{"id":469155,"date":"2026-06-09T22:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/469155\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:48:09","slug":"hawkes-bay-breastfeeding-consultants-earn-international-award-believed-to-be-new-zealand-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/469155\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawke\u2019s Bay breastfeeding consultants earn international award believed to be New Zealand first"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hawke\u2019s Bay Breastfeeding Service, delivered through Wh\u0101nau \u0100whina Plunket, has received an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Care Award.<\/p>\n

The award recognises excellence in breastfeeding support and places the Hawke\u2019s Bay service on an international directory of recognised IBCLC care providers for the next two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly proud to be recognised in this way for our efforts,\u201d Owen said. <\/p>\n

Recognition awards this year went only to about 40 services worldwide, including one in New Zealand, three in Australia and 28 in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"LactationLactation consultants Jo Owen, left, and De Nicholls show the Hawke\u2019s Bay Breastfeeding Service Care Award certificate.<\/p>\n

The Hawke\u2019s Bay service supports 217 new wh\u0101nau and delivers 572 support sessions each year, particularly for M\u0101ori, Pacific and families with complex needs.<\/p>\n

Alongside one-on-one support, the service also runs Miraka M\u0101m\u0101, a free breastfeeding coffee group in Flaxmere where mothers can meet, feed their babies and seek advice in an informal setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur service does more than respond to breastfeeding challenges,\u201d Owen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrate wh\u0101nau strengths, support them every step of the way, and help them give their babies the best possible start.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AlongsideAlongside one-on-one support, the service also runs Miraka M\u0101m\u0101, a free breastfeeding coffee group in Flaxmere where mothers can meet, feed their babies and seek advice in an informal setting.<\/p>\n

The consultants support mothers with issues ranging from painful feeding and low milk transfer to premature babies, twins and babies with medical conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s an individual and they all have individual circumstances,\u201d Owen said.<\/p>\n

She said breastfeeding support had become increasingly important as families faced growing pressures, including returning to work earlier and navigating financial and social stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an emotional cost for the mum,\u201d she said, challenging the idea that breastfeeding is simply \u201cfree\u201d.<\/p>\n

The service is led by Owen and fellow lactation consultant Nicholls.<\/p>\n

Nicholls said her own difficult breastfeeding journey with her first daughter inspired her 20-year career.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was premature … and feeding was painful,\u201d Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, Nicholls felt a tug on her breast and after some adjustments, breastfeeding had finally become easy for her. <\/p>\n

That experience led her to specialise and become a certified lactation consultant.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery mother deserves the chance to get good breastfeeding support,\u201d Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

She said many feeding decisions are made during pregnancy, so that\u2019s the ideal time to learn about it, ask questions, and understand what to expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe earlier, the better … We have never visited someone who says it\u2019s good timing. They always wish they had seen us earlier.\u201d <\/p>\n

The service is not only for first-time mothers.<\/p>\n

Aliesha Wells sought help after her third baby, Meila, was born three weeks early, weighing just under 3kg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt really confident in breastfeeding, and yet I had the struggle on my third time,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n

With support from the service, she learnt new feeding techniques, including \u201cboober milkshake\u201d to stimulate milk flow and different breastfeeding positions.<\/p>\n

\"AlieshaAliesha Wells breastfeeding her 3-month-old daughter, Meila.<\/p>\n

Now 3 months old, Meila weighs 5kg and is exclusively breastfed.<\/p>\n

Wells encouraged mothers not to stay silent if they were struggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you think you\u2019re a pro, it\u2019s okay to ask for help and get some advice because there are some pretty cool techniques that make breastfeeding easier,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of women sit there and struggle in pain and silence, and you don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hawke\u2019s Bay Breastfeeding Service, delivered through Wh\u0101nau \u0100whina Plunket, has received an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2346,1561,5195,8843,13161,103176,7491,1888,1976,1019,117,111,43,139,69,61,80],"class_list":["post-469155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-award","tag-bay","tag-be","tag-believed","tag-breastfeeding","tag-consultants","tag-earn","tag-first","tag-hawkes","tag-international","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-to","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}