I am Registered Nurse at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where I am dedicated to evidence-based, compassionate, and collaborative care. I received my PhD from the University of Maryland’s iSchool; my dissertation was titled Breastfeeding Without Nursing: The Lived Experiences of Exclusive Pumpers. Following the birth of my daughter and successfully breastfeeding without nursing, I conducted groundbreaking research into the experiences of over 2,000 people who exclusively pumped their milk. I have also redesigned the international breastfeeding symbol to be inclusive of both chest/breastfeeding and pumping (universalbreastfeedingsymbol.com), as well as creating symbols for other kinds of infant feeding (babyfeedingsymbols.com). I am an ALPP Advanced Nurse Lactation Consultant and have been both a birth and postpartum doula. Click here if you are interested in the lactation services I offer. I also offer professional editing services – be warned, I vehemently defend the Oxford comma (even though I’m a Cambridge graduate…).

My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am originally from (the old) York in the north of England but moved to America in 2008. I have travelled to every continent except Antarctica and love to explore new and interesting places. I’ve done death penalty defense work, opened and run a café, been an utterly terrible lawyer, and spent 11 years as a grad student; the common theme is my innate motivation to help real people with real world problems. I also turn yarn and wool into vaguely more useful things; embark upon ambitious DIY projects (usually successfully… I’m currently trying to find time to renovate a Baltimore rowhome); bake ridiculously tall cakes; get in touch with my Slytherin side with my pet snakes (though I am mostly a Ravenclaw); and snuggle with my total love bug cats: Axel, a beefy polydactyl tabby, and Tilly, a small and sleek house panther. Most importantly, I am a proud mama bear to my spitfire daughter and future YouTuber/doctor/veterinarian, Georgie.