Summary - Education is available for pregnant women; midwives at the hospital I attended were no help at all.

I found that there was plenty of information available that I read whilst pregnant. I also attended a Breastfeeding and new parenting workshop run by the Australian Breastfeeding Association, which was a goldmine of useful information.

Consequently, when I went into hospital to have my first baby, I had a very clear idea of what I was trying to do, different techniques that could help establish a good breastfeeding relationship (e.g.feed immediately after birth, what a good latch on looks and feels like, etc.), how often I should feed, from which side etc. This was very lucky, as the hospital midwives seemed to all have very different ideas. I once had a midwife flounce into my room, "help" my baby attach, then flounce out, only for a different midwife to enter 2 mins later, and tell me I was doing it all wrong and change how I was sitting, baby's attachment etc. I found this upsetting and annoying.

I decided to only ask for help if I felt I needed it, and was able to happily breastfeed my baby for 7 months without any hitches.

My second child is now 5 months old. I am also breastfeeding him (with no thanks to any health professionals, but one call to the ABA helpline - THANK you!).