(above image – remote support client Nov 2020)

Kirsty – student midwife from Bournemouth Uni – Jan 2021

Absolutely incredible Q&A! Explained all concerns fully in ways everyone could understand! Was empathetic and brilliant throughout! Would highly recommend.

Adam and Laura, remote clients
You have been such an incredible resource for us and really educated us in a way no one else was able to so thank you, thank you, thank you!

Helen from Lancashire
Shel spent just a few hours with us during a very difficult and upsetting time getting my newborn to feed properly. I messaged her late Friday on a Bank Holiday weekend and she was here on the Saturday morning. Within just a few hours of Shel leaving us my son was feeding properly without a nipple shield which had been the only way he could feed from me since birth. She is fantastic and her support during the early hours is very much appreciated! Cannot recommend highly enough.

Kayleigh, remote client
Amazing Lactation Consultant! Due to the help and the support from Shel, Iv managed to get to 16 months of EBF and won’t be giving up anytime soon. Thank you

Alex from Lancashire
I contacted Shel when my little boy was 3.5months old as I was still having pain when breastfeeding and recurrent blocked ducts. She came to my house and did a thorough history and feeding assessment.
She greatly helped me to improve positioning and attachment/latch and breastfeeding is now pain free.
She also plotted all of his weights on to an app which highlighted he had faltering growth, which wasn’t immediately apparent from his red book.
By doing an overall assessment, Shel also suggested a lot of his symptoms might be due to an allergy. I ended up going on a dairy free diet, and his skin, nappies and fussiness have all greatly improved.
His weight gain is now going up the centiles rather than down, due to the changes to breastfeeding and going dairy free.
I highly recommend Shel’s services as she not only helped to improve the problems I initially contacted her about, but also identified and helped to solve others of which I was unaware. The initial consultation was perfect for full feeding assessment and overall review of my little boy. The follow-up access via personal messages were invaluable for further questions and discussion following changes.
I am so grateful to Shel, who I believe is responsible for saving my breastfeeding journey. It is now an enjoyable experience and we are at 6 months and counting!
Thank you so much Shel. x

Sarah from Manchester
Learnt so much from Shel, she’s purely brilliant, eased my anxiety and feeding is going so much better, i cannot thank this woman enough! thank you!

Michelle – remote client
Shel is fab! she worked with me virtually to help me with my little girl who was really struggling with feeding and super unsettled all the time. Shel was able to advise me based on mine and my babies history and some pictures and clips of feeding. Doing all this online was great and made it easy to go back and forth as I worked on things. A few weeks on from our initial contact I can honestly say I have a different baby, the advice I got and the help to improve our feeding has completely changed things for us – hopefully I won’t encounter any further problems but if I do I will be speaking to Shel! thank you!

Bethany from Lancashire
Shel has supported me so much since I first contacted her. I was really struggling with pain whilst breastfeeding, and my baby had faltering growth. I felt dismissed by other healthcare professionals and was feeling like a complete failure. Shel identified that my baby still had a tongue tie despite it being snipped once already. She also realised he had allergies and helped identify what these were. Since working with Shel my baby has gone from 0.3rd centile to over 25th centile (it was a long hard slog but we got there!) Shel has provided me with ongoing support, initially through a home visit and then via text and at drop in clinics. I’m so grateful to Shel, obviously for her breastfeeding expertise but also for her kindness and the way she validated my experiences and helped give me back my confidence. Thank you Shel!

Nicola – remote client
In just a short few days of remote support from Shel we have managed to establish feeding so it’s nearly pain free and have managed to finally stop bottles of EBM which we have been heavily reliant on for the past 6 weeks due to tongue tie and pain. She is so knowledgeable and I’m so pleased I got in touch with her. I wasn’t sure remote support would be ideal but as Shel isn’t local I decided to try it and am so pleased I did. Thank you Shel for giving me back my sanity and helping us with our breastfeeding journey!

Amy from Lancashire
Fantastic. My Baby is now 8 months and has been formula fed which has had a few problems. She made me feel listened to and I wish I had known about her far sooner. Very helpful and lovely.

Megan – remote client
Shel listened to me, she heard me, and she supported me. She didn’t try and pass me off as low supply like the local nhs IBCLC did. She encouraged me to self refer to another practitioner. Without my IBCLC I’d have very very easily been “unable” to breastfeed my youngest. Thank you Shel.

Rachel from Cumbria
Shel is simply amazing, she explained things so simply to me that I was able to understand breastfeeding and do it successfully, she’s helped me so much. I could not have done this without her. my daughter feeds like a pro and for that I am so thankful to Shel. 100% recommend!!!

Gabriella, remote client
The advice I received was really helpful. It was some small details that I was doing wrong that actually had big impact on my little one’s digestive system. Once I adjusted them things started to improve. I am really happy I looked for advice from Shel. Thank you!

Sam, mum of baby recently discharged from Neonatal Unit:
Shel’s obvious passion and huge amounts of patience with an overwhelmed set of parents and an incredibly unhappy baby have seen us all flourish. I can’t recommend her enough. Thank you Shel xx

LC from Lancashire
Shel Banks is an absolute life saver and I would recommend her to all mums who are trying to breastfeed. I came to her Drop-In, at a point of total desperation, with my 7 week old son, who was screaming, in pain after most feeds. Shel gave me the knowledge and confidence to work out the foods that trigger a reaction in him and remove them from my diet. He’s now nearly 6 months old and a completely different baby. Thanks Shel.

Hayley from Blackpool
Shel came out a week ago after I was at my wit’s end with my 4 month old baby who has had numerous allergic reactions through breastfeeding. I messaged on a Sunday morning after no sleep and she was with me Monday afternoon. I sent her a message this morning to thank her as I am literally blown away, I have a different baby. Shel recommended looking at my own diet and gut health and also how to work on improving my son’s latch. It was so nice just to talk to her and to come away from it with some direction. Can’t recommend her enough. Thank you xx

Jenny from Lancashire
At a time when I was in tremendous pain while breastfeeding and nobody seem able or willing to help Shel came to my rescue. She came to my house and gave me some fantastic help and guidance, leading to a tongue tie diagnosis and successful treatment. Ever since she has always been willing to help me, whatever my query, at any time of day! Very passionate about infant feeding, kind, funny and incredibly well informed, I would and have recommended her to anyone struggling with breastfeeding.

Jess from Cheshire – remote client
Shel is a brilliant friendly woman. She has helped myself and [my daughter] through allergies, positioning, latch, weight gain and has helped set up help locally for me and my daughter. When I first came into contact with Shel my daughter was 7 weeks old and had already been admitted to hospital for failure to thrive twice. Health professionals were pushing formula top ups and she was still loosing weight. Shel helped me get her weight back on track and now 12 weeks on we are off top ups of breast milk and gaining well!

Liz from Manchester
Shel is amazing. She is really knowledgeable and genuine. She responds to queries with astounding efficiency and with lots of information and references. My baby was struggling with repeated reattaching tongue tie and distressing silent reflux / colic for 6 months. After contacting Shel (who took a detailed history and read through all my info) we managed to significantly decrease his distress and stabilise his weight gain. She completed the puzzle by working out that food intolerances/ allergies were part of the picture and informed me about elimination diets. She also met with me to help with our latch and she explained it all in a much clearer way than anyone had showed me before. She has increased my confidence that we can continue to breastfeed despite tongue restriction. Thank you so much!

Edith – remote client
After all the stress of being a new Mum, my stress continued when I had problems with my little one and her breastfeeding journey. Shel reached out to me and helped me like nobody had so far. Gave me advice and put confidence back into my breastfeeding journey when I didn’t think I would feel that way again. Shel really is a wonderful woman with amazing knowledge, not only that she is full of care

Nia from Manchester
Shel has provided invaluable support both in person and via remote support. Her advice and practical guidance enabled me to effectively relactate after I received poor advice about medication I had to take. Shel also guided me to a better source of information about medication and breastfeeding (Wendy Jones, specialist pharmacist – another wonderful woman!)
I would highly recommend Shel if you have any challenges/difficulties in your breastfeeding journey.

Sammi from Cheshire:
It’s taken me a while to write a review, because I honestly don’t know what to say. I didn’t have my first pain free feed until I met Shel, days before my baby turned 6 months. She saved my sanity and boosted my confidence, as well as teaching me new techniques that are still going strong now 9 weeks later. Thank you for everything.

Katy from Central Manchester:
When I first contacted Shel I was struggling with a number of breastfeeding difficulties and feeling pretty desperate. Shel responded almost immediately to my initial enquiry for support. She forwarded advice and resources which I could access to help me immediately and also set up an appointment to come to my flat in Central Manchester within 4 days. During the consultation she spent a huge amount of time with my husband and I working on the attachment and positioning of our little one and answering my many questions. She was patient, extremely knowledgeable, good humoured and had a wealth of experience and expertise to share. Beyond the consultation Shel then stayed in touch with me checking in regularly to see how things were going and answering yet MORE questions!! Her practical advice and suggestions have helped me enormously and I now feel a lot more confident in what I am doing. Many, many thanks Shel for all your help!

JS  – remote support client:
live in Scotland, but Shel came so highly recommend that I contacted her. My son has food allergies, had a terrible latch, a probable missed posterior tongue tie and lost a lot of weight initially. I’ve had mastitis three times, but was determined to keep feeding. Our initial contact was via Facebook messenger, but she gave constant support, information and even plotted and graphed my son’s development. Day and night, weekday and weekend, she answered my many questions. Eventually we travelled down to meet Shel and have a face to face, more for my reassurance than anything else. She was wonderful: funny, kind, knowledgeable and above all compassionate. We are now just a few days past 6 months of breastfeeding and a huge part of that is due to Shel’s help. I can’t thank her enough.

Natalie from Manchester:
Shel recently came to see me after my baby was dropping centiles in his chart, and I didn’t know why. She showed me the problems straight away that I hadn’t even seen and wouldn’t have known and that my health visitors hadn’t picked up on. She is a true expert in her field and knowledgable in all aspects not just the common problems and quick fixes! As well as this she is also really friendly and approachable and made me feel at ease. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Shel to any of my friends when they have a baby and am so glad that I found her when I did.

Caroline from Lancashire:
Shel has been an amazing help to me and I think had it not been for Shel then I may have given up my bf journey. I managed to bf my first born perfectly fine so was really shocked to find I was really struggling with my second born. I firstly seemed help from mw and hv but as baby was putting on weight then they weren’t too concerned but baby was feeding round the clock, was unsettled and had a shallow latch causing me pain so I asked for shels help, Shel spotted that my baby had a tongue tie almost immediately which mw and hv had missed, Shel put me in touch with the right people to get the problem fixed and she helped me tremendously with my latching on technique. Shel was on hand after her visit to answer all other questions I had and was very quick at getting back to me. Shel was a MASSIVE support in a great time of need for me and I cannot thank her enough!

SG from Greater Manchester:
The support and expertise Shel provided on our complex feeding case was immeasurable. She respectfully approached where we were at and helped us to think about what was best to do next. Things have pretty dramatically improved with information and support that she gave. Can not highly recommend this lady enough.

Victoria from Lancashire:
It was fabulous to meet Shel and receive her pearls of wisdom! A few simple changes this morning have already made a huge difference to me and baby during breastfeeds. She spent time with me and gave me advice on a few other aspects of life with a newborn. She was patient and listened carefully to my concerns. I would have no hesitation in recommending her to others or asking her again for help.

Jen from North Wales:
I would just like to say thank you for you help and support you have given me. I have been given more support in a few hours with you then I have from the HV and midwives over the last 8 weeks – also telling me about my local groups and support. I can’t thank you enough, you really are worth your weight in gold!

Emma from Lancashire:
I will be forever grateful to Shel for sharing her knowledge and understanding of infant feeding. While pregnant I attended a class with Shel on breastfeeding and without the knowledge and confidence I gained there I’m pretty sure I would not have been able to breastfeed my son. It’s not always easy and it’s so important to be prepared. If you possibly can get to these classes then do! In case you are wondering our problem was an undiagnosed tongue tie.

EM from Greater Manchester:
With all the contradictory advice I received it was totally worth paying to see someone who knows what they are talking about. Shel offered loads of support remotely too which was incredibly reassuring.

Fay from Lancashire:
I just wanted to say a big thank you for your help with feeding after the problems we had at the start: at 11 weeks [my daughter] decided she didn’t want to take a bottle any more and we’ve been happily feeding off my left side as well as my right since then. She’s a big strong lass and almost as tall as [her big brother] and in 9-12 month clothes so she’s really taken off, she sits by herself and I’ve started introducing food last week she just takes the spoon and feeds herself, I’m so grateful for your help, once it clicked it has been so much easier than sorting bottles out and feel so happy to be giving her what she needs just wish I’d found you first time round!

Rebecca from Sussex (remote support client):
This lady is wonderful… I am a first time mum with a little one who is 6 days old and unfortunately I’ve received little to no support from medical professionals in my area. Feeding was extremely painful and I nearly gave up but after reaching out to this kind lady over FB I now have some brilliant guidance to put into practice and an incentive to keep going! She even researched local support networks for me within my area, nothing was too much for her. Thank you again.

Richa from Lancashire:
So glad I found Shel! The midwives, health visitors and local breastfeeding support group all told me my latch was perfect but I had a gut feeling something could be improved, I’m grateful for the NHS services available but the breastfeeding training seems a bit limited. Shel really knows the field and improved my latch instantly then continued to give me great practical advice for the rest of the 2 hour session. Thank you so much!

Rebekah from North Wales:
This lady is fantastic – she has helped me so much, with reassurance and referrals. She has given me so much support online it’s unreal. I can’t recommend her enough! Thank you so much Shel for everything! xx

Amy from Lancashire:
I recently sought assistance from Shel to get support on establishing breast feeding with my second child. I struggled for four months breastfeeding my first until I finally gave up.
With my first baby, I sought help from midwives, reading all the NHS guidance and phoning the LLL for some telephone advice, but still I struggled. I look back on those early months with my first and just remember the pain, so I was really keen to make sure it was different with my second.
Shel came to my house and spent all the time with me that I needed to get a decent latch and have the confidence to do it on my own. She also stayed in touch afterward to make sure everything was going well. She never made me feel rushed or like I was silly for taking so long to get it right. It was just what I needed. Within 24 hours of Shel’s visit, my breasts were healing, my baby was sleeping and settling much better, and I had a much rosier outlook on life.
Best money I have ever spent.

Mikaela from Lancashire:
Shel has given me brilliant advice and support over the last few months. After coming across many breastfeeding hurdles Shel has helped me overcome each and every one giving advice on massage techniques to relieve blockages, positioning and attachment, appropriate treatment for infections plus more. I am now 5 months on and loving this special time with my little one. I can’t thank her enough.

Ashleigh from Blackpool:
Shel is simply amazing!!! After having successfully breastfed my first child and having a reasonable amount of knowledge on breastfeeding I didn’t expect to have any issues feeding my new baby. When she was born I struggled getting her to latch and was offered very little support so I would attach her any way I could so that she was getting fed. I soon found she was feeding for 12-14 hours a day and almost constantly in the evenings which all health professionals I spoke to put down to “growth spurts”, nobody seemed bothered as she was feeding and gaining weight. A week ago I decided I was going to have to start mix feeding her as I simply could not get anything done and the length of feeding was completely unmanageable with 2 other children at home. A friend then recommended Shel, she had similar problems, saw Shel and she taught her how to fix them so I thought I’d give it a last ditch attempt. I found her on Facebook and was perfectly happy to pay privately but Shel offered for me to come to one of her free groups first (this to me shows how much she genuinely cares as she could have simply taken the money!). Two quick drop ins at group and some actual practical advice on how to improve her latch and my daughter is not only having shorter feeds, going a lot longer between feeds and sleeping really well she’s also a lot more content! Shel is supportive and friendly and manages to teach new techniques in ways that are easy to understand and maintain. I know this is a rather long review but I would’ve paid 10 times her usual private rates for the change in my baby already!

If you would like to submit a review then please do so: I am always very pleased to receive them.