Feeding trauma counselling

When feeding your baby feels painful, overwhelming, or emotionally difficult, counselling can help.

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See if its right for you, request a callback from myself.

A safe space to process your feeding experience

We can gently explore the emotional challenges that emerge relating to fertility difficulties including:

Feelings of guilt, shame, or self-blame around a difficult feeding journey, feeding choices or outcomes

Anxiety about feeding your baby, weight gain, or your baby's wellbeing

Difficult experiences with breastfeeding, bottle feeding, expressing, or combination feeding

Pressure from friends, family or healthcare professionals and social expectations

Feelings of failure or loss of confidence as a parent

The difficult emotions experienced with feeding and any impact on you, your baby or your partner

Grief around how you hoped feeding would be

When feeding your baby feels painful, overwhelming, or emotionally difficult, counselling can help.

Finding compassion and confidence again

I offer a calm and supportive space to help you process your experience, using an integrative counselling approach to enable you to understand your feelings and give yourself greater self-compassion. This may include:

Providing space for you to tell your feeding story without fear of judgement
A safe space to process grief, disappointment, or trauma linked to your feeding experience
Exploring how your confidence and parental identity have been impacted
Reducing feelings of guilt and self-criticism
Supporting you to rebuild trust in your parenting decisions
Helping you move towards acceptance and emotional healing

Related support: you may also find it helpful to read about support after a difficult birth, support for anxiety after having a baby, support with identity change after a baby, or explore all the ways I can help with postnatal support services. When you feel ready, you can book a session or start with a free introduction call.

Have a space to be heard and supported throughout every part of your journey

Every feeding journey is unique, and there is no single "right" way to feed a baby. If your feeding experience continues to affect you, it deserves to be acknowledged. You do not have to carry the weight of it alone.

Feeding Trauma - FAQs

I'm struggling emotionally with feeding my baby, can counselling help?

Yes. Feeding difficulties can be incredibly emotional and overwhelming. Counselling offers space to process your experience and feel supported without judgement.

What is feeding trauma?

Feeding trauma can include distress around breastfeeding, bottle feeding, pumping, painful feeding experiences, pressure, guilt, or feeling like things didn't go as expected.

I feel like I've failed at feeding my baby or feel guilty about my feeding experience, is this something I can talk about?

Absolutely. Many parents carry shame, grief, or self-blame around feeding. Counselling is a safe place to talk honestly about those feelings.

What happens in feeding trauma counselling?

You can have space to talk through what you have been through, explore the emotional impact, and begin to rebuild confidence and self-compassion.

Can counselling help if feeding is affecting my bond with my baby?

Counselling can help you explore difficult feelings around bonding, attachment, and the emotional pressure many parents experience.

Can counselling help me move forward from a difficult feeding experience?

Counselling can help you move forward and make sense of your experience, reduce emotional distress, and feel more supported in yourself as a parent.

What if I'm experiencing a mixture of different feelings or difficulties?

You do not need to have everything figured out before starting counselling. Many people experience a combination of anxiety, low mood, intrusive thoughts, birth trauma, identity changes, overwhelm, or simply a feeling that something doesn't feel right. You can find a safe space at Parent Perspective to explore your experience without needing to label or fully understand it first.

I don't feel like myself during pregnancy or after having a baby, can counselling help even if I don't know why?

Sometimes people can sense that something has changed emotionally, mentally, or physically, even if they can't explain it clearly. You can explore gently what has changed, understand how you're feeling, and reconnect with yourself with support and compassion.

Other ways I can support you

Trying For A Baby (IVF)

Trying for a baby can result in relationship strains, anxiety, grief and low moods. Therapy can provide emotional support, coping mechanisms, and a safe space to navigate challenges.

Hypnobirthing

Hypnobirthing builds confidence and reduces fear using relaxation, breathing and a positive mindset techniques. Helping you to feel fully prepared and calm. Providing practical tools for your labour.

Fear of Childbirth

Suitable for first time parents and those holding anxiety from a previous birth. Use therapy to process and release fears. Build confidence for a calmer birth.

Antenatal Anxiety

Pregnancy anxiety can be overwhelming and experience self-doubt. Therapy can ease anxious thoughts, release fears, build self-trust and provide greater confidence within your pregnancy.

Antenatal Depression

Depression in pregnancy creates low mood, disconnection and overwhelm. Counselling can help you process difficult emotions, reduce isolation, connect with your baby, to feel supported and hopeful.

Perinatal Coaching

Perinatal coaching provides a positive support across pregnancy, postpartum and parenthood, providing encouragement, support and guidance with the challenges including relationships, career and parenthood.

Birth Trauma

Therapy for birth trauma can help you process the birth, reduce distressing memories, release fear and rebuild confidence, emotional balance, and connection with your baby.

Identity Loss In The Perinatal Period

Counselling can support you to process changes in your identity. Including your role as a parent, relationship differences enable you to reconnect with yourself to rebuild your identity.

Postnatal Depression

Counselling offers a safe space to process the feelings associated with depression, including low mood, exhaustion. To ease guilt, rebuild confidence, and support emotional recovery.

Postnatal Anxiety

If you are experiencing worry, racing thoughts or fear of something going wrong. Counselling can calm anxious thoughts, reduce overwhelm and build coping strategies.

Feeding Trauma

If you breastfed, bottle fed or pumped milk, you may have experienced feeding trauma if your feeding journey was not what you expected. Counselling can give you the space to process these feelings and provide support to move forward.

Mens Perinatal Mental Health

Men may also struggle with the pressures of parenthood, low mood, or their identity as a father. Therapy can untangle emotions, improve coping mechanisms and strengthen the connection between you and your baby.