This is the final One in Ten podcast for the Miracle Month of May! And what an episode we have for you. I got to spend time talking to the phenomenal Alana Cumberpatch who is the Lactation Consultant in the Waikato NICU, a unit that looks after over 1000 whānau each year. Right from when we started our podcast I really wanted us to interview a Lactation Consultant as I know that this is probably one of if not the biggest topic within a NICU or SCBU experience.

Alana talks to us about kangaroo care, colostrum, hand expressing, expressing with a pump, feeding and most importantly being kind to yourself. You can hear how passionate Alana is about her role and I have no doubt that her compassion for and commitment to families has made a significant difference to many who have had the fortune to have Alana at their side.

I must add a side note that we forgot to mention that when it comes to expressing using a breastpump, that double pumping is advised as this can help supply volume plus it reduces the time spent expressing.

That brings our Miracle Month of May pod series to an end but do subscribe and follow to find out when we’re back or get in touch with us to let us know what you would like to hear about next.

In this special episode for the Miracle Month of May, I caught up with Elen Nathan who is an Occupational Therapist with over 20 years experience working with children who have diverse needs, she is the Owner/Director of Napier based The Playful Place and ex-NICU Mum to Oscar born at 29 weeks.

There was so much to fit in to this conversation that we honestly could have talked for hours, during our time together we cover a range of topics from the impact of an early birth and time in NICU, what whānau can do for their little ones development, the first year of life through to going to school. Elen is such an expert in her field and I guarantee that after listening to this that you will just want to hear more from her.

As always it’s such an honour to spend time with Elen, I always learn so much during our conversations. And as the topic of development has so much depth and breadth we hope that we’ll be able to bring more specific topic based episodes with Elen to you in the future.

I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to our latest podcast, if so we’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment, a question or even a suggestion about other topics you would like us to cover and of course don’t forget to follow us on Spotify so that you’re the first to know when our new episodes drop.