About Us

Cara Collins is the IBCLC and Registered Nurse behind Balanced Lactation. As a mother of three who navigated her own unique feeding challenges - including poor latch, mastitis, and infant allergies - Cara deeply understands the emotional and physical highs and lows of early parenthood.

With over 20 years of nursing experience, including 19 years specialising in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU), Cara brings exceptional clinical knowledge and empathy to every family she supports. In addition to her qualification as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Cara is accredited in Neuroprotective Developmental Care (NDC / the Possums approach). This dual expertise allows her to provide a truly holistic, evidence-based, personalised approach that unites expert lactation support with gentle, biological infant sleep and settledness care - completely free from sleep training or rigid schedules.

From complex preterm feeding journeys and oral assessments to gentle sleep strategies, milk supply management, and expressing plans, Cara creates achievable, customised care plans tailored to your family's unique goals. Through in-home visits across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie or virtual telehealth consults Australia-wide, Cara is dedicated to providing compassionate, non-judgmental guidance so you feel heard, validated, and empowered to thrive.