Who am I? Why should you reach out for breastfeeding support from me and what makes me qualified to support lactation?

I'm Karen. I was born in the former St. Davids Hospital, which came before Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, North Wales. I spent my childhood on Anglesey and attended Welsh medium schools in Llangefni, in the middle of Anglesey.

To my knowledge I am one of only two IBCLCs in private practice who speak Welsh, the other is my lovely colleague down in west Wales.

I have 4 children, all were breastfed to a certain degree, with different challanges with them all, from relactation, establishing feeding to having a late pre-term baby who wouldn't latch or feed .

At first my eldest after the first initial feed, my baby was tired and drugged so wouldn't latch. I felt guilt tripped and anxious, I was man handled, she was pushed onto my breast, and she decided that it was a scary place and wouldn't latch. We cup and syringe fed for days.

With hard work and determination, we breastfed for 3 weeks, and there were no major issues after that. It seemed easy, exhausting, but I could do it. She fed, and I had no physical pain. I can remember falling asleep at my parents' house and my mum taking her off me so I could sleep on the sofa.

However, when my husband went back to work, she hit that 3-week growth spurt where she cried and fed and cried for what seemed like days. I panicked and was told to 'do what I thought was best' with no explanation as to why it was happening. So, I gave in and gave her formula, which broke my heart.

My second journey was going well, until one day my daughter became very ill with swine flu, reaching temperatures of 40 degrees plus. Of course we took her to the hospital, where I was told by a doctor in the sternest of tone 'pick a child to be with. The baby and the toddler can't be in the same room', Although they had been for days prior.

My head spun with worry. Who did I choose: my baby boy who relied on me for his food, or my baby girl who was so ill she could barely open her eyes? Of course, my girl needed me; the baby could be cared for and given formula by someone else, again my heart broke.

I was not given any guidance on breast care, I developed mastitis, i was very lucky it wasn't worse and now I know that actually my breast milk was protecting my son with the antibodies that I was producing. What I was told was against the NICE guidelines. Again, I felt unsupported, belittled, and heartbroken.

I was determined with my third, so sod them all; I'll do it my way! My little girl latched and quickly became a milk monster. Then I stupidly gave bottles, and she decided that was easier. Fortunately, as it was expressed milk she was getting, although my supply dipped with some extra feeds and some power pumping, I managed to re-lactate enough and get her back to my breast. We fed for a good while longer.

We completed the peer supporter course with Betsi Cadwalader Health Board, the mother supporter course with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM), and fed through pregnancy.

My last baby came, when she was just over 2. He took to feeding from about 5 minutes of life, and he basically stayed next to me until he walked.

We tandem fed, they held hands while they fed.

When my youngest went to school, I completed my Breastfeeding Counsellor (BfC) course with the ABM. In 9 months, it would have been 7 if it weren't for the school holidays. This course usually takes 2 years, but I became so engrossed and fascinated with the subject that I couldn't wait to finish, even with the challenges being dyslexic brings.

The more I learned, the more I reflected on my past experience. The wrongs and the misinformation, the danger that we had been put in on more than one occasion. What information we should have been given. The angrier and more determined I became, and I promised myself that anyone who sought my support would be given the most up-to-date information, without bias or prejudice on my part. If I didn't know, I'd find out and get back to them first and not give made up answers.

In January 2012, I took over the breastfeeding café in Llangefni and ran it for 10 years. I also started the Bangor group at the library in 2017 and volunteered at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor until 2020 when COVID closed everything down.

With the life-changing happening of COVID, it was time to reflect. I couldn't volunteer for the rest of my life. I looked into taking my passion to the next step.

The thought of being able to support other families, to not feel and go through the trauma that I had been through, spurred me on to take my passion to the highest level I could. I already had my 1000 hours of volunteering contact time with families.

Throughout lockdown, I studied and passed, 14 science modules, 75 hours of specific lactation education. Studied with my small closed study group of peers from England, US and Canada every Monday evening. In September 2021 it was time to sit the 4 hour exam.

Because of the Covid situation, this year I had the opportunity to take the exam remotely, from the comfort of my living room while being monitored by proctors, from South America.

Every bit of my room, my glasses, my table, laptop, my chair and me was shown to them to make sure all was above board. Security took ages to go through and the exam in totally took me 6 hours.

Alongside my peers, I endured the three-month wait for my results. Just a few days before Christmas 2000, I discovered that I had passed!

During the challenging times of the Covid pandemic, I had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside a fantastic group of NHS England employees and BfCs to support families welcoming newborns at two hospitals in London. Each precious infant was under 10 days old, and together we strived to provide them with a warm and positive start to their journey over the phone.

My very first private client was based in Llandudno with her 3 day old non latching baby. I can still feel the nerves, although it was something i had trained for and done a million times before.

It's been such a joy assisting countless families that I've honestly lost count! The thrill of taking on new challenges and the joy of piecing together the puzzle to ensure successful feeding just keep me going.

The trauma from births kept showing up in the families around my. Partners not allowed to be present or missing during births during covid. Mothers not being listened to, asked for consent, procedures being done to them, intervention happening and the not understanding why.

I learned of a life changing technique called 3 step rewind. Where the trauma of birth is lifted and eased through neurolinguistic processing. In simple terms, we reframe and reorganise the links to the memory, allowing the feelings and rawness to be filed in the long term memory and not floating around popping up whenever it feels like. Giving you the control over your thoughts.

So, I quickly realised that prenatal education is a major key in preventing trauma before it even occurs. That's why I decided to become a hypnobirthing teacher. Now, I hold in-person classes a few times a year.

Dechrau tawel, evolved from Lactation Cymru as I developed into my practice becoming more skilled and confident supporting families from Anglesey to Bangor to Penllyn all the way to Rhyl.

What makes me different?

Well, apart from the obvious fact that your consultation can be in Welsh or English, you'll find me calm and confident, I will ask a lot of questions, I'm not trying to trick you but get all the information so you get all the information you need to reach your goal.

I will rarely touch you, and if I must, first, I always ask for your consent, and explain what I will be doing, for example if i'm showing you how to use a nipple shield or an at breast supplementer.

One of my biggest assets is my ability to think out side the box, try different things until we find the best fit for you and your baby.