Jen Culley was a police officer before she decided to retrain with NCT as an antenatal practitioner and breastfeeding counsellor. Read her story.
After feeling a lack of control with her first two births and finding breastfeeding challenging with her first baby Orla, Jen began training with NCT. Find out more below.
“I’d decided I didn’t want to go back to being a police officer, but initially I didn’t know what to do. I was on maternity leave, and the opportunity to have a fresh start arose. I was thinking about what I enjoyed when a Facebook ad to train to be an antenatal practitioner came up in 2017, when my middle child was a baby.
“I wanted to do something that would fit around being at home with my kids (now 4, 6 and 8). When I first applied, my children were two and newborn and I wanted something to be flexible and it seemed like a really good fit.
“I was interested in breastfeeding as I’d had so many challenges with my first, but with my second I’d had more information and support. I saw a private breastfeeding supporter, and went to a NCT drop in.
“I absolutely loved the training with NCT and rave about it to other people. I found it transformational and made me question my own birth experience.
“Every bit of work we did built on my skills as a facilitator, it was all very relevant towards being a practitioner. It wasn’t too directive, it was about needing to put the work in yourself and create your own learning.”
“Part of the course training to be a Breastfeeding Counsellor is learning counselling skills and listening skills, and it has helped me go seamlessly into being a doula. It’s tempting to give people advice, but with NCT I learned not to do that.
“I understood that people don’t want to be told what to do, they want someone to talk to, to help them make their own plan.”
Find out more about training with us to become an antenatal practitioner or breastfeeding counsellor.
Our free infant feeding line is open every day, from 8am to midnight. Call 0300 330 0700. Read more about how you can find breastfeeding support from NCT.
Gain practical skills, build a support network and empower yourself with knowledge on an NCT antenatal course. We also run NCT New Baby courses, to help you adjust and grow in confidence when your new baby arrives.
