How a recognised qualification in breastfeeding support transforms outcomes for babies, parents — and your career.
Guest post by Shelley Wilson, Registered Midwife & IBCLC · LactationGO
Picture the scene. A new parent — exhausted, overwhelmed, and doubting everything — is sitting up with a crying baby and a chest that feels like it’s on fire. Their maternity practitioner/nanny walks in. And in that moment, what that family needs more than anything is someone who actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to feeding.
Not someone who means well. Not someone who offers general reassurance. Someone with real, evidence-based knowledge — who can look at a latch, read the feeding cues, understand what’s normal, spot what isn’t, and know exactly how to help.
That someone could be you.
The Feeding Gap in Maternity Care
Breastfeeding is one of the most evidence-backed health interventions we have — for babies, for parents, and for long-term public health outcomes. And yet, the UK consistently struggles with breastfeeding rates that drop sharply in the early weeks, not because parents don’t want to breastfeed, but because they don’t have the skilled support they need at the moments that matter most.
Midwives visit for a few days. Health visitors are stretched. Lactation consultants are expensive and not always accessible. And the person who is actually there — in the home, round the clock, in the thick of it — is often the maternity practitioner or nanny.
Which raises a question worth sitting with: how many maternity practitioners/nannies are currently being asked to support feeding families without formal training in lactation?
The answer, honestly, is too many. And that’s not a criticism, it’s a call to action.
What Formal Lactation Training Actually Changes
For the Baby
Feeding isn’t just nutrition, it’s the foundation of early neurological development, immune function, gut health, and attachment. A maternity practitioner/nanny who understands the mechanics of latch, the physiology of milk production, and the significance of feeding frequency isn’t just “helping with feeds.” They’re actively contributing to that child’s health outcomes.
Early identification of issues like tongue tie, poor transfer, or positioning problems can be the difference between breastfeeding successfully and a parent giving up, with consequences that ripple far beyond infancy.
For the Parents
New parents are vulnerable. They’re sleep-deprived, hormonally all over the place, and fielding an overwhelming amount of conflicting advice. What they need from the professionals in their home is calm, accurate, consistent information, not reassurance built on guesswork.
A maternity practitioner/nanny with recognised lactation training becomes an anchor. Someone parents can trust to give them the right information, know when to refer on to an IBCLC or GP, and help them make informed decisions about feeding, free from pressure or outdated opinion.
That level of trusted expertise doesn’t just make parents feel supported. It builds the kind of professional relationship that leads to glowing references, repeat bookings, and word-of-mouth recommendations that money cannot buy.
For You, the Practitioner
Let’s talk career for a moment. The maternity practitioner/nanny market is growing, families are more discerning, and the premium end of the sector is looking for practitioners who are demonstrably qualified, not just experienced.
A recognised qualification in breastfeeding support:
• Sets You Apart: Differentiates you in a competitive market where experience alone is no longer enough.
• Commands Higher Rates: Specialist skills justify premium fees, and families paying for quality maternity care will pay for expertise.
• Builds Confidence: Knowing what you’re doing, and being able to evidence it, changes how you show up for families.
Why “I’ve Picked It Up on the Job” Isn’t Enough
Experience is invaluable. But experience without underpinning knowledge can inadvertently do harm. The lactation world is full of well-meaning myths — about nipple shields, about formula supplementation, about sleeping through the night and what it “means” for supply — that get passed from carer to carer without anyone stopping to ask: but is this actually true?
Formal training grounds your practice in evidence. It teaches you not just what to do, but why, so when a parent asks a question, or a situation doesn’t fit the script, you’re not guessing. You’re drawing on a knowledge base built by decades of lactation science.
What Recognised Training Looks Like
This is where LactationGO comes in.
Founded by Shelley Wilson — Registered Midwife, IBCLC, and someone who has attended over 3,500 births across 24 years of clinical practice — LactationGO exists for exactly this reason: to train the professionals who are actually in the room when feeding families need support.
The LactationGO Breastfeeding Counsellor Course
A comprehensive, fully online lactation training programme designed for maternity practitioners and nannies who want recognised, evidence-based qualifications — without having to pause their career to get them.
The course covers:
• The full physiology of lactation and milk production
• Latch assessment, positioning, and common feeding challenges
• Understanding newborn feeding cues and behaviours
• Navigating mixed feeding, expressing, and return to work
• When and how to refer — and to whom
• Professionally accredited and CPD-recognised
• Fully flexible, self-paced online learning
• Designed by an IBCLC with 24+ years of clinical experience
Exclusive 10% Discount for NNA Members! Please go to the Members Maternity Care Section to gain your code.
The course is built specifically for practitioners like maternity practitioners,nannies, doulas, and healthcare workers who already have care experience and want to formalise and deepen their lactation knowledge. It’s not a dry academic exercise — it’s practical, grounded in real clinical experience, and delivered with the same warmth and directness that Shelley brings to everything LactationGO does.
This Is the Moment for Maternity Practitioners and Nannies to Level Up
The National Nanny Association’s development of a dedicated Maternity Practitioner section is, frankly, overdue — and it’s exactly the kind of professional infrastructure that this sector needs to raise standards, protect families, and give skilled practitioners the recognition they deserve.
Part of that recognition has to include formal training in feeding support. Because feeding isn’t a “nice to have” add-on to newborn care. For many families, it is the newborn care — it dominates the early weeks, shapes the parent’s confidence, and determines whether that baby thrives.
If you’re a maternity practitioner or nanny who has been thinking about upskilling, this is your sign. The families coming to you are trusting you with the most vulnerable moments of their parenthood. That’s a privilege — and it comes with a professional responsibility to show up as fully equipped as you possibly can be.
Ready to add a formal lactation qualification to your professional profile?
Visit lactationgo.com to find out more about the LactationGO Breastfeeding Counsellor Course — created by midwives and IBCLCs, designed for practitioners like you.
Because the families you work with deserve evidence-based care. And so do you.
Shelley Wilson RM, IBCLC
Founder of LactationGO · Registered Midwife since 2001 · IBCLC since 2015
· lactationgo.com