Natalie is a Child Health Nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and the owner of Milk and Kindness Lactation and Breastfeeding Services. Having spent most of her childhood in Perth, with a brief stint in Melbourne, Natalie always had an incredible drive to become a nurse. Studying for a hospital-based diploma, she got the opportunity to do regional prac in Geraldton. After completing her studies, she travelled the world for a few years, being a nanny in the UK. Before returning to Perth, where she got the opportunity to work for St. John Ambulance, Natalie travelled throughout the state running first aid training programs.
One of those areas was the Pilbara region, where she ran training programs out of Karratha. At one of those training programs in 1991, she met her husband. She moved up North two months later, and the rest was history. When Natalie first moved up north, she continued to work in the resource sector. Having continued her studies, she had completed an OHS certificate which helped her secure a job with Woodside. She and her husband share two boys, 26 & 23. One lives in Perth, and the other lives locally.
“The greatest thing about nursing is that you can be a nurse in so many different settings”. When Natalie had her children, she had the flexibility to work as a GP Nurse and a few other organisations before moving to WA Country Health in 2008 as a Nurse Generalist—beginning as a School Nurse. “I decided I preferred working with ‘little families’ (Children from Birth to 4 years of Age)”. This encouraged Natalie to go to university and study for a Graduate Diploma in Child and Adolescent community health. She became a Child Health Nurse in 2012. “I found my happy place”. Admitting the greatest joy for her is supporting families with understanding in the context of her own personal experience raising a family in the regions.
For Natalie living in the regions is non-negotiable. “I love this place, beyond measure”. It is the lifestyle that has immeasurable benefits for her to be able to raise her family and provide them with the best life. “Our boys had no missed opportunities, and It has been such an incredibly positive experience to live here”. Slowly she has been able to build a network of Pilbara families. “When you have limited (blood-related) family in the regions, you make your (own) family”. Natalie has formed powerful bonds in the regions and understands and can resonate with families about the hardships of building your network and moving to the regions in general.
She noticed day in/day out in her practice there was an incredible amount of grief and loss associated with mums who couldn’t feed their babies, specifically mothers who wanted to breastfeed. “For multiple reasons, including a lack of consistent & evidence-based support – many mums in the regions stopped breastfeeding a lot earlier than they would have liked to”. This made Natalie thinks about her personal and professional experiences and how she worked as a practitioner, admitting, “As a mum, I had a challenging first experience trying to learn to feed a baby”. Realising that you need the right person at the right time to really help you to support feeding. Studying again, Natalie became an international board-certified lactation consultant (IBCLC).
Although Natalie had done a lot of lactation and breastfeeding education herself, she felt many health professionals were not getting the education or upskilling they need to support women in this space, but there was limited dedicated time to offer this opportunity. Natalie could see more and more women not getting the feeding support they needed. She decided to look into private practice as an IBCLC, doing a few business courses over the next 12 months to develop her business and lactation consultancy skills. In August 2021, Natalie decided to drop a day a week at the health department and set up her private practice.
“It was a big leap of faith because I have always been part of a team”. Natalie has had many women that have invested in her service and has now decided that, as of 2023, she will go out solo. “The only thing that breaks my heart is that we don’t have enough dedicated infant feeding specialist (LC) roles in the health sector, so this service is accessible to all”. Natalie says families shouldn’t have to pay for infant feeding support. Still, it is not being prioritised in the federal and state government budgets, particularly in the regions. “I would love to see regional women question that lack of regional support and breastfeeding/lactation service”.
For regional women, Natalie says, it can be quite isolating” going out on your own in small business. She stresses that speaking to other women who have built a business from the ground up is essential, stating that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel and that many women are at the helm of some inspirational companies in the region. “I just reached out to friends and ex-clients and picked their brains to ask as many questions as possible”. Natalie utilised the many invaluable small business workshops available online and via her local government and chamber of commerce.
Milk and Kindness provide 1:1 consults in the home, clinic or via Telehealth;’ quickie’ consults via telephone and group education, including antenatal and early parent group programs. More information can go to www.milkandkindness.com.au