Last updated: September 2026

A note before the legal bits

I care about the same things here as I do in my sessions: honesty, care, and respecting your privacy. This policy explains what happens when you visit this website: what's collected, why, and what your rights are. If you become a client, a fuller Client Privacy Notice, covering the personal information shared during sessions, is also available on this site. Please do get in touch if anything here isn't clear.

1. Introduction

This policy explains what personal data is collected when you use this website, why it's collected, and how it's used.

This website is hosted by Squarespace Inc., and is operated by Jessamyn McArdle, a midwife and IBCLC lactation consultant based in Islington, London.

This policy applies to this website only. If you're a client, our Client Privacy Notice explains how your session information is handled.

This policy complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Data Controller

Jessamyn McArdle, Creative Birth + Breastfeeding, is the Data Controller for data collected through this website.

You can contact me at:

Jessamyn McArdle, mcardle.jess@gmail.com, (address to be included)

3. What Data This Website Collects

3.1 Website Analytics (Squarespace)

Squarespace may collect anonymised data about how visitors use this website, including:

• Pages visited and time spent on each page

• Browser type, device type, and operating system

• Approximate geographic location (country or region level)

• Referring website or search terms used to find the site

• IP address (used to derive location data, then anonymised)

This data helps me understand how the website is used and improve its content. It doesn't identify you personally.

3.2 Contact Form

If you use the contact form on this website, I collect:

• Your name

• Your email address

• Any information you choose to include in your message

This is used solely to respond to your enquiry. You won't be added to a mailing list or have your details shared with third parties without your consent.

3.3 Newsletter Sign-up

At present, newsletters are sent manually and directly (rather than via a third-party email platform); your email address is not shared with other subscribers, and is stored securely and used only for this purpose. [Jess, if this changes to a platform like Mailchimp/MailerLite, this section should be updated to name the provider]

You'll only be added if you actively sign up, and you can unsubscribe at any time by contacting me directly. Your email address is kept for as long as you remain subscribed, and removed once you unsubscribe.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

I rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Legitimate interests, to operate and improve the website, and to respond to enquiries

• Consent, for the newsletter sign-up and for any non-essential cookies (see Section 6)

5. How Long Data Is Kept

• Contact form enquiries: up to 12 months from last contact, or until the matter is resolved

• Website analytics data: retained by Squarespace in line with their own data retention policy

After the relevant period, data is securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Cookies

This website uses cookies: small text files stored on your device. When you first visit, you'll be shown a cookie banner where you can Accept all, Deny non-essential cookies, or Manage preferences to choose which categories to allow. You can manage your preferences via the cookie banner in the footer of the website.

The categories used are:

Functional (essential): Needed to make the website work properly, such as remembering your cookie preferences. These can't be disabled.

Performance and analytics: Help me understand how visitors use the site (e.g. pages viewed, time spent), so I can improve it. Only placed with your consent.

Marketing: Squarespace's cookie consent tool includes this as a standard category. I don't currently run advertising or marketing campaigns that use these cookies, so this category is not currently in active use, but it remains available in your preferences should that change in future.

You can withdraw or update your consent at any time through the cookie settings link, or through your browser settings.

For full details of the cookies Squarespace uses, see their Cookie Policy at squarespace.com/cookie-policy.

7. Website Host and Other Service Providers

This website is hosted by Squarespace, Inc., a US-based company. As my hosting provider, Squarespace processes certain website data on my behalf as a data processor.

Squarespace participates in the UK-US Data Bridge and uses Standard Contractual Clauses to ensure adequate protection for any personal data transferred outside the UK.

For more information, see Squarespace's Privacy Policy at squarespace.com/privacy.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data held about you

• Ask for inaccurate or incomplete data to be corrected

• Ask for your data to be deleted (where no legal obligation requires it to be kept)

• Object to or restrict how your data is processed

• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these, get in touch at the address in Section 2. I'll respond within one month.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

9. Links to Other Websites

This website contains links to external sites, such as professional bodies (e.g. IBCLC, Birthlight) or health resources. I'm not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites, and I'd encourage you to read their own privacy policies.

10. Changes to This Policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.