Dr Nikki Mills is a Paediatric ENT Surgeon with a special interest, specialising in paediatric airway and swallowing disorders. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of Auckland, developing her connections with the anatomy department by working during her summer holidays doing prosecting.
During her clinical training years, Nikki helped develop the anatomy teaching module for the Masters of Speech Language therapy when the course was first established at the University of Auckland. Following completion of her formal ENT training, Nikki did her Fellowship Training in London at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
She returned as a consultant at Starship Hospital in 2020. For the following 10 years, Nikki developed and lead a multi-disciplinary team for infants and children with airway and swallowing difficulties, working closely with speech language therapists, lactation consultants and other medical and surgical subspecialties.
Nikki has a particular clinical interest in supporting mothers and infants having difficulty breastfeeding, seeing this as an important clinical area where knowledge was lacking. She undertook anatomical and clinical research specifically relating to breastfeeding, leading to 5 publications that composed her PhD thesis on ‘The Functional Anatomy of Sucking and Swallowing in Breastfeeding Infants’. Nikki’s supervisors were Dr Ali Mirjalili from the Department of Anatomy at the University of Auckland and Dr Donna Geddes at the University of Western Australia.
Nikki’s research involved international collaboration with Australian, South African, and USA researchers. The first component of her research established a completely new understanding of lingual frenulum anatomy, using cadaveric dissection and histology. This information has led to clinically relevant information in the understanding and treatment of tongue ties in the context of an infant having difficulty breastfeeding.
The second component of research involved using flexible endoscopy (a fine camera) to observe the pharynx and larynx of an infant during breastfeeding. This research was able to establish the impact of an infant’s latching position at the breast on their airway and on fluid dynamics during swallowing. This information can be used to modify an infant’s position during breastfeeding, to improve dynamic airway compromise, and reduce aspiration risk. In this cohort, this new information is a huge break-through, as traditional management of these problems would usually exclude continued breastfeeding.
The third component of her research included (as a world first) dynamic imaging of a breastfeeding infant and mother has been captured, enabling viewing of real-time sucking and swallowing during breastfeeding.
On completion of her PhD, Nikki has moved to the South Island and is now working at Nelson Marlborough District Health Board.
Congratulations! Nikki