A profile of Deborah

Deborah Robertson is an experienced graduate teacher who has been working with breastfeeding mothers and babies since 1993.

  • She is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), qualifying in 2001.
  • Deborah’s main professional work concentrates on breastfeeding education of Health Professionals. Her comprehensive lactation course has LEAARC Approval – one of only 16 in the world.
  • She also has eight years’ experience of working with local Breastfeeding Peer Supporters for whom she designed and delivered the initial and ongoing training at her local Sure Start.
  • Deborah has completed the WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative Breastfeeding Management Course and the Train the Trainer Course.
  • She is NOT available for private lactation consultations.
  • Deborah volunteers as a La Leche League Leader, offering telephone breastfeeding counselling, co-leading a local LLL breastfeeding support group and training new breastfeeding counsellors for LLL.
  • Deborah received the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain ‘Outstanding Contribution to Breastfeeding as an IBCLC Award’ in 2019.
  • In 2022 Deborah gained international recognition for her work when LEAARC gave her the Judith Lauwers Award for Excellence in Lactation Education.

    “The 2022 Judith Lauwers Award for Excellence in Lactation Education was presented to Deborah Robertson IBCLC during the 2022 Educators’ Session on December 7.

    Deborah, who hails from Kent, UK, is the director of Deborah Robertson’s Breastfeeding Specialist Course, which is a LEAARC-Approved Course.

    She has a long history as a volunteer in lactation education in Great Britain, including having served as a Coordinator of Leader Accreditation for La Leche League Great Britain from 1996 – 2006; cofounder and volunteer IBCLC at the NHS Breastfeeding Clinic at Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent; and mentoring IBCLCs through personal contact, networking, seminars and a closed Facebook group.

    As a mentor, Deborah assists IBCLCs in choosing their career path, which has resulted in IBCLCs serving volunteer roles, NHS jobs, or private practice.

    Congratulations, Deborah!”

    “Deborah has single-handedly trained many of today’s cohort of IBCLCs in the UK. Her skill as a teacher, her professionalism, her high ethical standards, and her deep love for breastfeeding, mothers and babies has contributed to the training of hundreds of today’s IBCLCs. Deborah’s dedicated work over the years has produced skilled breastfeeding specialists who are supporting mothers and babies all across the country, transforming the landscape of breastfeeding support within the NHS and beyond.”

    https://www.lcgb.org/our-2019-outstanding-contribution-to-breastfeeding-award/

    Photos: Sophie Burrows IBCLC