing dyads, with babies aged 1 - 12 months, participated in the study.

It was found that sucking time, current infant body weight and the breast side used for feeding are key factors influencing breastmilk intake during a single breastfeeding session.

The median milk intake when babies fed on the right side was 60mls, while the median intake when babies fed on the left side was 48mls. So if you think your right breast produces more milk than your left, you're not alone.

Another interesting number in the study is the median feed volume - 55 mls. This means that the biggest number of babies drank 55ml during their breastfeed. The range was 30.5 - 80 mls. Test weight was used to determine the volume of milk transferred.

The median sucking time was found to be 8 minutes, with a range of 5 to 10 minutes.

The authors say they let babies feed for as long as they wanted but isn't clear on whether the babies were offered a second breast. There are some questions I'd love to ask them about their methods!

The study is open acccess at International Breastfeeding Journal:
Gu, L., D**g, L. and Chen, H., 2025. Relationships of breast milk intake during one breastfeeding session with sucking time and other determinants: a cross-sectional study. International Breastfeeding Journal, 20(1), p.70.