Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the end

Episoder

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  Clarisse's story - tandem feeding but only a year apart 15.09.2026 1t 2min

  This week I’m talking to brilliant mum of two Clarisse Allen, from South London, about tandem feeding with a small age gap after Clarisse became pregnant when her first baby was six months old. Clarisse describes a four-hour first labour with a birth-before-arrival home birth, early breastfeeding that looked good on paper but felt hard due to worry about weight gain and latch pain, mastitis, and mixed advice about frequent feeding and bottles. Pregnancy brought nipple soreness and later reduc...
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  ADHD and breastfeeding with Kathryn Stagg IBCLC 08.09.2026 1t 2min

  This week, I’m delighted to be joined by returning guest, the fabulous Kathryn Stagg IBCLC—also a musician, parent, and qualified neurodiversity coach—to discuss ADHD and breastfeeding. Kathryn explains ADHD subtypes, why the label can be misleading, common overlap with autism and other neurodivergences, and how diagnosis often follows identification in a child. She shares about her own assessment and how diagnosis improved self-awareness and self-forgiveness, alongside mixed experiences with...
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  Hannah's story - being an older mum, an IVF story 01.09.2026 1t 2min

  This week, I’m welcoming Hannah Norris all the way from Melbourne, Australia, to talk about becoming a mother through IVF in her 40s and breastfeeding both her daughters. Hannah describes giving birth to her first baby, Twyla, in London during COVID: plans for a home birth changed, she advocated for herself when her platelets dropped, and she had a positive hospital birth despite limited access for her partner postnatally. Breastfeeding began smoothly but became difficult with engorgement, an...
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  Alexandra's story - breastfeeding after reduction 25.08.2026 1t 4min

  This week’s guest is the inspiring Alexandra Baskerville, who is talking about breastfeeding after breast reduction surgery aged 19. Alexandra describes having very large breasts as a teen, choosing reduction surgery in 2010, and later becoming a mother at 34. Her daughter Connie’s birth was a home birth, and early feeding was complicated by Connie’s small size, slow weight gain, nipple pain, suspected tongue-tie, and the extra uncertainty of reduced milk-making capacity. An NHS lactation app...
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  Natalie's story - a tandem feeding journey and feeding through aversion 18.08.2026 55min

  This week, I’m talking to Dr Natalie Ashburner, a Bedford-based child and adolescent psychiatrist, about breastfeeding her three-year-old Ruben and seven-month-old Dylan.. Natalie describes night weaning Ruben during her second trimester using a gradual approach with a weaning book, flexible boundaries, and partner support, and explains how bedtime and sleeping arrangements shifted, including moving Ruben to a new dinosaur-themed room. After Dylan’s birth and a hospital stay for heart-rate mo...
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  Sophie's story - aversion and a natural term journey 11.08.2026 1t

  This week, I’m talking to the lovely Sophie from North London about feeding her two children, Sadie (7) and Zach (4½), and what aversion and older child weaning can look like. Sophie describes training with the Breastfeeding Network, from an in-person 12-week helper course to a rigorous six-month supporter course, and her plans for helpline and drop-in support. She shares Sadie’s breech birth by C-section, pain that began at six weeks, later support with latch and a posterior tongue-tie divis...
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  Using an SNS with Johanna Sargeant IBCLC 04.08.2026 1t 6min

  I’m so pleased to be joined by the brilliant Joanna Sargent IBCLC this week. Johanna will bring her expertise on using a supplemental nursing system (SNS), also called at-breast supplementation or supply line feeding. Joanna shares her personal experience of low supply and using an SNS from 10 days to six months, and we explore how an SNS can support milk production, avoid bottle preference, and reduce the unsustainable burden of triple feeding. Johanna describes how an SNS works, cleaning an...
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  Daniella and Katie - Being an older mum 28.07.2026 54min

  Today, I’m delighted to be joined by Katie and Daniella to talk about the experience of being an older mum. Daniella, 43 is a solo mum in Birmingham. She shares how her daughter Remi self-weaned gradually after daytime feeds ended around age 3–4, describing a comfort-led “symbolic” latch, continued co-sleeping, and not experiencing weaning blues; she also reflects on early challenges including severe tongue-tie, oversupply, recurrent mastitis, anxiety about working, and feeling unable to brea...
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  Alexis' story - breastfeeding a baby with a cleft palate 21.07.2026 1t 1min

  Today I’m talking to the amazing Alexis White from Canterbury, New Zealand, about feeding her son Flynn. Her older daughter, Norah’s birth did not go to plan, but breastfeeding did, and Norah was breastfed until she weaned herself when Alexis was pregnant again. After a victorious home VBAC birth, early breastfeeding seemed normal, but by day six Flynn had lost 11.5% of his birth weight and then failed to gain despite frequent feeds. Alexis began pumping and syringe top-ups, and at three week...
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  Naomi's story - breastfeeding grief with a 2nd journey 14.07.2026 1t 6min

  This week I’m speaking to Naomi Cappallo on Vancouver Island about feeding their two daughters, Clara (6) and Juniper (3), focusing on breastfeeding grief after a second journey that didn’t go as hoped. Naomi describes early pain with Clara, brief formula top-ups for early weight loss, and eventually breastfeeding through the pandemic until age two, using boundaries to reduce frequent toddler feeds. With Juniper, a very fast birth was followed by severe nipple pain, limited breastfeeding supp...
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  Charlotte's story - a mastitis journey 07.07.2026 1t 5min

  This week I’m speaking to the lovely Charlotte Bowie from Oxfordshire, mum to nearly three-year-old Felix, about toddler breastfeeding, extreme sleep disruption (including split nights), and her struggle with repeated bouts of mastitis. Charlotte’s recurrent mastitis has spanned across nearly three years, including multiple antibiotic courses, a confirmed breast abscess drained via ultrasound-guided needle aspiration, and a later hospital admission with suspected sepsis. She also shares anxie...
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  Jessica's story - inverted nipples, breastfeeding grief and finding solutions 30.06.2026 1t 10min

  This week I’m joined from Sydney in Australia, by midwife Jessica Baker to talk about breastfeeding her two daughters and the grief and mental health impact when feeding doesn’t go to plan. Jessica describes anticipating difficulty due to inverted nipples, having a home birth with Vada followed by special care admission, early nipple-shield use, severe engorgement, and missed support because staff assumed she was confident as a midwife. After a tongue and lip tie release with a laser, Vada’s ...
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  The Bradford project - poems and stories 23.06.2026 57min

  This week we’re celebrating the stories of the Bradford Project, a massive art, poetry and storytelling project led by artist Lisa Creagh in the Bradford area. Alongside Lisa, I’m joined by two participants, Aamta Waheed and Reena Kler, to talk about their breastfeeding experiences and how the project has helped them to understand their mothering journey. We’ll also hear poems from Hannah, Sonia and Sophie, and an extract from the Holding Time podcast, featuring Aisha. You can find out more a...
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  Alice's story - diabetes, feeding in pregnancy and a self-weaning journey 16.06.2026 58min

  This week I’m talking to Liverpool-based public health doctor Alice Lacey-Campbell about tandem feeding, breastfeeding an older child, and breastfeeding with type 1 diabetes. Alice shares how her nearly five-year-old, Asha, breastfeeds only occasionally now after a “false stop,” often for emotional regulation, and describes dry nursing through pregnancy when her milk dried up around nine weeks. We discuss why antenatal colostrum expression is recommended for diabetes, and Alice’s techniques. ...
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  Emily's Story - OCD and breastfeeding as a midwife 09.06.2026 1t 7min

  This week, I’m joined by the lovely Emily, a Norfolk midwife and mother to Effie (8 months). We’re talking about breastfeeding alongside significant perinatal mental health challenges. Emily describes exclusively breastfeeding, co-sleeping safely, and introducing solids carefully due to anxiety, then shares how pregnancy and early postpartum intensified OCD, contamination fears, and intrusive thoughts, alongside existing anxiety, depression, PTSD and PMDD. She recounts a planned home birth co...
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  Dating and breastfeeding 02.06.2026 1t

  Dating while breastfeeding isn’t often talked about, so this week I’m joined by Frankie (29, Sheffield) and Anna (40, Lancashire) to talk about their experiences. They share candid ‘dating profiles’, then explore their breastfeeding lives and family situations: Anna recently weaned their five-year-old after nursing aversion began when their two-year-old was born, and they co-parent their youngest after two past relationships; Frankie is sole parent to her two-year-old, who breastfeeds frequen...
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  Weaning and natural term breastfeeding Q&A with Carly from Seedpod Part 2 26.05.2026 55min

  This week, we have the return of the brilliant Carly Facius, Midwife, IBCLC, Women's Circle Facilitator and Aware Parenting Mentor. She’s joining me to answer your questions about weaning and natural term breastfeeding in two back-to-back episodes. In part 2, we delve into question topics ranging from night weaning and bedtime routines to dealing with biting, hitting and kicking. To find a list of questions, please consult the transcript of this episode. You can find out more abou...
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  Weaning and natural term breastfeeding Q&A with Carly from Seedpod Part 1 26.05.2026 1t 2min

  This week, we have the return of the brilliant Carly Facius, Midwife, IBCLC, Women's Circle Facilitator and Aware Parenting Mentor. She’s joining me to answer your questions about weaning and natural term breastfeeding in two back-to-back episodes. This is Part 1. We delve into question topics ranging from weaning a toddler while tandem feeding, coping with a distressed child at night, and what normal sleep even is! To find a list of questions, please consult the transcript of this epis...
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  Jade's story - pregnant with HG and breastfeeding 19.05.2026 52min

  Sometimes, our plans for feeding don’t work out. That’s what happened to my guest this week, Jade Feeney from north west London. Jade had hoped to tandem feed, but ended up weaning her eldest daughter during pregnancy due to hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). She shares a “dream” first breastfeeding experience with her eldest, later identifying cow’s milk protein intolerance when weaning solids, but when she conceived again when her daughter was 18 months and developed severe HG, she required escal...
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  Jessica's story - a breastfeeding police officer 12.05.2026 52min

  This week, I’m speaking to the brilliant Jessica, a police officer in Stirling, Scotland, about combining breastfeeding with police work and shift patterns. Jessica shares life with her two daughters, Nora (nearly 10) and Harriet (nearly 2), describing responsive breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and how Harriet settles well for her father and grandmother when Jessica works rotating day shifts and back shifts finishing at 1am. They discuss Jessica’s earlier breastfeeding experience with Nora, which...