What is a Certified Biological Nurturing® Consultant?
A Certified Biological Nurturing Consultant (CBNC) views breastfeeding as a normal activity of daily postpartum living and assumes that human mothers and babies, like other mammals, have the innate capacity to nurture and nourish their babies. CBNCs therefore believe that maternal breastfeeding behaviours are inborn, regulated by the lower brain structures. The hypothalamus, located deep within the lower brain orchestrates those archaic behaviours ensuring the survival of the species. The neocortex or the upper brain is the part that thinks, the ‘big brain’ that differentiates us from other mammals. Thinking makes us biologically superior to other mammals but too much thinking overrides reflexes and instincts. Like some other basic activities of daily living (eating & drinking, communication, play & social life) breastfeeding is both private and public. These self-care activities do not normally require professional management. Rather, to support breastfeeding initiation, the priority is to nurture the maternal innate capacity. To do this, the CBNC strives to quiet the mother’s ‘thinking brain’ promoting privacy and protecting that maternal hormonal complexion (or behavioural state) conducive to the release of oxytocin and prolactin. It makes biological sense that stimulating the ‘hypothalamic brain’ supports breastfeeding initiation, as it is the lower brain structures that regulate maternal innate breastfeeding capacity. The CBNC is a practitioner who has integrated BN as her “go to strategy” and abides by the motto “There is not one ‘correct’ way to breastfeed”.
A CBNC works professionally with mothers and babies during pregnancy, the time of breastfeeding initiation and beyond in a variety of settings (for example, at home, in hospital, or at community centres).
The CBNC has had prior training and/or experience working as a health professional (midwife, doctor, nurse, health visitor, public health nurse, nurse practitioner and dietician) a lactation consultant, a doula, a La Leche League leader, National Childbirth Trust, Association of Breastfeeding Mothers or other breastfeeding counsellor or peer supporter.
Biological nurturing is often called laid-back breastfeeding representative of the mother’s posture but the words also describe the laid-back scope of professional practice. The CBNC takes a back seat, aiming to build and restore mothers’ confidence in their archaic and self-caring capacity to breastfeed. The CBNC shares BN research findings and other theories emphasising mother knowledge with a view to increase breastfeeding enjoyment.
© The Nurturing Project JD/SC Revised 5/1/2016View documents for BN
Certification Prerequisites, Procedures, Scope of practice and Fees
These documents are under development. The Nurturing Project reserves the right to modify them at any time.