Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the end

 My guest this week, Sarah, is a great example of the power of self belief. Sarah’s twins, Louie and Robyn, were conceived through IVF during the COVID lockdowns, and had a tricky birth resulting in transfusions and a hospital stay. Throughout all this, Sarah knew that she wanted to breastfeed her twins, and advocated for herself despite busy maternity staff not providing the support they needed. She managed to establish breastfeeding with a combination of pumping and nipple shields, continuing when she returned to work as a primary school teacher.

Louie and Robyn are now three years old and thriving. Sarah plans to continue breastfeeding them as long as they need.

You can find Sarah on Instagram @‌sarahgrace2710

My new picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.

You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

 We’re doing something a little bit different this week, as you may have guessed from our title. I'm talking to Liz Lee-Smith, who is @‌thebirthhistorian on Instagram. She's an antenatal educator,a breastfeeding peer supporter, and she's a history nerd as well. And we’ll be discussing wet nursing, by looking at the lives of a handful of women through history. 

One note of warning, we will be talking about a story that involves baby death, and we do note that it’s coming up so that you can skip if you need to.

My new picture book on how breastfeeding journeys end, The Story of Jessie’s Milkies, is available from Amazon here -  The Story of Jessie's Milkies. In the UK, you can also buy it from The Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. Other book shops and libraries can source a copy from Ingram Spark publishing.

You can also get 10% off my books on supporting breastfeeding beyond six months and supporting the transition from breastfeeding at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned - 

https://spectrumlactation.org/

https://kimberlysealsallers.com/books/

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

There’s a common assumption that if you breastfeed, you can never be apart from your child, and you have to sacrifice career ambitions if you are going to breastfeed longer term. My guest this week is here to bust that myth, and show how you can both breastfeed and also travel for work.

Jessica Greenfield is a singer-songwriter and member of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. She has continued to feed her daughter Ava, while touring with the band and balancing work. We talk about her relationship with Ava, maintaining her breast health on the road, family support, and her plans for the future.

Follow Jessica on Instagram at @greenfieldsings

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

My guest this week, Sarah Perry, is an author, lecturer and mum to two-year-old Zangi. She overcame a challenging birth, an extended hospital stay and inverted nipples, to meet her breastfeeding goals and continues to feed to this day. Sarah is also a wheelchair user and in this episode she shares some of her powerful writing about her experience of motherhood.

We talk about breastfeeding with limited mobility, feeding positions in a wheelchair and other people’s reactions to mothers with disabilities.

You can follow Sarah on Instagram at @__Sarah_Perry

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

The Story of Jessie’s Milkies is available from Amazon here: The Story of Jessie's Milkies

Or, if you prefer not to use Amazon, ask your local book shop to order from our other publisher, Ingram Spark, and libraries can order from them too. 

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Many parents who don’t meet their breastfeeding goals experience feelings of grief and even trauma that can affect their lives for years to come. This week I’m joined by the brilliant Dr Harriet Holroyd, a clinical psychologist and EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) practitioner, to discuss some approaches to resolving those feelings. We discuss some of the reasons for breastfeeding grief and trauma, and suggest some ways you can begin to find support if you or your loved one is suffering.

Dr Harriet Holroyd is @‌the_lactation_psychologist on instagram or find out more on her website www.thelactationpsychologist.com

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned - 

Lucy Ruddle IBCLC, Breastfeeding Grief: Understanding and Recovery

Professor Amy Brown, Why Breastfeeding Grief and Trauma Matter

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Too often I meet parents who have been told by their dentist that their toddler should stop breastfeeding because it contributes to tooth decay, so when I met this week’s guest, I knew I had to have her on the show to talk more about this issue.

Dr Gillian Smith DDS is a dentist from Bray in Ireland, who specialises in treating children and patients with additional needs. Together we explore why dentists still say that breastfeeding contributes to poor oral health, what actually causes tooth decay in toddlers, and what can be done to treat it.

You can find Gillian on Instagram as @tonguetieclinicbray and at @fitzwilliamclinic

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

The advice and support that we receive in the early days of breastfeeding can have a profound impact on our journey. My guest today, Abby, had an experience with an unnamed IBCLC that really knocked her confidence, and could have had dire consequences, had she followed the incorrect advice she was given.

Abby discovered that she had inverted nipples while preparing for the arrival of her son, Yardley, but she managed to find some adaptations that worked for her and initially feeding was working for both of them. When she then started to feel some pain when nursing, she visited an IBCLC for advice. What she got was an alarming consultation in which her concerns were not listened to, her supply was inaccurately assessed, and she left feeling fearful and confused. Luckily, in this case, Abby was able to find other support from her sister and other practitioners that she follows online. 

Abby is sharing this story with me having just finished her training as a peer supporter. We both feel that these experiences should be shared to help those of us who work with nursing parents to understand what bad practice is, and to see the impacts it can have on parents.

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned - 

https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-the-dangerous-obsession-with-the-infant-feeding-interval/

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

My guest this week ticks so many different boxes when it comes to breastfeeding experiences - birth trauma, tongue tie, mixed/triple feeding, tandem feeding, gentle weaning - but what we’re going to focus on in this conversation is aversion. When I asked many of you recently about your experiences of breastfeeding in pregnancy, many of you mentioned aversion.

Bryony is a peer supporter from Norwich. After a traumatic birth and a very difficult start to breastfeeding, she fed her daughter Winnie, now 3.5 years old, through her pregnancy with her son, Stanley, and tandem fed them both for five months. Throughout the pregnancy and beyond, she felt aversion while feeding Winnie. Whilst Winnie is now weaned, she continues to feed Stanley, who is now 10 months old.

Find Bryony on Instagram @‌giveitabreast 

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Resources mentioned - 

When Breastfeeding Sucks: What you need to know about nursing aversion and agitation https://www.lllgbbooks.co.uk/store/p237/WhenBreastfeedingSucks.html

Breastfeeding Aversion https://www.breastfeedingaversion.com/

https://www.breastfeedingsupportnorwich.com/

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week, I’m pleased to be joined by Karly Proverbs, a specialist paediatric osteopath and maternal osteopath. She explains what an osteopath is, what goes into their extensive training, and what you can expect to happen during a consultation. 

We discuss the applications of osteopathy for breastfeeding babies and parents, including treatment of tension, torticollis, back and pelvic pain.

Karly is @‌osteokarly on Instagram and @‌nourishandgrowlondon

Her website is https://www.osteokarly.co.uk/

My latest book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out now.

You can get 10% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com using the code MMPE10 at checkout.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram  @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.