Meet your Board Certified Lactation Consultants and

Lavender Lactation Team:

Dawnalea Robinson Kneese, BSN, RN, IBCLC

Dawnalea was born and raised in California and set down roots in Nashville. She is the Founder of Lavender Lactation and has always had a calling to assist families in meeting their breastfeeding and lactation goals. Dawnalea is a Registered Nurse who holds a Bachelors degree in science. She has worked in many fields of nursing, including emergency medicine, critical care and pediatrics.

why breastfeeding?

When my first child was born, I struggled with breastfeeding and this fueled my desire to pursue a career in human lactation. My passion grew and expanded as I began offering support both online and in clinical settings.

becoming an ibclc

My primary focus was to bridge the gap in family-based education around breastfeeding and human lactation. Five years after my breastfeeding journey began, I passed the exam to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, achieving the most rigorous credential for lactation care. Dawnalea is a mother to 3 children, owner of Lavender Lactation established in 2016, and has been Board Certified since 2018. Dawnalea has also assisted in the mentorship of new IBCLC’s and Pathway 3 interns.

Training: Dawnalea has completed the IBCLC Masterclass with advanced training in tethered oral tissues (tongue, lip, and buccal ties) and oral habilitation of the breastfeeding dyad. This includes training on oral motor exercises and pre and post care for release. Dawnalea has also taken advanced training in bottle refusal and the maternal to infant microbiome.

Donna Wisniewski, BSN, RN, IBCLC

Donna is originally from the Milwaukee area and moved nine years ago to Franklin, Tennessee, with her family.  She started her nursing career in 1996, working in the adult ICU, and moved to Neonatal Intensive Care a few years later.  After working in a Level III NICU for ten years, caring for sick and premature infants, she obtained her certification as a NICU nurse in 2010.  Her love of helping moms breastfeed came from her struggles as a new mom; Donna began to recognize her passion for breastfeeding and became more proactive in assisting mothers in the NICU where she worked.  In 2019, Donna pursued her certification as a Lactation Consultant and began a new career as an LC at St. Thomas Midtown in Nashville.   Loving her new role as a consultant and wanting to expand her education to assist breastfeeding mothers, she obtained her Board certification as an IBCLC in 2021.  Donna has partnered with Lavender Lactation since 2021 to offer home or virtual breastfeeding consults. Donna serves Nashville, Franklin, Cool Springs, and Brentwood, TN areas.

Jessica Neely: Lactation intern

Jess is our Pathway 3 intern and may be present at your next visit. Lavender Lactation is proud to mentor and help expand IBCLC’s to more families in need. As a pathway 3 intern, Jess is following the guidelines set forth by the IBLCE to become a professional lactation consultant who is internationally board-certified. This requires 500 hands-on hours directly supervised by an IBCLC, 95 hours of lactation-specific education, 14 health science courses, and sitting for the board exam.

Jess is a Nashville native born and raised here in middle Tennessee. She has been passionate about women’s health for as long as she can remember. For the last two and half years, she has been working at Music City Health Center - a Chiropractic and Functional Medicine office. Here, she has enjoyed serving families every season, from pediatric, prenatal, and beyond. She has enjoyed working to keep families healthy and educating them on holistic practices. After having her first child in 2023, her drive for this work flourished, and she is passionate about bridging the gap in breastfeeding education and supporting mothers and families through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Jess is a birth and postpartum doula pursuing Certification to become a Board Certified Lactation Consultant.