Send us a textIn this episode I have a conversation with Hannah, a wife to her high school sweetheart, a mother of two, and a passionate advocate for empowered childbirth and motherhood. After experiencing her own journey through birth trauma and healing, Hannah found her calling as a childbirth educator and doula, specializing in VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).Hannah’s two birth experiences were vastly different. After her first, a traumatic c-section, she found herself grappling with p...

Send us a textIn this episode I’m joined by Raylea, a first-time mom to baby Ellie,who faced more challenges in her first week of motherhood than many of us can imagine. After a significant weight loss of 12% by day three, the stress began to mount. Ellie’s weight loss was compounded by jaundice and a diagnosis that would change Raylea’s feeding journey: known as Insufficient Glandular Tissue or underdevelopment of the breast and milk making tissue. What followed were days filled with stressf...

Send us a textIn this episode I’m joined by Anja; a mum of three living in Coventry UK with a passion to advocate for women’s mental health, particularly around pregnancy and childbirth. Anya studied biomedical science at University, but her true calling has been in the charitable sector, where she’s spent years fundraising and providing vital admin support for local organizations.Since the birth of her first baby, she’s been on a mission to ensure that women have the support they need to exp...

Send us a textIn this episode I am joined by Sarah; a mum of soon-to-be three little ones (at the time of recording). She serves as the Head of Research and Education at a leading UK breast cancer charity. And in this episode we're focusing on Sarah's personal journey, navigating the complexities of motherhood and breastfeeding as an autistic woman.We'll be exploring some deeply personal and impactful experiences, such as how current breastfeeding guidance can interact with compulsive behavio...

Send us a Text Message.Welcome to today's episode. I'm honoured to introduce my dear friend Orlanda, whom I've had the privilege of supporting with lactation and breastfeeding when her daughter, Cassia, was born almost five years ago. Orlanda joins us on the feeding couch to share her deeply personal story. She is the Co-Founder of Narcissus London Cosmetics Company, an Ambassador for the Charity Widowed and Young (WAY), and a widowed mother living in London.In this episode, Orlanda graciousl...

Send us a Text Message.Leah is a first time mum who prepared extensively for labour, birth and breastfeeding through her pregnancy. She was dreaming of the first breastfeed in the birth suite and having the ‘golden hour’ together. However, when her daughter Hazel was born she had breathing difficulties and was taken to the special care nursery within 5 minutes of being born. Leah tells me her story from the firsts minutes after birth establishing a milk supply and getting Hazel to feed a...

Send us a Text Message.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 ...

Send us a Text Message.Susanne really enjoyed breastfeeding her two children. She had made up her mind that she wanted to stop breastfeeding when her youngest was turning two, but she found herself with a difficult internal struggle. Susanne saw this as an opportunity for personal growth and she worked with a coach to dive deeper into all these mixed emotions. The coach provided a beautiful ending ritual and Susanne's closure of her breastfeeding journey became a very empowering experie...

Send us a Text Message.Kate is an endorsed midwife and IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) based in Australia. She is passionate about a no bull-s**t approach to feeding and motherhood, and ultimately supporting families to have their most empowered experience as they transition into parenthood. Kate has honestly shared her own feeding and motherhood struggles through her work in Milky Business. Most recently, this journeyed her through a cancer diagnosis early in her t...

Send us a Text Message.Ana is a 34 year old mama of two. Originally from Portugal, currently living in Austria with her German husband and their 2 kids: a fierce 4 year old girl and a 6 month old baby boy. Ana breastfed her eldest for 2.5 years, something she didn't expect to do when she was pregnant. Ana works in marketing in the tech industry but is using her maternity leave to focus on her baby and launching her new business as a postpartum doula in Vienna for expats families. In this epis...

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 fuel...

In this episode Zoe discusses with me how she had her first baby at 22 and really struggled with feeding. How she had to hand express for the first week and use nipple shields for first few months. She tells her story of how no one listened when she was saying how painful breastfeeding was, despite having purple nipples and a baby who fed constantly, all the time, with hardly any breaks. Eventually Zoe found out that her baby had a posterior tongue tie. She was only able to get it r...

Claire Summers joins me in this episode. Claire is the voice behind Claire’s Itchy Feet and Claire Summers Speaks. A seasoned travel influencer, yoga teacher, and a passionate advocate for conscious parenting and wellness. With over a decade of experience as a content creator, Claire blends her journey through motherhood, wellness practices, and adventures across the globe into inspiring narratives and practical advice.In this episode Claire talks with me about her two experinces with breastf...

In this episode I talk to Nicole, who is currently breastfeeding her 16 month old daughter.  Amber is Nicole’s miracle rainbow baby after losses and fertility struggles. Nicole shares with me so many insightful and real aspects of ‘normal’ breastfeeding. Even when everything on paper seems ‘perfect’ it still comes with it’s challenges.  We discuss: Getting started with breastfeedingBreastfeeding past the first yearDealing with growth spurts and very frequent feedingBiting during...

Maayan describes herself as a first time mum who knew nothing about pregnancy or birth but after fighting to have a vaginal birth for her first baby who was breech for most of her pregnancy,  she has found the entire process to be life changing beyond imagination; not just literally & physically but spiritually, mentally, emotionally and socially.  In this episode Maayan shares with me how her original thoughts on feeding were that breastfeeding was “yuk” and she thought the best option...

Heather had a career as a playwright before becoming a Midwife. Approaching 40, gay and single, she decided to have a baby with her best friend Adam, and they co-parent harmoniously together.  In this episode we discuss trying to establish breastfeeding when her baby was in the special care nursery for the first few days, how formula tops up led to a cascade of feeding interventions, pumping and topping-up, using breastmilk and formula milk and all kinds of gadgets!  Heather shares with us...

Vanessa, Kim and their daughter Alina are Australian family who were living in Switzerland when their daughter was born. Vanessa’s background is as a researcher in the breastfeeding field. Her work has been pertinent to all of us in the lactation world and changed our way of thinking about how babies suck during breastfeeding in particular. It is a pleasure that Vanessa and her husband Kim share with me their breastfeeding story.   In this episode it is really lovely to hear from the...

Ros Ginn is mum to three children, whose experiences of pregnancy, birth and postnatal care has led to her becoming a hypnobirthing instructor and doula.  Ros is a strong advocate of sharing good and accurate information, so that people are able to make the right choices for themselves - whether that’s about birth, breastfeeding, or parenting in general. In this episode Ros talks about breastfeeding her three children, all of whom had tongue ties which needed releasing. Ros weaves her story...

Welcome to The Feeding Couch podcast with me, Katie James.  I am a midwife and Lactation Consultant and over the years of working with many families I’ve seen such a variety of feeding journeys and I can tell you that not one of them is the same.  In our worId of perfect portrals of postpartum on social media I feel its time to shine a light on the real stories, raw, uncensored, challenging, triumphant and just plain real life.   Listen in as me and my guests delve into the world of feeding...