About Me
Hello and welcome to our website. I am Rosamund McFadden, but unless I am in trouble you can call me Ros. I have a diverse background of experience starting with an interest in art and ending with an interest in feeding babies!
I was a fashion student, studying at the London College of Fashion in the late 1980’s. I moved to Milton Keynes in 1988 and worked in merchandising for fashion retailers before starting a family, with the birth of my eldest daughter Alicia. I went on to have a son Oliver 18 months later and started working for Argos head office in catalogue production and eventually in supply chain and e-procurement. Not the most logical employment route for a fashion student. I had another child Elliot and found myself with 3 children under five, as the main wage earner in the family, working full time in a demanding job and then….. divorced, met the love of my life and had my fourth child D’Arcy. It was when I was pregnant with my last child that I lost my job. This motivated me to retrain and after achieving a first class honours degree in Midwifery at Northampton University I joined Milton Keynes Hospital as a registered midwife.
I have been a registered midwife since 2009, working in the hospital and community settings, but since 2014 I have specialised in the area of breastfeeding, a long time passion of mine after breastfeeding all four of my children with varying success.
In 2014 I qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and was promoted into the role of Infant Feeding Lead Midwife at Milton Keynes University hospital in 2016. I took on the project lead role for the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative and became a qualified tongue tie practitioner after training with the University Hospital Southampton NHS trust.
In 2015 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, an irony for a breastfeeding specialist. I thank my role and knowledge for the fact that I spotted a change in my breast early, I only had Stage 1 disease and that is why I am here today. This was the catalyst for the life changing decision to follow my dream of starting a business to find solutions to support breastfeeding mothers, their families and support businesses who employ these women or their partners to understand their responsibilities and the parents’ needs.
As my Linked in profile states, I am an advocate for women and babies’ health, with entrepreneurial tendencies in the world of lactation. So in a nutshell I am a fashionista, lover of art, with a variable history in the retail business, a senior health professional and a proud Mum of four wonderful children.
What do her clients say?
"I just wanted to thank you for welcoming me today. I'm still a few weeks off my due date but this so reassuring to know there are places like the Breastfeeding Hub that can support us new mums. ...."
Having a 121 lactation consultation with Ros was the best thing I have done so far on my breastfeeding journey! I found Ros through a panicked google search at 2am on day 3 with my newborn son; we had both been up all night crying and I was desperate for help. After a birth that didn't go at all to plan I was also faced with a newborn who was struggling to latch properly and cracked and bleeding nipples because of the feeding. Every time my son latched I would cry, and the midwives in the hospital just said that feeding shouldn't be painful which left me feeling like I was doing something wrong.
Ros came out later on that same day for a home visit and as soon as she walked in I felt like a weight had been lifted. Ros was full of knowledge, understanding, compassion and support and after a couple of hours of looking at what was going on both with me, my son and the feeding I felt like I had the knowledge and understanding to keep going with breastfeeding.
I've since been in contact with Ros via email and she has provided even more support and I have attended her Breastfeeding Cafe, which was incredible.
I have recommended Ros to all of my pregnant and new mum friends. She is a breast feeding fairy godmother and I am incredibly grateful to her for helping me keep going with breastfeeding. I'm not sure I could have kept going as strong as I have without her help and support.