Her Bio:

Hannah trained and worked as a Norland Nanny before having her own babies, who are now nearly 8 and 4, when she realized the importance of breastfeeding support. When her daughter was 10 months and after her own struggles with breastfeeding, she trained as a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter before volunteering for 4 years. Hannah then became accredited as an LLL Leader. While serving her community she accumulated the hours she needed to sit the exam to become an IBCLC.

Hannah studied alongside being a stay at home mum, finding courses online to complete to be eligible. She sat the exam last October, and after an agonizing 3 months, she was notified that she passed in December. She has now been qualified for a year. Hannah has her own private practice where she offers support to families as they navigate breastfeeding. She also runs free antenatal sessions to help prepare and educate parents, and professionals. She also works for a Weekly community grant funded group as an IBCLC, as well as doing some NHS shifts too. I Hannah says that t’s been an amazing and exciting year and she feels so fortunate to have found something that makes her heart sing so much! “I truly love my job.”

Her Background:

She is the older of two kids, with a younger brother. She had a really nice upbringing and a wonderful childhood. Her parents always told her that she could do anything that she wanted.

Hannah never really had a strong pull to begin one career over the other. The only thing that she knew was that she really wanted to have children. Having had some breastfeeding challenges helps her remember the difficulties when she is working with a new mom.

Was she breastfed?

Yes she was. Her mom always spoke very openly and positively about breastfeeding her and her brother. This is wonderful to hear because the majority of my guests were not breastfed. Her mother was a health visitor and a pediatric nurse. She has had great conversations with her mother about breastfeeding, what she was taught and particularly about advice they have given to moms. She has learned that the information her mom gave new mothers was not always evidence based. This was often not part of her training.

Her breastfeeding experience with her 2 children?

Her daughter Isabelle will be 8 in January. She was quite overdue and Hannah endured a difficult induction. She did feel breastfeeding was going well, however, At 2 weeks old, her health visitor said her weight was not where it needed to be. She was advised to begin giving her baby formula. Hannah feels she deliver the news with a lack of sensitivity. She was quite heartbroken. This has had such a lasting impact on her that she still remembers where she was sitting.

She contacted a lactation consultant where she worked. She is having good output and she is a happy content baby and this LC said to come and see her. She observed a breastfeed and weighed her and she said she felt like she was doing okay and suggested she keep breastfeeding without the need to supplement. Her daughter continued to breastfeed until she was 3 years old. Hannah is very grateful for her friend the LC who took the time to listen to her , observe a feeding and assure Hannah that she felt breastfeeding was going fine. She suggested that Hannah continue to breastfeed and it was her expert opinion that she did not need to supplement breastfeeding with formula.

Hannah tells us that this kind of interaction with the insensitive health visitor can disrupt breastfeeding for the newborn, as well as for any future babies if they feel like insecure, have fears and/or feel like they failed. This also has an impact on how a woman feels about being a mother and often leads to a lack of confidence in their mothering.

Hannah had issues with her son with weight gain. He had a posterior tongue tie which was taken care of but he still struggled to gain weight. By this time, she had a pediatrician who was very supportive of breastfeeding and suggested that she keep breastfeeding. Looking back at his photos, she does see that he was scrawny and acknowledges that knowing what she has learned along the way, she may have made different decisions. We both acknowledge that “hindsight is 20-20.”

Tell us about your private practice as an IBCLC?

This work needs to come from a place of passion because the work is hard and it can be emotional and it can be tiring. The biggest gap we have is the first 5 days is because this is the time period where we have the largest drop off in the breastfeeding rates. They are undermined, they doubt themselves, they have breastfeeding challenges and a lack of trust in breastfeeding.

NHS: Once you are discharged from the hospital, a midwife will come and see you in the next 1-2 days. They may ask about breastfeedings. This is not always the best because midwives are not required to take breastfeeding education in the UK. You may get lucky and have a visit with a midwife who is particuarly motivated and learned more than the basics of breastfeeding. However, if you don’t, you might not get the best of breastfeeding information and help.

When a healthcare worker, who only has the basics of breastfeeding education, is in a position to help a mom with breastfeeding, may have the knowledge, but lacks the time to spend with moms. As breastfeeding specialist what we do, is give them time. We listen to their birth story, any breastfeeding challenges they have, answering basics questions and give them our time, along with breastfeeding education. IBCLCs help with position and support, help moms make adjustments so breastfeeding can be more comfortable and a big part of our job is to just support moms even when breastfeeding is going well.

Hannah feels that it is important to have a breastfeeding class that is separate than a childbirth or infant care class.
The NHS runs classes that covers a lot of information in a very short period of time. The focus is on the birth, which is very, very important, however, it lacks in breastfeeding education.

What are 2 of the most common reasons why moms request breastfeeding help from you?

Baby not latch is a very common reason to request help. Breastfeeding is hurting is another common reason to request help. What they do in between requesting help and getting the help has a lot to do with who has been helping moms. Sometimes they go to formula while waiting or instead of getting help. Hannah knows the importance of the milk supply So, in her antenatal sessions, She speaks about protecting the milk supply while they are waiting to get things sorted out.

Sadly, she sees a lot of families who request help but start beginning formula while waiting to get the help. This is because the health care workers in the hospital have not explained the importance of removing the milk. Hannah finds that sometimes she has to work with moms to build their supply before they can work on breastfeeding.

She loves to talk about what is happening already that tells you your body is preparing for breastfeeding. She talks about how the nipples and areolas get darker, your Montgomery Glands secrete fluid that smells like amniotic fluid and how the dark tissue and smells attract babies attention and leads them to come to the breast. All of these amazing things that you don’t routinely know unless someone tells you. It helps parents to have an appreciation for what the moms body is already doing to prepare for breastfeeding.

What have I done?

She also covers realistic expectations about how your newborn baby is going to behave. They are going to spend much of their time wanting to be attached to you because this is what their experience has been in utero. So, if they don’t want to be separated or put down, to help parents understand why.

Hannah really tries to help parents understand what life is like for their baby as they have moved from the womb to moms arms and how this must feel like for their baby. She finds it helpful to take time to acknowledge that once you have had a baby, that life is never going to be the same. Taking time to acknowledge that having a baby does change your life forever. Discussing the fact that once your baby is born, it is okay to have a whole mix of emotions. Some of them positive and some negative and some scary and all this is a normal part of motherhood.

A day in the life of Hannah as an IBCLC.

She has some home visits each week. She has a drop in group for moms who are breastfeeding. She also meets with moms at a local childrens center and offers breastfeeding education.

Pearls of wisdom:

It is okay to not be loving every moment. It is not a reflection as your role as a parent.
It will be okay. This will be okay.

Prepare ahead of time for where your breastfeeding resources and support groups are in your area before you give birth. It can be too difficult to first start searching for help after birth and you are in the thick of experiencing breastfeeding problems.

Contact Information:

email:
info@hannahcroft-ibclc.co.uk

instagram.com/Hannahcroftibclc

https://www.facebook.com/pg/HannahCroftIBCLC/

www.Hannahcroft-ibclc.co.uk