Breastfeeding & Beyond in Sydney, Australia | Medical and health

Breastfeeding & Beyond

Locality: Sydney, Australia

Phone: +61 2 8883 2091

Address: 106/9 Norbrik Drive 2153 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.breastfeedingandbeyond.com.au

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25.01.2022 Words matter. L.R. #apersonsapersonnomatterhowsmall @thegentlemamma #rockitmama Raising Humans Kind: http://t.co/T8goym3P6Z ... Please respect the work of authors, photographers, and artists. You are welcome to share provided you include appropriate credit and do not crop out author’s names from quote memes. Thank you. #thegentleparent #parenting #children #life #kindness #Jesuslover #humanlover #feminism #socialjustice #equality #globalresponsibility #humanity #peace #sexualassaultsurvivor #cancer #NETcancer #cancerwarrior #books #coffee #quote #LRKnost www.LRKnost.com . Fighting a rare, incurable cancer, but I'm still here! L.R. See more

24.01.2022 ...for far too long, we as a society have tried to break sleep and breastfeeding apart as though they were two fingers superglued together accidentally. They, however, belong together on the same hand. They are one and work in harmony to make magic happen. Our bodies function on a wave or hormones. Breastfeeding promotes and encourages sleep, while co-sleeping and bed sharing safely promotes breastfeeding. This allows our sleep and breastfeeding hormones to harmonise exactly as nature intended.

21.01.2022 It's time to remember being 13 ... See that girl below? That’s me. I’m 13 in that first photo and it’s 1985. Sixteen in the other photo (so 1988). I look at tho...se photos and I go straight back. I can remember my teen years like they were yesterday. I remember feeling hopeful, unsure, awkward, vulnerable, excited, fragile and bold. I remember being in love with boys who never knew I existed. I remember laughing so hard during lunchtime with my friends Lynne and Robin that tears came down my face. I remember hating everything about how I looked. I remember feeling jealous and being unkind when my friend Lynne tried to bring a new girl into our friendship group in grade 9. I remember moments of humiliation. And moments of real joy. Here’s another memory. From the age of 15 I worked in a popular department store every Christmas holidays. I always worked in the ‘handbag’ department dutifully dusting the wallets and bags. Anyway, one Saturday morning when I was 16 and at work, my beautiful mum came in to visit me while she was shopping. Now my mum and I are (and were) very close. Let me also say we look nothing alike. We are completely different builds. She’s much smaller than me. Anyway, in she comes to see me. And once she leaves my manager Andrew* comes over to me and says, So was that your mum? I say yes. And then he said to me, Oh so is your dad fat? I knew exactly what he was saying. I went home devastated. And when I got home i was in a FOUL mood. I was rude and grumpy to my parents even though we were close. And I didn’t tell them a word of what had happened that day. I kept it to myself. But I was gutted. Thirty-one years later and I still remember that moment and how much it hurt. So what’s my point? My point is that so often as parents we take our tween and teenager’s grumpy, cranky, cantankerous behaviour personally. I get emails from parents (or we do a bit of group therapy in the Lighthouse Plan closed group) questioning why their kids are in such foul moods when they get home from school. Why they grunt or mumble at them. We must think back to what those years were like. Our teens are fragile and vulnerable about who they are. And the world (and sometimes their manager ) is telling them who they are and how they look is not okay. And then there’s school which can be joyful but also brutal. Sometimes the thought of saying out loud what has gone down during the day is just too humiliating or painful. Our kids are dealing with big feelings and emotions. So sometimes when our tween or teen comes home in a foul mood don’t push them for answers, instead leave a hot chocolate in their room. Maybe over dinner ask them to rate their day out of 10 (since sometimes trying to articulate how you are feeling is just way too hard and giving a score to snapshot how you are feeling is easier). Or write them a loving note in a journal You don’t seem yourself. Are you okay? Can I help? and leave it in their room to reply in writing. Sometimes making eye contact and talking in person is just too hard. And if I could go back right now and give that 13 year old girl some advice, you know what advice I'd give her? None. Instead I'd take her a hot chocolate, give her a hug and say, "That essay you wrote about Playing Beattie Bow last week was bloody awesome. Wanna watch Young Talent Time with me in the lounge-room?" And that, I suspect, would be enough. If you liked this post, sign up to my newsletter at https://rebeccasparrow.com/

20.01.2022 Today I saw a post somewhere else, where the IBCLC was being heavily criticised for her fees. This made me angry, and I commented. But as I've gone through my d...ay today my mind kept going back and I wished some of those commenters could see what a day in the life of a private practice IBCLC is like... Friday 04/12/2020 8am: Wave goodbye to the kids as their Dad takes them to school. Grab a coffee and open my emails. There are 7. I begin triaging them but it becomes clear all need responses ASAP. I work through them all, offering information, offering follow up sessions, and signposting to GPs, HVs, Midwives. All of this work is unpaid and something I fully expect to do as part of my duty of care. 9am: A health visitor phones to compare notes on a mum we're both working with. Joined up working is essential to good care - and again, for me it's unpaid and expected. I am happy to talk with her, then I go away and update my notes accordingly. 9.30am: Amazon man brings me a box of feeding tubes and nipple shields. I unpack them. Unpaid labour, and expenses. 9.45: I pull up the notes for my first client of the day. Refresh my memory, grab another coffee and log into Zoom. This is a free follow up for the mum in question after her initial session last week. 10.45: I update my notes for that last client. It is 3hrs into my working day and I haven't earned a penny. This doesn't worry me in the slightest. It is part of my work and I choose to keep my fees as low as I possibly can. 11am: I take a break. I haven't eaten or taken a shower yet today, so I do that. (One of the huge advantages of working from home and being my own boss!) 1pm: Second client of the day. Another free follow up. We form a plan to get her through the weekend. I update my notes. 2pm: Clinical Supervision. We go over my caseload together. This is a necessary expense for my business. We discuss boundaries, and I identify that I'd rather work a little late some days and make sure everyone has good support, than ignore distressed messages until the morning and risk something serious happening. 3pm: More emails have come through. I work through them one at a time. 3.30pm: 3rd client of the day. 4.30pm Notes. 5pm: 4th client of the day. (third follow up client) 5.30pm: I clear my inbox of remaining emails and messages. Everyone has a link and / or words of encouragement to take them into the weekend. 5.50pm: Schedule posts for my mentoring group, FB page and IG. 6pm: Turn the laptop off. today I earned 50 and worked 9hrs. It does balance out, all of those follow up mamas had paid me last week, and so on. This post is NOT about whinging - I'm incredibly grateful that I DO earn enough doing this work to be the main earner in our family, and I'm doing a job I am very passionate about. But STOP accusing IBCLCs of being money grabbers. We are skilled professionals. Yes we SHOULD be available on the NHS, but usually we aren't. So we have to charge. Don't get mad at us - get mad at the way our society devalues breastfeeding to such an extent that you can get your baby's photo taken many maternity wards, but you can't access a Lactation Consultant.

19.01.2022 This is for every Mum that I’ve ever seen!

19.01.2022 One of the best pieces of advice I ever got as a new Mum was to keep doing what works for your family until it doesn’t work anymore. And then find something new. Your baby hasn’t read the text books, and they don’t know how to compare themselves to all of the other babies in mother’s group either! So if it’s working for your family, regardless of what’s happening in other people’s families, keep at it! Trust yourself and your baby

18.01.2022 If anyone is needing a breast pump, Spectra is currently on sale at 20% off. They are fabulous pumps! We don’t receive any commission from the company. My general recommendations would be: * S1 or S2 for heavy duty pumping or to build supply * S9 portable pump if you have a well established supply but want portability for regular pumping eg returning to work ... * handsfree cups if you are exclusively pumping or pumping at work - these work really well with the S9 for a completely portable and hands free system If you are having trouble choosing, you can always message the spectra team and they will help you choose the best pump for your circumstances. Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday

18.01.2022 Such true words

17.01.2022 It is with great pleasure that we introduce Terri Rochester to our practice here at Breastfeeding and Beyond and also at Norwest Pregnancy and Women's Health with Dr Imad Mahmoud - Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. Terri brings a wealth of experience as a Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). Terri will be working with Dr Melody Jackson who is a GP and IBCLC who has a special interest in mothers and babies. With our... combined experience, we can help with any of the following: breastfeeding problems, from before baby comes right through to weaning antenatal consults - especially recommended if you have had previous difficulties with breastfeeding maternal mental health infant sleep unsettled behaviour, cry/fuss concerns infant food allergy and intolerance blue book checks vaccinations developmental milestone concerns general practice (GP) consults iron infusions Lactation consults in the office attract a Medicare rebate and we also provide extensive follow up as required. All children less than 16 years are bulk billed for all consults. Call to book your appointment today!

14.01.2022 Sometimes, we need little reminders about how incredible it is to be a tiny somebody’s everything. As mothers, our world can feel so small some days. What we must remind ourselves though, is that we are their whole world, and in our arms they will find their greatest comfort

12.01.2022 This analysis of a large cohort study (1879 mothers) from the School of Public Health at The University of Queensland (UQ Medicine) confirms what you all know: ...parents are using a range of combinations of feeding practices, whether breastfeeding, formula, or solids for babies under six months of age. Here at Possums Education we agree that mothers absolutely deserve non-judgemental acknowledgement of this diversity of feeding practices. We know from the clinic that women typically begin formula use because of problems that become insurmountable in their and the baby's life. However, it is also true that common approaches that are used to help with breastfeeding problems lack an evidence-base, or have even been shown in the evidence not to help, and that breastfeeding support and in particular fit and hold (latch and positioning) remains a research frontier, as unbelievable as that sounds. This is where we think the research focus should be, and this is where we have turned our attention with our own research efforts, developing up the gestalt breastfeeding method. - Dr Pam Douglas Possums Founder and Medical Director

11.01.2022 Exclusive pumping is so much more work than direct breastfeeding! My hat goes off to all the mamas who make the commitment to exclusively pump when breastfeeding doesn’t work out. You are amazing! Xx

09.01.2022 Dear Chrissy Teigen, Thank you for raising the issue of guilt around breastfeeding in your recent Twitter posts. I could feel through your words how much you've... struggled, and the sense of failure which often comes when breastfeeding doesn't go as we hoped it would. I am so very sorry that you were unable to meet your breastfeeding goals. I'm also so incredibly sorry that the term "breast is best" is still being thrown around at new mothers. As you've found yourself, hearing this while struggling to feed your baby is in no way helpful and only fuels guilt, shame and depression for lots of women. The biggest challenge I see day to day as a Lactation Consultant is that our society is really good at telling mothers what they "should" be doing. However, these "shoulds" are rarely backed up with appropriate help to achieve them! Especially with breastfeeding. "breast is best, but your nipple pain is fine" or "you should be breastfeeding but I don't know why your baby isn't gaining weight." Wherever we turn we are faced with instructions to do XYZ, but not enough bloody help to do it! You ask us to normalize formula in your Twitter post, and having been a mum who moved to formula feeding while feeling full of guilt and shame, I really resonate with that statement, I was there myself 7 years ago. However, since then I've done a huge amount of study, and supported hundreds of parents to meet their feeding goals, and I have realised the problem usually is that formula feeding IS normalised. That's why as soon as we experience any sort of problem we are quickly handed a bottle, rather than have someone observe a full feed, help us make small changes, assess baby's oral function, refer us for body work, get a tie snipped, offer us human donor milk to supplement with, or even just show us how to use a breast pump properly! There are many, many ways we CAN support someone to increase milk supply and improve feeding (if they want that, of course - there's never any pressure to do so, despite what some may claim.) But instead of that good support, all we get is "feed X amount of formula X times a day." In many cases this ignores mum's very strong desire to breastfeed and leads to further problems, which I'm guessing you may have found. Formula is normalised by members of our families when they ask us if they can pick up a tin for us on their way to visit, or when they ask you how long you'll breastfeed for. It's normalised by images of bottles as symbols for babies. Changing rooms, baby aisles in the supermarket, congratulation cards, baby shower games, children's toys. Bottles are EVERYWHERE and very normal in our society. That's actually often the problem. Formula is so normalised that we can't support mothers like you with achieving your breastfeeding goal. And that makes me so angry for mums. We know that around 80% of women wanted to breastfeed but weren't able to meet their goals. And when we look at why it boils down to lack of proper help... and being offered formula instead. Even in the case of physiological low supply some breastfeeding can usually be achieved if that's mum's desire, and breastmilk goes so far beyond nutrition. We have studies showing simply being at the breast reduces pain responses in babies receiving painful procedures. We believe even 50ml of breastmilk a day provides protection for the immune system. And of course, having baby at the breast leads to a surge of oxytocin which can be very helpful for low mood or anxiety. None of this requires a full milk supply, and all are valid ways to breastfeed. But its rare for mums to be told that these are options. Instead they're asked which formula they want, or in many cases even told there's no point combination feeding, or no point in having baby "nurse just for comfort" or even that it's harmful to do so. Because formula is so normalised. I need to say this very clearly, Chrissy. You did not fail to breastfeed. Lack of good, skilled, early and consistent help, alongside a societal belief that breastmilk is only valid if it's exclusively fed is to blame. Not you. Not your body. Not breastfeeding. My heart aches for you, and so many like you who are failed every single day. If you ever want to talk through your experiences in what we call a debrief, I would be very happy to hold a safe space for you, judgement free. Sometimes just unpicking all of those swirling angry and painful feelings can help us to find peace with how things turned out. You are a fantastic mother, working hard for your little one and I am sending you love and healing thoughts. Warm regards, Lucy Ruddle IBCLC

08.01.2022 A great read on how the Possums approach turns sleep training on its head

04.01.2022 To the first-time mama: It's normal to feel nervous and excited as you venture into the unknown. Just know that you're going to be amazing.