Indira Lopez-Bassols

B.A. with Hons, MSc, IBCLC, MPhil/PhD student

Currently, I work as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) which is the highest credential awarded in lactation. As a clinician IBCLC, I have been in charge for the past 4.5 years of a weekly NHS Specialist Breastfeeding Clinic for complex breastfeeding dyads, as part of the Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (by GP, RM, or HV referral only) in Merton. I have been awarded the 2021-2022 National Institute for Health Research ARC NWL Improvement Leadership Fellowship. My research projects will examine how to offer more skilled breastfeeding and lactation care in the NHS nationally. I also have a private clinical practice as part of Breastfeeding London.

I am currently doing Doctoral Research in the Nursing & Health Sciences programme at the University of Dundee. My research examines how to improve breastfeeding education for Healthcare Providers. I am the Director/Founder of the Centre for Breastfeeding Education and Research and lead Lecturer for the Breastfeeding London Course. The Breastfeeding London Course has been running for 11 years and is the only Course in the UK taught by a multidisciplinary team, which been granted professional accreditation by the Royal College of Midwives as well as OCN London. It meets and exceeds the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE) exam requirements. I have been a Mentor for our Clinical Instruction Programme which runs as part of the Breastfeeding London Course. In addition, I have been working as a volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellor in my local community for Cafe La Leche Merton for the past 14 consecutive years, offering free breastfeeding support.

Over the years, teaching and sharing what life has taught me has become a lifelong passion.

While studying for a MSc (Econ) at the London School of Economics in 1996, I bought by coincidence BKS Iyengar’s book Light on yoga without suspecting it would change my life. My need to understand the living architecture of the body and the peaks and valleys of the mind, led me to take on the path of yoga.

The practice of yoga and the art of just sitting during my three pregnancies was invaluable in aligning and preparing body, mind, and heart for birth and through my mothering journey. Inspired by own beautiful birth experiences, I embarked on another life journey as a birth doula, and trained with Michel Odent/Liliana Lammers in 2006.

In my scarce free time, I love being in nature and have great respect and admiration for all wild plants and their healing properties. I enjoy contemplative practices, as well as writing+ reading, dancing, and chanting + singing. Having lived all over the world, Mexican in my heart and fully trilingual, I love travelling and discovering new horizons.

Last but not least, my life and work have been entirely inspired by my three children -my greatest day-to-day teachers-, and my beloved husband, who is rock solid in my life.