Allow me to Reintroduce Myself

Hi, I’m Danielle — also known as The Breastfeeding Mentor and the author of The Breastfeeding Survival Guide. I’m a weaning specialist, writer, former teacher, and mother to one wild and wonderful little boy. I hold a master’s degree in Psychology, and I’ve built a community around one central truth: you don’t have to do this alone.

But this work didn’t begin with expertise. It began with loss.

In 2014, I miscarried my first baby at exactly 12 weeks. I’ll never forget that night — the sterile hospital lights, the silence, the unbearable ache of going home with empty arms. That loss ended my pregnancy and triggered the collapse of my already-crumbling marriage. I was living in Dubai, thousands of miles from home, and I felt like I was falling apart in slow motion. The grief was bottomless.

Eventually, desperate for relief, I enrolled in a yoga and meditation course in the foothills of the Himalayas. I didn’t go to be healed — I went to survive. But something shifted in me there. In the stillness, I remembered myself. I left India with a new sense of direction, returned to the UK, and began studying for a master’s degree in Psychology.

It was during that time that I reconnected with the love of my life — a dear friend who had always truly seen me. By the end of 2018, we were engaged and expecting our son.

Pregnancy brought its own challenges — relentless nausea, exhaustion, and a scare that left me fainting in the street — but it was mostly smooth. Birth, however, was anything but. After 78 hours of induced labour and an emergency c-section, our boy arrived — unable to latch. For the first few days, he was syringe-fed my colostrum by a rotation of midwives and my devoted fiancé. But on the third night, at 3 a.m., he latched for the first time… and from that moment, he barely let go.

Breastfeeding didn’t come easy. It wasn’t clinical problems — it was the emotional weight. The never-ending nights. The touched-out days. The worry that I wasn’t doing it right. Why wouldn’t he sleep in a cot? Why did he want to nurse constantly? Would I ever have my body or my freedom back?

I was finally a mother. But I didn’t know how to be me anymore.

Returning to work gave me a glimpse of myself again — and a fresh layer of guilt. I was working 70+ hour weeks in a boarding school, breastfeeding before dawn and after dusk, surviving on 3 to 5 hours of sleep. I was wearing red lipstick to hide the cracks. But I was quietly, completely burning out.

Then, one day in March 2020, I collapsed in a supermarket. My body had had enough. That collapse marked the start of a new kind of self-care — not the glossy, Instagram kind, but the brave, boundary-setting, soul-deep kind.

In 2021, I left my job to work full-time as The Breastfeeding Mentor. I wanted to support other mothers in a way I’d never been supported. I wanted to tell the truth — about how hard it can be, how beautiful, how messy. I wanted to be a voice in the dark.

What I didn’t say out loud at the time was that I hoped to reach the World Health Organization’s recommended two-year milestone. We did. And then some.

As I write this, our breastfeeding journey has officially ended — three years and nine months to the day. It ended quietly, much more naturally than it began: with one absent-minded, half-asleep feed in the middle of the night. It was Valentine’s night. A full-circle moment I didn’t even realise was the end until it was.

Since then, I’ve supported thousands of mothers through my work — helping them stop breastfeeding gently, return to work confidently, and care for themselves fiercely. I’ve learned that weaning isn’t just about stopping. It’s about reclaiming. About honouring everything you’ve given, and everything you still need.

I now offer:

• 1:1 private support for mothers ready to stop or feeling stuck

• A step-by-step weaning course filled with practical tools and emotional grounding

• A Weaning Webinar that includes a downloadable guide

• A growing library of free resources to meet you wherever you are

And my debut book, The Breastfeeding Survival Guide, is now available to pre-order.

It’s the big sister I wish I’d had — the voice I longed for in the dark. A companion through the fog.

• Weaning support

• Book a 1:1 session

• Download free guides

However long you breastfeed — however it begins, and however it ends — I hope more than anything that you feel informed, supported, and never alone.

With love,

Danielle

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