Feeding Support

We’re here to sup­port you how­ever you choose to feed your baby. An appoint­ment for feed­ing sup­port takes about an hour, where we can dis­cuss your issues, observe a feed and make a plan togeth­er. I am avail­able by email or text for fol­low-up for two weeks after the appoint­ment. I’m also happy to see you before your baby is born to make a plan for the early days if you have con­cerns or have had dif­fi­culties with a pri­or baby. See below for more details.

Breastfeeding

Breast­feed­ing can be enjoy­able and bond­ing, or it can be tough and exhaust­ing. Often it’s a mix of both. If things aren’t going smoothly, it’s worth seek­ing help from a mid­wife, health vis­it­or, breast­feed­ing group or lacta­tion con­sult­ant (see here for who’s who in breast­feed­ing support).

Our clin­ic in Risca is run by a lacta­tion con­sult­ant (IBCLC) and midwife.

Some of the things we can help with are:

  • Babies who won’t attach to the breast
  • Sore or dam­aged nipples
  • Weight gain issues
  • Low milk supply
  • Sleepy babies
  • Fussy, col­icky babies
  • Mast­it­is or engorgement
  • Express­ing
  • Help­ing a pre­ma­ture baby begin to breastfeed
  • Wean­ing off the breast

If you’re not sure if we can help, then please do con­tact us to discuss.

Bottle Feeding or Mixed Feeding

We’re always happy to see if we can help with any issues you’re encoun­ter­ing with bottle or mixed feed­ing. It is often assumed that bottle feed­ing is straight­for­ward, but that’s not always the case.

We can help with:

  • Babies who are strug­gling with flow on the bottle, who are drib­bling or choking
  • Intro­du­cing a bottle to a breast­fed baby
  • Paced feed­ing
  • Evid­ence-based inform­a­tion about infant formula

We can often sug­gest oth­er pro­fes­sion­als who may be help­ful if things are more complex.

Pregnancy

If feed­ing has been very chal­len­ging with a pre­vi­ous baby, or you have spe­cif­ic con­cerns, I am very happy to meet you before your baby’s birth to dis­cuss feed­ing and make a plan with you for the early days. You are wel­come to then fol­low up with me by email or text for the first two weeks after your baby’s birth.

Some reas­ons that you might want to meet in preg­nancy include:

  • You have dia­betes or a med­ic­al con­di­tion that might make feed­ing more challenging
  • You have a fam­ily mem­ber who had sig­ni­fic­ant feed­ing difficulties
  • You had pre­vi­ous low milk sup­ply, or you are con­cerned you have risk factors for low supply
  • Your baby is likely to be admit­ted to the neonat­al unit after birth
  • Your baby is likely to have a med­ic­al con­di­tion that may make feed­ing more challenging

You are anxious about feed­ing and would like to dis­cuss your concerns

What Our Clients Say

My wife and I were getting conflicting messages from various midwives regarding whether our son was tongue tied, so we decided to seek specialist opinion. Helen was outstanding. She calmly assessed our son, explained the options and completely put our minds at rest.

The procedure was straightforward and quick and Helen made every effort to remove stress from both mum and dad, and baby. After the procedure she gave expert advice on breastfeeding and followed up a few days later to check everything was ok. Our son’s feeding has improved and his weight has returned to within a normal range. I could not recommend Helen and her clinic enough.

Patrick Watt

Book Your Appointment

If you have questions or concerns about feeding your new baby, don't delay. Put your mind at rest by bookng an appointment today!