Caoimhe Whelan, IBCLC

12/08/2026

28/07/2026

This book 'Working Class Heroines: The Extraordinary Women of Dublin's Tenements' by Kevin C. Kearns (published in 2018) is an account of the lives of women who lived in Dublin's tenements (in the city centre) from the early 1900's to the early 70's, based on over 30 years of interviews and research.

I think it would be of interest to midwives and doulas, and anyone interested in reproductive health/justice and women's lived experiences in 20th century Ireland. Right up to the 1970's the norm for inner city women was to birth their babies at home with assistance from a local midwife and a 'handywoman'.

The book says that handywomen were usually colourful characters called 'granny', who had a ton of children of their own -

"Not formally trained, they possessed a natural gift for assisting birth mothers. Their instincts, experience, folkloric treatments could actually be valued over a midwife's medical training....They normally did considerably more than midwives and their holistic attention to the entire family put a Ma's mind at ease."

"A handywoman did everything. Prepared the room and bed, settled the newspapers properly, put the kettle on, knew every technique - and trick - for reducing pain and calming the mother."

It's sad that we no longer have handwomen, that this kind of care is no longer an aspect of how we live. But c'est la vie.

Probably doulas are the closest thing we have to handywomen.

02/07/2026

A little bit of info about 'Supernumerary ni***es'! From the book 'Mutants: On the form, varieties and errors of the human body' by Armand Marie Leroi.

"They are common: between 2 and 10 per cent of the population have at least one. In Europeans extra ni***es or breasts are usually found somewhere below the normal ones, often in a line running directly down the abdomen. Jaoanese women, curiously, seem to get them above the normal breasts, often in the armpits. These patterns of extra ni***es may recollect an ancient 'milk line' - a row of ten pairs of teats that ran from the armpits to the thighes in some ancestral mammal....extra breasts often work like normal ones, swelling and even lactating during pregnancy, and there are even accounts of women suckling children from supernumerary thigh-breasts."

09/06/2026

There should be a word to describe the delighted that lactivists and b**b feeding enthusiasts expereince when they happen upon references to breastfeeding and lactation in unexpected places. Or maybe there is and I just don't know it?

I'm reading a biography of Colette (French writer and actress), and it gives an account of how her wet nurse weaned her age 16 months. Colette's mother breastfed her initially (for an unspecified time) but then handed over breastfeeding duties to a live in wet nurse (a very normal practice at the time in France). The wet nurse put mustard on her ni**le. The burning and the humiliation that little Colette felt when she latched, still seemed to be quite palpable for her as an adult.

There are kinder ways to wean little onea from breastfeeding.

22/05/2026

I have availability next week for antenatal and postnatal consultations - Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Fees:

Zoom - €125
Home Visit - €175 (includes a copy of my book)
Package - an antenatal zoom (or a postnatal zoom follow up), a postnatal home visit, access to a 2-hr class recording and a copy of my book €250

DM me!

12/05/2026

For people in south Dublin - a €250 breastfeeding support package which includes a zoom antenatal consult, a postnatal home visit, access to a 2-hr class recording, a copy of my book 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents' and WhatsApp support for 2 weeks after the postnatal appointment.

Please DM or email me at [email protected] for details or to book.

04/05/2026

To mark Maternal Mental Health Week, I'm giving away a copy of 'Practical Breastfeeding: An Illustrated Guide for Parents'. As anyone who has read the book will know, mental health and maternal emotional well-being feature prominently in the book. There's a chapter on breastfeeding and mental health, and another on the emotional impact of difficult breastfeeding experiences.

To enter, Like, Share, & Comment.

I'll pick a winner at random tomorrow at 6pm.

29/04/2026

This post might seem like I'm stating the obvious, but many of the mums I'm seeing at the moment are using cross-cradle hold because they've been given the impression that this is the position they have to use, and that it is the 'correct' position to feed in.

Cross-cradle is a mother-led position. There are times when it works well. But for many mother-baby dyads it can be problematic for a few reasons:

- it tends to limit baby's neck extension, and can result in a suboptimal latch

- it can cause some babies to get annoyed! They know how to breastfeed, and may not respond well to being pushed to the breast.

- it may not be comfortable for the mother

- research has found that cross-cradle hold increases the risk of sore or cracked ni***es

If cross-cradle position ia working for you - great! If not, consider trying a more laid back position and giving your baby more automony in the latching and feeding process. Attend a group for support, or seek out one-to-one support.

Sometimes the smallest changes to positioing can have a huge positive impact on breastfeeding for you and your baby.

27/04/2026

I did a toddler weaning consultation on Zoom last week and it reminded me of this fabulous little book called 'The Story of Jessie's Milkies' by Emma Pickett . The beautiful illustrations are by Jojo Ford.

The book explores three possible weaning journeys for three year old Jessie.

Toddler weaning can be challenging and is most definitely not a one-size-fits-all scenario. What works for one family may not work for another.

But whatever journey you take, it really helps to try and understand things from your toddler's perspective and to communicate with them about what's happening in a way that they can understand and that will resonate with them. One of the ways you can do this is through story telling. Jessie's Milkies offers a gentle way to plant the seed of the idea with your toddler that breastfeeding will some day end. And that that's ok. Toddlers tend to love repetition, so that means reading the same books over and over again! Doing this with Jessie's Milk may give them space and time to explore how they feel about stopping breastfeeding. Because for many of them it's a big big thing.

I actually got really emotional when I picked the book up and had a flick through 😭 It brought me back to the years when my kids were small and we were reading stories at bedtime, and I just felt weirdly sad that that chapter of my life is very much over. At the time I thought it would never end and that I'd never not feel exhausted and sleep deprived!

26/04/2026

I have availability for home visits in South Dublin or Zoom consultations on Tuesday and Thursday of this week.

DM or email me ([email protected]) to book.

Home visit fee is €175. This includes a copy of my book.

Home visits typically take between one and a half and two hours.