Infant Feeding Coach Directory

Hi I’m Melany, mum to four children and grandmother to three wonderful grandchildren, I struggled with breastfeeding for numerous reasons and do not have a successful story to tell.  

I had my first child young and now realise that I not only had no knowledge on the benefits of breastfeeding for mum and baby but also the physiology of how breastfeeding works, there was no pre-birth education and little post-birth support other than ‘feed your baby”.  I had axillary breast tissue breast tissue (breast tissue that extends to the underarm) consequently milk collected in this area and was painful and uncomfortable, I received incorrect advice and felt like I was in the dark ages as midwives bound me up with a tight bodice and told me to massage the area and apply warm compresses, this made it worse and I got mastitis, the same process happened again with each child I had mastitis numerous times and gave up breastfeeding feeling very deflated.

I have worked for the NHS for over 25 years, starting my journey for a local primary care trust in a GP surgery.  From here I progressed to a hearing screening role at my local hospital, during this time I found when doing my rounds on the ward, women were struggling with breastfeeding and were emotional and tearful.  When performing my hearing screen I would offer support and reassurance as memories came back of my own experiences, at this point I felt a strong passion to support women to successfully achieve their feeding goals.  For the past 15 years I’ve worked in an infant-feeding role providing pre-birth education and postnatal support within the home and local children’s centres.  

I have a Foundation Degree in Maternity and have recently qualified as a Baby Massage Instructor.  I’m now delighted to have completed the Infant Feeding Coach Program and I’m proud to call myself an Infant Feeding Coach/Breastfeeding Counsellor so that I can continue to offer support and empower women to feed their baby/babies with confidence.