Episode 13: Holding Space for the Emotional Side of Breastfeeding With Anne Endres

Anne Endres | Private Midwife & IBCLC Lactation Consultant | Canberra, ACT

Anne Endres is a Canberra midwife and IBCLC lactation consultant who has supported hundreds of families through pregnancy, birth and feeding. Multiple women in this community pointed me toward Anne. She is considered something of a breastfeeding guru here.

I heard Anne's name again and again before we sat down, always from women who said the same thing: she was the person who finally made feeding make sense for them. That reputation is well earned.

In this conversation we cover why feeding is natural but learned, the reasons breastfeeding can get hard beyond a straightforward latch problem, how words like “the golden hour” create expectations that leave women feeling like they are already falling short, and how Anne supports women through the physical and emotional sides of mastitis.

SHOW NOTES

• Anne's path into midwifery at nineteen, and specialising in lactation across three countries [03:20]

• Splitting her time between private midwifery with Dr Drew Marshall and lactation consulting through Evolve Midwifery [06:20]

• Why "holding space" sits at the heart of everything Anne does, and its ripple effect on families [07:50]

• Why feeding feels so emotionally loaded in a world that measures everything, and why it's natural but learned [10:35]

• The polarising stories about breastfeeding online, and the pressure created by language like "the golden hour" and "liquid gold" [12:55]

• Why conflicting feelings about breastfeeding can coexist, and why resenting breastfeeding doesn't mean you resent your baby [18:10]

• The first question Anne asks every woman, and why it matters more than technique [20:05]

• Beyond latch and position: the baby, the mother's medical history and the social context around her [22:35]

• The physical and emotional layers behind mastitis, and oral function versus tongue tie [26:30]

• Why breastfeeding support in hospital is time-limited, and the gap between guidelines and real families [33:15]

• Knowing when you're "done" breastfeeding, protecting your supply, and the grief of ending a feeding journey [39:00]

• How to prepare for your feeding journey during pregnancy, and connecting with your body before baby arrives [50:35]

• Anne's passion project: a community space for women at every life stage [56:45]

CONNECT WITH ANNE

Private midwifery in partnership with Dr Drew Marshall, Canberra Women and Babies

Instagram: @evolve_midwifery

Website: evolvemidwiferyservices.com.au/

MENTIONED IN EPISODE

• IBCLC: International Board Certified Lactation Consultant

• Oral function: how a baby latches, maintains suction and transfers milk

• Triple feeding: breastfeeding, pumping and topping up together

• Baby Friendly Health Initiative: the WHO and UNICEF framework behind hospital breastfeeding guidelines

• Australian Breastfeeding Association and La Leche League: peer to peer breastfeeding support groups

• ACT breastfeeding clinics: free lactation support through Maternal and Child Health nurses