The Feeding Couch

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In today’s episode, I have a special guest—someone you probably already know and love. Sophie Walker, the incredible founder and host of Australian Birth Stories, joins me to share her personal breastfeeding journey. With a Master’s in Public Health, Sophie is passionate about helping pregnant women and their support teams actively prepare for birth and postpartum. Her podcast was born from her own experiences—after a first birth filled with intervention and trauma, she went on to have a redemptive, empowering second and third birth. Now, she’s on a mission to share real, raw, and honest birth and postpartum stories.

In this episode, Sophie opens up about her three boys and three completely different breastfeeding journeys—from the initial feeling of “it’s all on me” to learning how to trust herself as a mother. We talk about the realities of being left in the hospital to figure it out alone, navigating outdated advice from well-meaning grandparents, and the exhaustion of those first six weeks. We cover cluster feeding, sleep deprivation, and yes... co-sleeping (and pretending we weren’t doing it!).

But we also cover the turning points—the power of skin-to-skin, finding support through the Australian Breastfeeding Association, unwavering love and support from grandparents and knowing when and how to wean on your own terms.

If you’re in the thick of it right now, feeling overwhelmed or wondering if you’re doing it “right,” Sophie has some beautiful words of wisdom for you. So, grab a cup of tea, get comfy, and let’s dive in.

Find Sophie and the Australian Birth Stories podcast here

Instagram @australianbirthstories

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

• Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
• For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Feeding Couch podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.
The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.
The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

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Content Warning:

This episode of The Feeding Couch discusses baby loss and the emotional journey of grieving as a parent. While the conversation is filled with compassion, hope, and healing, it also touches on sensitive topics that may be difficult for some listeners.

In this episode we’re delving into a topic that’s both deeply personal and profoundly important—supporting families through the joy and heartbreak of infant feeding, even in the most challenging circumstances.

Our guest is Hannah, an Infant Feeding Supporter at her local hospital. She brings with her an extraordinary story—a journey of love, resilience, and advocacy as a mother to three beautiful children.
From navigating the NICU and establishing breastfeeding with her first baby, Lowen, to expressing milk and breastfeeding her second baby, Maisie, through critical illness and unimaginable loss. Amid the heartache, there were many beautiful moments of hope, joy and healing.
Hannah shares the joy of breastfeeding her third baby, Theo, cherishing the chance to nurse again after her loss. She speaks about the worries of navigating medical complexities, like Theo’s general anaesthetic at just three months old and feeding through bouts of bronchiolitis, but also the profound healing and hope this experience brought her.

Hannah’s story is one of courage and unwavering determination.

Hannah is a passionate advocate for supporting families breastfeeding medically complex children, inspired by her own experiences and the incredible work of Lyndsey Hookway and her book ‘Breastfeeding the Brave.’ Now, as a supporter within the NHS, she provides care to families facing their own feeding challenges, determined to make a difference despite the hurdles of time and funding.

This episode is a tender conversation about love, loss, and hope. I invite you to listen with compassion and an open heart as Hannah shares her remarkable journey.
You can follow and find out more about Hannah
IG: @our_amazing_maisie

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

• Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
• For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Feeding Couch podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.
The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.
The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Send us a text

I’m joined today by Mel, who takes us through how she navigated early struggles when her milk took almost a week to come in, and the overwhelming pressure from professionals to supplement with formula. A lactation consultant even told her she might never be able to breastfeed at all as her boobs were too small– so how did these seeds of doubt impact Mel’s feeding experience?

With family doubting her supply, she stood firm, trusting her body and her baby. Bed-sharing from day one became a lifeline, despite the judgment, as she woke every two hours—sometimes even every 30 minutes—to keep feeding on demand.

As her baby grew, she kept going, following her instincts despite feeling the pressure to night wean by 12 months, and her own mum telling her that breast milk wasn’t beneficial past a year. Mel is still breastfeeding on demand at 18 months, and aiming for two years.

We’ll also be talking about the societal rush to push babies toward independence far too soon. Why are we so quick to be separate from them, to make them sleep alone, to expect them to self-soothe before they’re ready? As Mel says, this isn’t spoiling them—it’s setting them up to be secure, functioning human beings.

And importantly, we discuss how framing motherhood as a season—with its ups and downs, challenges, and joys—can help explain to others that even though we may be tired and stretched thin at times, it’s not something we want to change. It’s simply part of the journey, one that twists and turns, but one that we can embrace and even enjoy along the way.

All this and lots more invaluable insights.

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

• Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
• For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Feeding Couch podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.
The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.
The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Send us a text

Julia Neale is a mum of three, with two living children, and originally from the suburbs of Toronto, Canada. She now calls Switzerland, home. She is a former international primary school teacher, and is now a prenatal educator.

Julia’s takes me through her three experiences with breast milk and feeding. Her first baby was born at 36 weeks, hospitalized for jaundice and heavily supplemented with formula in the early days. Her goal initially was to breastfeed for 18 months but after the first few days that goal got moved to 6 weeks. Luckily things did take a turn for the positive and they breastfeed for 20 months, despite bouts of mastitis and thrush.
Julia gracefully shares with me the journey of her second baby, who sadly was born at 24 weeks due to a fatal fetal diagnosis. Julia chose to share this story of saying goodbye to her baby and to her milk supply. She describes the internal dialogues to choose what to do when her milk came in; take a medication to stop the milk or pump and donate it?
**Please note this discussion takes place at around 35mins in to this episode.
When Julia’s third baby came she was concerned whether her breasts would still be able to work after having taken the medication called Dostinex to stop her milk last time.
Julia discusses how she decided to antenatally express colostrum after receiving a diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes, but found it to be a horrible experience, one that made her feel she had somehow, damaged her breast tissue by taking the Dostinex – she describes this as manufactured mom guilt which needed a lot of unpacking. Julia tells me how in the end she went on to breastfeed for 18 months happily.
Join us in this beautiful, emotional, but important episode on The Feeding Couch.
LINKS:
Julia's website
Socials: @happy.day.ch

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

• Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
• For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Feeding Couch podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.
The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.
The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.

Send us a text

Born and raised in Perth, Australia, Johanna unexpectedly made Switzerland her home in 2010. Johanna has studied biomedical science, occupational therapy, English literature, philosophy and education... and yet tells me how nothing prepared her for the tumultuous early years of motherhood.

Johanna shares with me her experiences of feeding her two boys, who are now twelve and nine years old, and how her own breastfeeding grief and mental health struggles throughout the perinatal period fueled her desire to make this time easier for others in a similar situation, and to provide the kind of support that she wished she had received. Joh went on and trained to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and is now passionate about providing non-judgemental, evidence-based information alongside compassionate support with her practice Milk and Motherhood. She founded and runs Breastfeeding Mamas in Switzerland, the 3500 member English-Speaking breastfeeding support group, and started Switzerland’s first informal milk-sharing network, Human Milk 4 Human Babies. She is frequently invited to speak at international conferences on a variety of infant feeding and counseling topics, and recently finished writing the new education module for the European Society of Neonatologists.

I am so thrilled to have Joh join me in this episode especially as she tells her story from a perspective of having lived through it, but now with several years in between to see her boys grow and develop, as well developing her knowledge much further into the rather fantastic Lactation consultant that I am proud to call my friend.

Some of the themes we discuss in this episode are:

· Dealing with low supply

· Triple feeding.

· How being in this new world of motherhood led, at the time, to deep grief, obsession, and social isolation

· Navigating her second baby’s feeding journey with a deep fear of repeating the first experience.

· Aversion to pumping or expression

· Discovering the supply line feeding device to help with low milk supply

· Using donor milk

· Eventually having a lovely breastfeeding experience, followed by breast aversion and weaning at 2.5y

LINKS:

Facebook: Milk and Motherhood
Website

Get 10% off Katie's courses - use code POD10 at checkout

• Pregnant or in the first few weeks after birth: The Feeding Couch
• For health professionals and birth workers: Breastfeeding & Lactation: the fundamentals online course

Please support the show!
Leave a review and BuyMeACoffee

Disclaimer
The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical or legal advice; instead, all information available on this site are for general informational purposes only. The Feeding Couch podcast reserves the right to supplement, change or delete any information at any time.
The information and materials on the podcast is provided "as is"; no representations are made that the content is error-free. Whilst we have tried to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information we do not warrant or guarantee the accurateness.
The podcast accepts no liability for any loss or damage howsoever arising out of the use or reliance on the content.