Eastern Ranges Lactation

24/10/2026

22/10/2026

I love teaching this hold to new parents 🙌

Little Maisy had an unsettled night & morning. Chelsea was doing all the right things and feeding her whenever she showed signs of being hungry.
The tricky part now is at 4.5 weeks, the hunger cues can be confused with
soothing cues.
Young babies love to suck to soothe to help relieve pain from intestinal gas. Maisy has just come into the peak age for this discomfort, which is caused by the fermentation of milk in the small intestine. Very normal, typical, and characteristic of a very immature gut and nervous system.
Dyschezia begins, which means that the brain is not always talking to the a**l sphincter. Gas and poo are needing release, and now a newborn is learning how to strain and initiate release rather than it just being an automatic response to milk going in like in the first couple of weeks of life.

I held Maisy in a squatting position for a little while before transferring her into the tiger hold. I used lots of movement and soft vocal sounds to help her to self-regulate and stop crying. My hand provided gentle pressure on her distended tummy. ❤️
I could feel her straining and could hear her grunting until the big release of gas and p**p came! We then had our relaxed, calm, floppy little Maisy back. 🙌

These positions can really help.
And sometimes nothing helps besides time & just holding these tiny humans through their discomfort & waiting patiently with them until their little immature gut does its job!

16/10/2026

The biggest threat to not establishing and continuing to breastfeed is the ocean of confusing, conflicting & incorrect advice confronting every new parent out there!
The biggest threat to maternal and paternal mental health in the postpartum period is incorrect advice. Being told things which aren’t true, being led down pathology rabbit holes and being asked to do the impossible!
Everyone is a “breastfeeding expert” telling you something different.
Breastfeeding is made more difficult than it should be, it’s no wonder many people stop.
My mission is to try and change
this 🫠
I won’t stop trying! 😕
In the meantime by best work is changing things one mum at a time.
This feels achievable 🙏
In just one consultation I can change the course of a breastfeeding experience to ensure it is a positive and long one. I can make sure the wheels stay on before they even have a chance to fall off. I can protect you from all the misinformation out there.
There is a reason why around 97% of mothers initiate breastfeeding and only less than a 1/4 of this number are able to continue 😔
There is a reason why my client population continuation rates are above 90%!!
Change in the lactation world is hard to swallow, relearning takes effort and an open mind.
Recent new education is changing the lactation world landscape, be it slowly One day hopefully every new mum wanting to breastfeed will have access to health professionals practising from a solid consistent correct lactation knowledge base 🙏
Call me a dreamer 😊 - but I will never stop dreaming 💕

13/10/2026

I love watching my grandchildren interacting with the latest edition to our family ❤️
Maisy is just as interested in their faces as they are in hers.
Children are drawn to other children no matter how young they are. Great sensory stimulation for Maisy during these peaceful moments of engagement with other small humans and during the chaos when they are all running around her. 🙃
It won't be long before 3 little monkeys becomes 4 and I am chasing her around too.

If you have a baby, and are looking for some easy sensory stimulation to help fill their day, the best place to take them is to your nearest playground to watch older children play. Mothers groups and playgroups are other great environments and opportunities for rich sensory stimulation. Babies need rich sensory stimulation & lots of socialising
- such a vital part of their developmental needs. ✅
If you have a baby who is "grumpy" or
"unsettled" a lot try increasing their sensory stimulation opportunities.😃

09/10/2026

If you are experiencing latching difficulties, it’s not the latch that you should be working on, its positioning ✅
And not just the positioning of your baby - your body positioning can really help a baby who is struggling with latching & breastfeeding.
Feeding in different positions can help your baby to latch easier, feed more effectively or to feed more calmly.
There are no “one size fits all” rules for latching. No one way which works best for everyone. No one method!
It’s all about experimenting with what works and what feels best for you, your breasts & your baby.
Good knowledge around how positioning of your body impacts on a young babies ability to latch more easily and effectively can really save you being taken down many rabbit holes. ✅
There is so much conflicting and confusing information offered and circulating. So many rules to follow and quite frankly too much interference which makes latching more difficult than it should be. Too much focus on “the latch” and the baby and not enough focus on the mum.
If you are not having any issues then whatever you are doing is just
perfect 👌
You have worked it out with your baby and no matter what position you are feeding in or what your latch looks like, if it’s comfortable and your baby is swallowing lots of milk, you have nailed it 🙌

Different positioning becomes very important and helpful if you are experiencing pain, if your baby is struggling to latch, is sleepy or upset at your breast or is struggling to cope with very fast let downs.
Just getting into more comfortable positions if all is going well can make breastfeeding more enjoyable and easier on your body.

Teaching good positioning took me a while to learn when first going into private lactation practice. All I knew before this was the cross cradle hold and football hold, which I know now are the trickest positions to use when learning to breastfeed 🙃
Good positioning helps solve a whole host of breastfeeding issues 🙏

04/10/2026

The side lying position works with all the newborns primitive innate feeding instincts, relaxes a new mum and takes pressure off a sore peri 🙌
It’s my favourite position to teach!

My top tips for side lying -

🔸Position your body so the natural fall of your ni**le is at the height of your baby’s mouth when they are lying next to you. This may mean rolling more onto your back( if you have larger breasts or more over onto your side if you have small breasts)

🔸Think of your ni**le being your “peg” and the “hole” being your baby’s mouth. You are aiming to line the hole up with the peg without having to move your breast too much.

🔸So for the puzzle to fit - think about the height of your ni**le in relation to the hole and also the hole being lined up and not too far away from your ni**le(the peg).
Think how difficult it would be for your baby to find your ni**le and latch if it’s pointing down and buried in your mattress or if it’s too far away or not quite lined up.

🔸Place your baby on their side very close in and not too far up towards your armpit. You want your ni**le to be in line with either their nose or eye when starting. Your baby will then naturally tilt their head back as they go searching for your eyes and face.
Give them a little time to lick, smell and get organised and oriented. No shoving, no breast sandwiches 🙏

🔸You can gently hand express a little milk or pinch up your areolar to guide your ni**le closer to help stimulate them to suck. Once they start sucking draw them in closer by hugging them in behind their shoulders/ upper back. Never push behind their head or neck. You will push them into a head crunch instead of head extension.

🔸Once your baby starts sucking if positioned well they will draw your ni**le in like a piece of spaghetti! There is very little subcutaneous fat under the areolar to facilitate it being drawn in. Newborns need to draw the ni**le and areolar in, not eat a big sandwich of breast tissue. Good positioning of both your body and your baby’s makes getting a comfortable latch easier. It’s all in the positioning!!!

🔸Head extension or tilt is important when newborns have their “learner plates” on. This position sets up for good head extension if bubs isn’t positioned up too high. It gives them free range of their head and neck to adjust and get the ni**le drawn back nice and deep. It allows them to do what they were born to do without too much interference.

🔸If you find their little nose is smushed into your breast help them to free it by rolling a little more onto your back while still bringing your baby in close at the same time as you move. A smushed in nose and painful latch usually = a head crunched forward and not enough head extension.

I teach all my new mums how to feed side lying. It’s the best and easiest position for newborns to learn how to self latch. And the most comfortable and restful position to breastfeed in!

For anyone who wants to learn how to teach this position reach out for a mentoring session. Happy to come into any of my local hospitals to help train staff too 😃
We need to learn better to do better 🙏

27/09/2026

We need your help 🙏
Pre orders are super important for the visibility of Katrina’s book as a new author.
We need all the help we can get to ensure correct lactation information and advice finds every new mumma 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Please help by ordering just 1 copy today before the US release date 29/9 🙏
Help us change the lactation world and make breastfeeding essier 🙌
Help us eliminate the suffering incorrect diagnosing and treatment of common breastfeeding conditions is causing 🙏
We ARE changing things 🙌🙌🙌🙌

https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Go-With-the-Flow/Katrina-B-Mitchell/9781668097144

27/09/2026

I am a Nan again! 🙌❤️🙌❤️🙌❤️🙌❤️

I was privileged to see Maisy Miriam Reid born into this world. To see my baby girl birthed as a mother for the first time and be there to witness her very first breastfeed 🙏

My heart is bursting with pride and love for Chelsea, Luke and my precious new granddaughter. They all did so well 🙏❤️

17/09/2026

Some important things you should know about ni**le shields -

🔸They should always be the last option & not a replacement for skilled lactation positioning & attachment help.
🔸They are handed out way too often and unnecessarily
🔸They pose a big threat to establishing & maintaining a healthy milk supply without expert lactation guidance & monitoring
🔸It's a sign you need expert lactation help & assessment (IBCLC) if you are handed a ni**le shield.
🔸Ni**le shields need to be sized to your baby's mouth NOT your ni**le! (yes! It's not a pump fl**ge!)
🔸Most babies above 2.5kg can & should use a 24mm or L shield. You want room for areolar to be pulled into the shield - hence pulled into a baby's mouth!
🔸You shouldn't be able to see the shield when a baby is latched properly on a shield.
🔸Ni**le shields don't prevent or help heal ni**le damage.
🔸They don't help ni**le pain
🔸Weaning off a shield should start as soon as possible. The longer you leave it, the harder it is to get rid of.
🔸They can be a disaster for naturally low milk producers with significant risk factors or medical reasons for low milk production.
🔸Ongoing assessment of milk production is essential if using a shield
🔸Most mums need to do some pumping along side using a shield to protect milk production.
🔸Not using a shield helps to make more milk

Ni**le shields can be a helpful short term tool or bridge to get to successful exclusive breastfeeding, if used correctly & under expert lactation guidance.
They can help to increase breastfeeding confidence when mums & bubs are really struggling with positioning & latching.

My motto is - if a baby is swallowing lots of milk, switching frequently & the latch is comfortable using a shield it is better than no latching at all & spending hours on a pump & bottle feeding.
If not used correctly though & this is when they do get a bad wrap, they can really sabotage breastfeeding & run mums into low milk production problems.
Beware! Ni**le shields are a Band-Aid, NOT a solution. They should be correctly sized, used short term and under the guidance of a trained lactation professional.

13/09/2026

We made it through my baby sister's wedding without a baby 🙌
Although, 38 weeks pregnant and doing the nut bush 💃, my baby girl is feeling it
today 😂
Her hospital bag is packed ✅
Her antental breastfeeding session done ✅
She has her breastfeeding essentials - her b***s, a good organic ni**le balm, good supportive bras, frozen peas in the freezer and me 😀
Now we just wait for this precious little baby to make her way into this big wide world, and for my baby to be birthed as a mother for the very first time 🙏❤️❤️