A Bit About Me

Hello! My name is Lara and I am a UK Registered Midwife (RM) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).

I have many years of experience in working with families during pregnancy, birth and postnatally. I believe in the long-lasting and transformative power of a good birth, and what a positive difference it makes to be supported by trusted caregivers through the perinatal period . My goal is to guide and support you with your individual needs in mind from conception into the early years.

Experience

I started working with women and babies in 2008. I worked as a doula until 2013, and then trained and worked as a midwife and lactation consultant in London until 2021. Following the horrid Covid period working in the public health system, I moved to Lisbon with my family, in search of some sunshine and ocean life!

As a midwife in London, I specialised in physiological birth, facilitating hundreds of births in a calm, comfortable midwifery-led birth centre, often in water, and also at home, using active birth methods. I also worked in multidisciplinary teams, with obstetricians and paediatricians, and managed emergencies in all birth settings. I am a qualified NBPAN practitioner (neurobehavioural and physiological assessment of the newborn) enabling me to assess infants in the first 72 hours of life for any congenital or other problems.

As a lactation consultant, I helped many families at home, providing them with ongoing support over the postpartum period.

In these roles, I looked after women and babies who just needed a bit of guidance, and those with more complex medical or social needs. Regardless of women’s more specific needs, there are fundamental universal ones: Everyone deserves safety, kindness, dignity, and evidence-based information to make well-informed choices. These are the foundations for a good birth and postpartum experience.

At present..

Here in Lisbon, I provide birth and breastfeeding preparation, and postnatally I support families with breastfeeding and postnatal care. I also host a monthly Birth and Breastfeeding café, and I lead small-group ceremonial workshops around Motherhood grief. For people abroad, I offer video and phone consultations. Although in-person appointments are the best, many questions can be answered and problems resolved remotely.

During the journey through pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, I am a great believer in supporting physiology, love, and attachment for optimal health outcomes throughout life.

At the moment I can offer my services in English, French and more recently, passable Portuguese!

Publications/Interviews

Follow me on Instagram for regular content

April 2021: Article in the Journal of Human Lactation

July 2021: Podcast Interview by Amity Reed:

Spring 2020: Relactation Article in Doula UK Magazine

March 2019: Conversation with doula Eleanora Lawson about preparing for birth in the NHS