My name is Karla Napier - I'm a Lactation Consultant based in Edinburgh. I completed my nursing training in Nova Scotia in 1976, and qualified as a midwife in Edinburgh in 1981. For much of my nursing career I have worked as a neonatal nurse, first in Nova Scotia and from 1995 to 2003 at the Simpson Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh.

To learn how better to help mothers with complex feeding problems, I studied to gain a thorough grounding in the theory and practicalities of breastfeeding, and passed the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners exam in 2001, 2011 and 2021.

From 2003 to 2015, I held the post of Infant Feeding Advisor at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health (the Simpson's posh new name after moving to its present location in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France).

In this role I was responsible for supporting all the staff in the Simpson with the knowledge and skills they needed to help mothers to breastfeed, for maintaining Baby Friendly Accreditation in the Simpson, and for coordinating a Breastfeeding Clinic Service for mothers with complex breastfeeding problems.

In 2015 I retired from the NHS to work in private practice as a Lactation Consultant. I take great pleasure in working collaboratively with mothers to help them uncover the causes of their difficulties and find solutions that work so breastfeeding can become easy and comfortable for both mother and baby.

In 2015 I was delighted to receive the first annual "Outstanding Contribution to Breastfeeding" award from the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain, in recognition of many years spent helping to forge links of respect and trust between the NHS, the voluntary breastfeeding sector and the Lactation Consultant profession in the UK.