Esther Kern

I was incredibly thankful to be able to birth my second child at the Helensville Birthing Centre in November 2015. The support I received while there, to be able to establish our breastfeeding journey was amazing. A tongue tie was very quickly discovered, we were given options of different people to contact to get it released, and when we got it released when he was two days old, we were supported back at the birth centre to ensure we were continuing to latch as comfortably as possible. My absolute favourite thing about staying at the Helensville Birthing Centre is having the support to establish breastfeeding in those crucial early days. There’s help on call any time it’s needed and even if it’s just a quick check to identify whether or not a latch is correct, or help with more serious issues like ties, sleepy babies that won’t feed etc, you are never made to feel like your queries are pointless. When we left the birth centre after staying for a few days, although feeding was still uncomfortable due to the damage done before my sons tongue tie was released, I could leave feeling confident that we were doing everything to the best of our ability, ties had been checked and released, latch was exactly as it should be for optimal comfort and we were well on our way towards a successful breastfeeding journey. So thankyou to my midwife Michelle, and all the amazing staff at the Helensville Birthing Centre for everything you do to support great breastfeeding relationships with the families in our community!