Johanna - Two feeding journeys which ultimately led to becoming a sucessful Lactation Consultant

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.