Hi! I'm Adrianna.

Thompson Method Breastfeeding Educator

I'm so glad you're here!

Adrianna Paumen

Certified Thompson Method Breastfeeding Educator

You don't have to figure out breastfeeding alone.

I'm Adrianna, a certified Thompson Method Breastfeeding Educator and mother to 4 wonderful children.

I help women prepare for birth and breastfeeding, so they have the knowledge and confidence to be in control, based on the gentle, evidence based approach of The Thompson Method.

When you work with me, you will feel more empowered to be in control of your Labor, birth and breastfeeding experience so that you can breastfeed as long as you choose, full of confidence and pain-free!

Whether your estimated due date is just around the corner or still months away, I have a program to suit, so that you enter your unique journey prepared and full of confidence.  

I've been through it all so you don't have to!

You deserve a beautiful breastfeeding journey. 

My Story

With 4 kids, and 4 very different experiences, this is likely to get long, but maybe some part of it will resonate with you, Reader.

I always wanted to breastfeed my children. I wanted to make it to the year mark, and I wanted it to be as beautiful as I always imagined because deep down, I knew no matter what the doctor, FDA, or formula companies said, breastmilk was the superior nutrition for a baby. When my first was born, that dream was FAR from reality. My oldest was frank breach which we found out at 37 weeks. We attempted a version, but it was unsuccessful. We planned a C-section for 41 weeks, giving him time to turn around (he didn't). After my C-section, in the recovery room, the nurse handed me my baby boy. He was absolutely beautiful, but he was starting to squirm. The nurse (we called her Pippi Longstocking because she had super high pig tails) said, "Alright, Mom, put him on." .... um, what?? What did that even mean?? She sat at her computer and told me how to "latch" him. I did my best, he seemed to know what he was doing. Within a day or so, I had the most horrendous nipple trauma. I was cracked, bleeding. I would cry when I even thought about having to nurse him. A lactation nurse came in to assess me and stood by the foot of my bed and told me everything looked good, and I just needed to give my body time to "toughen up". I remember just trying desperately to breathe through the pain, eventually it would get better. And it did, until my milk came in. Everything was so taut that he couldn't get any tissue in his mouth, (cue even more nipple trauma). It was miserable. I wondered many times how women could push through this. When the engorgement finally subsided, I was told by yet another lactation consultant that maybe he would be just an every other side feeder. So I listened to her and began that. He was SO fussy, it must be colic. I did end up removing all garlic from my diet and it did seem to help a bit, but we were still giving him Simethicone frequently in those early months. In his first month, he had thrush.... twice. We both got treated, but even that was a miserable experience. The second round we opted for Gentian Violet (an antifungal paint that goes inside the mouth... and as the name implies, it's violet. We referred to our baby as our Little Purple People Eater until the color disappeared.) I'd love to say once things got settled down, it was smooth sailing. Nope. I had clogged ducts, I stood in the shower pushing through the pain of massaging in order that it wouldn't turn into mastitis, but despite my best efforts, a couple of times, I ended up with the fevers and chills (classic symptoms of mastitis), and then needed antibiotics to treat the infection. This also didn't help my little man's gut. When I went back to work, I remember I expressed with the electric 20 minutes and only got 1.5 ounces total. I was so discouraged. How would I ever make it to my goal if I couldn't produce at work what he was taking at daycare?? I would stay up late at night doing extra expressions to make up for what I couldn't do at work. I felt like I was using the pump all the time. I don't know how I made it, but I felt so proud of myself for making it to a year when he turned one. And then, I was ready to be done. I didn't find it beautiful. I didn't find it enjoyable. It was a chore. A sacrifice I made as a mother.

Next time would be different.

After a couple of miscarriages, we welcomed our daughter into our family. I figured things would go smoother this time. I knew what to expect. I wish. Again, the lactation nurse stopped by, and hardly offered me a second look. I was "experienced". I didn't need her help. Baby looked good from her position from me... 5 feet away. Cross-cradle was the best position for putting baby on the breast is what I was told, so I continued that as I had with my son. I had my own rhythm. One. Two. Hold your breath. Three. Shove baby on and kick your feet until the first 30 seconds passed and the pain finally subsided. This cycle lasted about 3 weeks. By this point, my oldest was about 2.5 years, and he would say, "Mommy makes monster noises" when I nursed his sister because I would just howl and cry through the pain. I was still using the pump after every feed around the clock so I could have a good "stash" of milk when I went back to work. I didn't have as many complications the rest of the year with her, just the occasional milk blebs (likely from all the expressing I was doing). I also dealt with an over supply of milk because my body thought I needed that much since I was using the pump so much. I'm blessed I didn't get mastitis with her from all the milk my ductal system had. But again, I made it to a year, and I was proud of myself.

Alright, two down. I've lived through a LOT. NEXT time I'll really be prepared. Guess again.

Baby number 3 was born 2 years after my daughter. I really thought this one would be smooth sailing. Except when you throw your own medical issues into breastfeeding, it can really shake things up. I pushed myself far too hard in the early days. When I should have been home resting (because I'd had my 3rd C-section), I was out watching parades with my family and doing a lot of walking. Eventually my body just couldn't take it anymore. My milk came in, and I was so uncomfortable and engorged. I tried everything, cabbage leaves, expressing a LOT (which perpetuated the cycle). And then suddenly, my milk supply dropped. Almost vanished. At least from what I could tell. My lactation consultant put me on a strict breastfeed, pump, sleep regimen for a whole week. My baby was only with me during the 20 minutes feed every 3 hours for a week. It was a nightmare. She suggested the nipple shield, which I had used with my oldest as well. It was supposed create a barrier to help me heal. Instead, it taught him to chomp. This wasn't the only thing I was battling. I found out that when he was 3 weeks old, he was half a pound less than at birth. Now I had a failure to thrive baby. My mental health spiraled. I remembered leaving my house to go buy formula, and I was absolutely manic. My husband had to call my mom to have her come sit with the kids, he got me to turn the car around and come back home. He took me in to see a nurse practitioner, telling her I needed meds or something because I was out of my mind. He was right. At the time of me driving to get formula, I had 50 ounces of frozen breastmilk in the freezer. I couldn't rationally tell myself it was okay to use that to help him eat while I figured out the breastfeeding. My mind was stuck on that that breastmilk was for when I went back to work (which was still 2 months away). I truly couldn't logically work through that. THANKFULLY the NP was a saint and truly listened to me. I told her that I wasn't depressed, there was something wrong. I asked her to check my thyroid levels (I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism and I had been being treated for that with Synthroid). She happily obliged and got the tests ordered. Funny thing about Synthroid, when you take too much and suppress your thyroid hormones, the symptoms can mimic psychosis. I backed off on the medication and the mental health side of things improved to where I could at least think logically and critically. It didn't help my baby grow though. I was told he had tongue, lip, AND cheek tie. The trifecta. His breastfeeding would improve by "revising" them. We had that done. It didn't really help much. Instead, he didn't really know what to do with his newly freed tongue, and that caused it's own problems. (It wasn't until years later and listening to Dr. Robyn Thompson that I learned that cheek ties are actually dimples. It still breaks my heart to this day that I unwittingly had my son's dimples lasered out.) Well then I started noticing weird coloring of my nipple after nursing. I was told I likely had Reynaud's of the nipples and went on a Vasodilator to help with blood flow. It took a solid 6 months of this before things finally settled down and figured themselves out. There were so many days I wanted to throw in the towel and quit. It was a terrible experience, and I know nobody would have blamed me for quitting, but I am just too darn stubborn. If I could nurse my first two babies to a year, I would do the same with this one, no matter what. When I got to his first birthday, I couldn't wait to be done. I hated what breastfeeding stole from me that year. I hated that I couldn't even connect with my baby because I resented all the problems that came with it.

We were almost done having children after him. My husband said I needed to figure something else out if we had anymore. He couldn't put our kids through that again. I was physically there, but mentally and emotionally, I missed out on 6 months with my children. That was devastating.

I don't know what changed our minds, but we did decide to have a fourth. One night when my pregnancy insomnia was especially bad, I found myself scrolling on Facebook. I came across this women, Dr. Robyn Thompson, and her accent caught my attention. (I love hearing people's accents.). As she was explaining things about breastfeeding, I started feeling drawn to her. I went to the website and saw that cost, and I just didn't know if it was worth possibly wasting money on this. What more could she teach me that I didn't already know? I mean, come on, I'd done this 3 other times. Why would I spend the money on my LAST baby? That just seems silly. I pondered on it all night, and in the morning, I talked to my husband about it. He said, we may as well try it. Even if I learned enough to make things a little easier than our third baby, it would be worth it. So we figured out the finance part of it, and I ordered The Thompson Method Beautiful Breastfeeding Program. I learned that everything I had been taught was wrong. How things go in the delivery room, the best positioning for the baby, that I had to let my body "toughen up", what to do with engorgement, that I had to push through the pain and it was unavoidable... all wrong. I relearned everything I had been taught over the previous 6 years from all the different lactation nurses and consultants. I clung to every word that Dr. Robyn said and I determined that this was going to a different experience than ever before. I got my little guy in my arms and I started my 3 Golden Hours. The whole experience went so much smoother. I won't sugar coat it and say I 100% got it figured out, some women do, but I just needed a little extra help. About a week after being home, I still had a little nipple trauma. Nothing like what I'd had with the 3 older kids, but I still wanted to see if I could avoid more trauma. I reached out and did a 1:1 Rescue Session. It was AMAZING. With just a few small fine tuning maneuvers, the pain went away. After that, whenever I experienced pain, I would do those fine tuning points and the pain would go away. This experience is was made me believe in The Thompson Method. The support is spectacular. The education is unmatchable. Everyone is SO kind and truly just wants to see women enjoy their breastfeeding journeys and end it when they're ready to, not because they're too overwhelmed. They support whatever decisions you make with breastfeeding. It's so refreshing.Thanks for sticking with to the end and reading my story! I hope it maybe gave you some hope that you can have a beautiful breastfeeding journey too, you just need the right resources!

How I can support you...

The Beautiful Breastfeeding
Program

Interactive group or private sessions to teach you and your partner The Thompson Method—so you're prepared for a gentle, pain-free breastfeeding experience.

Session Topics

Session 1: Preparing for Birth & BreastfeedingUnderstand how your labour and birth experience can influence your breastfeeding journey, and feel prepared to advocate for your and your baby's needs. 

Session 2: Establishing BreastfeedingKnow what to do immediately after birth so you're less likely to have to feed your baby formula and more likely to begin your breastfeeding journey pain-free.

Session 3: Sustaining BreastfeedingDiscover key principles to reducing volume-related complications and understand how to regulate your milk volume if any challenges arise.

Session 4: Preventing Painful Nipple TraumaLearn a gentle positioning method to help avoid or relieve painful, grazed, or damaged nipples—even if you've previously experienced nipple pain or trauma.

What's Included

● Small group interactive sessions

● Regular "Ask a Midwife" Zoom calls

● 1 week of Postnatal breastfeeding support

● Bonus programs for your healthcare team, your partner, family members and in-laws.

● Lifetime access to The Thompson Method Online Breastfeeding Program with 24/7 guidance and support in the Breastfeeding Club.

Options

● 4 x 60min weekly sessions (online or in-person)

● 2 x 120min sessions (Fast Track!)

● 1:1 Private sessions also available

● Online or In-Person Sessions available

The Thompson Method Online Program

A self-guided program that helps prevent common complications so you can breastfeed for as long as you choose—full of confidence and free from pain.

What's Included

● The TTM online Breastfeeding Course

● Lifetime membership to the Breastfeeding Club

with 24/7 guidance and support

● The "3 Golden Hours" Quick-Start Video Series

● Shortcut Blueprint to Pain-Free Breastfeeding

● Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Q&A Libraries

Please note the online program is entirely self-guided. If you would prefer to have someone walk you through the program, the Beautiful Breastfeeding Program is a better option for you!

What is The Thompson Method?

It's breastfeeding education based on 50 years experience and PhD research from Dr Robyn Thompson, Midwife, researcher, breastfeeding specialist and nipple trauma expert.

In Dr Robyn's PhD research, painful nipple trauma was the number one reason why women felt forced to give up breastfeeding.

Which leads to an important question...

What is The Thompson Method?

It's breastfeeding education based on 50 years experience and PhD research from Dr Robyn Thompson, Midwife, researcher, breastfeeding specialist and nipple trauma expert.

In Dr Robyn's PhD research, painful nipple trauma was the number one reason why women felt forced to give up breastfeeding.

Which leads to an important question...

Why do so many women experience painful nipple trauma in the early postnatal period, on discharge from hospital?

Well, hospitals are busy institutions.  Their policies do not always appear to be in the best interests of breastfeeding mothers and their babies.

Hospital policies often place strict and unrealistic time constraints on the professionals working within the system.

This often leads to a recommendation of Induction of labour, which may not always be necessary, with the added element of fear and coercion.

Finally, in an attempt to "get the baby on the breast" before they are discharged, forceful techniques are commonly taught, which significantly increases the risk of painful nipple trauma.

I’m passionate about helping YOU be the mother you were born to be.

What happens when we work together?

  • You'll learn the gentle, proven method that has helped 10,000s of women around the world with guidance from me.

  • You'll receive step by step guidance on how to create your unique birth & breastfeeding plan with Dr Robyn’s very own 'Birth & Breastfeeding Plan Template' (which works if you’re planning a C-Section too)

  • You'll understand what leads to painful and stressful complications so that you can avoid them

  • You’ll feel fully prepared for your birth and breastfeeding journey, so that you can breastfeed for as long as you choose, full of confidence and free from pain.

Have you heard about The 3 Golden Hours?

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