An experienced midwife and lactation consultant, it was her own experience and struggles through the postnatal period that inspired Bekki Cavallaro to start Full Circle Midwifery and Lactation Support, providing holistic care to new mums and their families through pregnancy and the postnatal period. Bekki supports and guides families as they transition through pregnancy into parenthood, offering supportive midwifery and lactation consultation services.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
The inspiration behind Full Circle has been threads of passion and insight of my professional life as a Private Practice Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), alongside my diverse personal experiences as a mother coming together over many years.
Professionally, I have witnessed and supported many mothers enthusiastically prepare themselves for the birth of their child, however seldom did I witness the same enthusiasm and focus on the preparation for the postnatal journey, breastfeeding and transitions to parenthood.
Personally, when I gave birth to my son almost five years ago, I was an experienced midwife and had supported many women to breastfeed their babies, however I felt completely unprepared for the entirely life changing experience of motherhood and the challenges I experienced learning and adapting to breastfeeding. Then a few years later when I gave birth to my daughter, I was a Private Practice Midwife and an IBCLC, and again I was challenged in the postnatal period with breastfeeding complications, despite the expert knowledge and experience I possessed. These experiences gave me an awareness of the need for holistic, expert and continuity of postnatal care. So once I had supported my own postnatal journey, I was on a mission to set up Full Circle Midwifery & Lactation Support to provide the holistic care I felt every new family deserved.
Over my many years as a Private Practice Midwife, I have seen that the care and support families receive throughout pregnancy and postnatally can have a strong influence and can set the tone for their journey into parenthood. My hands-on experience, both professional and personal, has led me to understand that a family’s transition to life on the ‘other side’ of having a child is a rite of passage journey, very much worthy of holistic continuity-of-care support, rather than a one-off education class or consultation. The purpose of Full Circle is to be a guiding light (armed with expert knowledge and skills) for the families I have the privilege of supporting, as they transition and bloom on their own unique paths as new families.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I founded Full Circle whilst on maternity leave from Kindred Midwifery Obstetrics & Gynaecology. While I was on my own breastfeeding journey, my team at Kindred continued calling on my knowledge and experience, particularly as an IBCLC for many of the tricky breastfeeding cases they were caring for. Prior to this happening, I had always held this quiet vision to convert the downstairs of our home into a clinic space, allowing me to create my own private practice. So, when I was home anyway, looking after my daughter and wanting to be able to support these complicated breastfeeding cases, I felt a call to make my business-dream a reality.
My team at Kindred fully supported and encouraged me to create Full Circle and started referring families who were seeking IBCLC support to me. At this time in my life with a young family, and being a breastfeeding mother myself, I really value being able to serve and support the families I care for, whilst also mainly working out of my home-clinic in Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, allowing me to be more present for my family.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
It was very much an a-ha moment for me when I recognised the incredible parallels that exist between birth and breastfeeding: bringing together the concept that breastfeeding and the ‘surrender’ required in the postnatal period is just as much about the mindset as it is about the mechanics – similarly to what I have spent many years educating and preparing women on around birth.
I believe, just like birth, breastfeeding and the postnatal period is a ‘rite of passage’, and it requires more than generalised education to truly support new mothers and families. It requires mentoring and bespoke, quality continuity of postnatal care. Providing this through Full Circle, I have the privilege of supporting families to connect and communicate with their newborn child. These families come to me for support with breastfeeding, but through our consultations I see so much more than breastfeeding achieved. Breastfeeding is simply the ‘lens’ through which the newfound skills, confidence and communication is achieved. It is such a privilege to witness and support this journey of empowerment for new families.
