ABOUT ME

I was born and raised in Athens, where I currently live. It sounds boring – this is why I travel a lot, around the world and in my own city! It refreshes me to observe the similarities and differences between cultures and people.

I studied psychology at Deree College and did a postgraduate degree in the UK. I worked for a few years with young people with learning disabilities and at the Center of Life (Kentro Zois) with people with HIV/AIDS.

In 1997, I gave birth to my first daughter, and it was then that I discovered the challenges and beauty of breastfeeding. My support has been La Leche League Greece where where I went on to train as a volunteer Breastfeeding Counselor (LLL Leader).
When I gave birth to my second daughter, I faced new challenges with breastfeeding even though I was already a Consultant. I remained a La Leche League Leader for 20 years, supported thousands of mothers by phone and in person during those years, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to the LLL Leaders for all I learned with them and to each individual mother and baby. I am happy they tirelessly continue the important work of mother-to-mother support!

In 2007 I was certified as an ΙΒCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) and I renew my certification every 5 years as required. In this capacity, I have been consistently visiting families in their homes or conducting online meetings through every stage from pregnancy to weaning for the past 15 years.
For the last 7 years I have been working as an infant feeding consultant with the non-profit organization AMURTEL GREECE, supporting refugee, migrant and low-income mothers. In this role, I have met women from 60 different countries and I consider myself very lucky to have this experience.
It helps me to see the differences that mothers with babies may have and, more importantly, the many things they have in common. It is a journey to other cultures every time but in the centre of Athens!

During these years, I have been expanding my knowledge through workshops and conferences on breastfeeding and training seminars on relevant topics such as fertility, the treatment of perinatal trauma, the psychology of postpartum, family adjustments with the arrival of a baby, infant sleep, baby wearing, mother and baby massage, etc.

As it turns out, for the past 20 years supporting mothers during the perinatal period has been my passion!

I aim to meet every mother at any stage she is in and together we find the solutions that will give her the experience she desires. I begin by listening carefully: listening to her own needs, her baby’s needs and the supportive (or lack of) environment that surrounds her. I then suggest solutions and ideas that I believe can help her and together, we try out techniques until we find what works best for them at any given time. Together, we make a plan for the next steps with her baby.

SUPPORTING REFUGEE MOTHERS | PODCAST ABOUT AMURTEL | KIND TALKS WITH ERIETTA KOURKOULOU LATSI