What do you think is the biggest barrier to breastfeeding In Australia?

[Phoenix]

It would be great if ABA could give everyone free memberships. they would probably love nothing more but unfortunately being not for profit they need to do something to raise funds to print all that info that everyone wants, to train more counsellors to help mothers, to train community educators ad all the other wonderful things that they do. If it had been on offer when I was first pregnant I would not have hesitated in doing a breastfeeding education class even if it did cost $100 I paid that for a stupid antenatal talk that told me everythign that I could of read in the hospital info booklet. Paying the money for a class or membership that will help you to BF is going to save you heaps of money in the long run. I know they'd love to run ads but advertising campaigns cost millions of dollars. The recent budget allocated 8.7 million to b'feeding. Not sure how much ABA gets but even if they got the whole amount it wouldn't be enough to run a health campaign and offer free membership to the approx 250 000 births a year. The national helpline to set up will cost a couple of million dollars alone. Kim beazley pledged he would fund this when he was still leader of the opposition- wonder if they still will???
Kelly I think it would be great to have the committee view this thread.
And if anyone finds out about any more hearings and you can go along the do it. The more people that add their voice the better the results.

[Emma1979]

i struggled with attachment and am using a nipple shield, so definitely would have benefitted from more support from a LC in hospital.

i have found that if u are going thru any issue with your baby, ie, at the moment mine wont sleep during the day, then its your milk that is in question... 'oh she is probably hungry", "that seems like a hunger cry not a sleep cry", "try some formula and see if she sleeps", "if i were you i would put her on the bottle, how do you know she is getting enough milk"...

when u are really desperate, you are willing to try almost anything, i have started using formula out of desperation to see if it makes a difference to her sleep, but am now coming to my senses and think i will continue with breast feeding.

[Phoenix]

How many breastfeeding mother's include a good source of Omega 3's in their diet such as sardines etc? Because if they don't do this, perhaps their baby would be better on formula? Perhaps breast is not best if the mother is overtired, has no time to eat properly (remember that includes the sardines!!) and the baby is screaming to be fed.

Unfortunately this is a common misconception in our society. Mothers milk is always going to be better then formula regardless of how nutritionally inadequete her diet is. the body takes what it needs to make milk first. How else would third world mother be able to feed (most live on maize porridge or rice) and you don'thave to eat sardines to get omega 3. Spanish mackeral as well as salmon ahs high concentrations. The mother with the perfect diet is going to have better overall health then one with an inadequate diet but her baby will not suffer. Formula does not contain the hundreds of other ingredients that make breastmilk good.
Definately need better informed midwove3s. How on earth is a mother supposed to cope when she gets told a hundred conflicting things and treat a mother like hell when she is at her most vulnerable. there are a few programs where a midwife cares for you during pregnancy and then for the first 6 weeks post birth. they have great success with BF becasue the mothers are comfortable the midwives are knowledgable and the support is there. Definately agree with you there luvabub

[MrsFabuloso]

For me,the order I'd put these things in would be:

Conflicting advice after birth
Lack of education
Lack of continuity of care
Interventions at birth
Family and friends ideals/ advice/ expectations
Lack of affordability/ availability of care
Accessibility of artificial milk
Health professional influence
Going back to work with lack of bf support
Marketing of artificial milk

For me the main problem I had was that due to illness my milk didn't come in properly after my DD's birth. I tried to bf her after a few days (I was too ill in the first three days after she was born) and the midwives were no help. They all told me that my milk would come and to keep trying to feed her, until then supplement her with formula. She would scream and arch her back when I tried to attach her and I ended up with really badly damaged nipples. One midwife said to try to perservre which I did and DD ended up with a tummy full of bloody milk which she promptly projectile vomited all over me. I was horrified. After this another midwife said to stop bf until my nipples were a bit better, so I did and ended up with slight mastitis. I was a mess, which wasn't helping with my milk production.
It wasn't until about 5 days after my DD's birth that another midwife suggested and arranged a lactation consultant to see me, as well as a social worker. The LC said my DD was attaching and sucking really badly, even though the midwives were telling me she was doing well. And also that my holding technique was also quite bad.
The LC gave me a pump to use to try to increase my milk as well as some medication to help. She showed me how to hold DD properly and how to attach her and breast shields to use in the meantime to continue bf with horribly blistered and sore nipples. She saw me twice in hospital and then arranged for another LC to see me at home twice. I ended up with engorgement for a few days and DD was really difficult to get on the breast, anding in blistered and sore nipples again.
In the end though I have been unsuccessful in bf DD. My milk has decreased after a few weeks, and we also ended up with thrush. I also suspect I may have something wrong to do with my letdown (though I am no Dr!). My DD was distraught and so was I due to her being starving hungry. My local Dr. told me to give her a bottle after bf, which I did and this helped. She did not give me any info. to help increase my milk production or anyone to call for help. My family did not support me in bf, with my DH just as distraught as my DD and I and wanting us to be happy, and my mother telling me she had so much milk it squirted everywhere and she fed all the premi babies at the hospital when we were born- maybe I just wasn't made to bf like she was.
When DD settled after being bf and bottle fed, avaryone pressured me to bottle feed her. She also began to reject me and only want a bottle (she's a lazy bones- too lazy to suck properly!). SO now here we are 5 weeks later, DD is almost fully bottle fed with only about 3-4 partial feeds a day being breast milk, supplemented with a bottle. At these times she has nearly a whole bottle so I think she only takes the breast for comfort more than for the milk.
I think that midwives need to be educated more or that Lactation Consultants should be at all hospitals for mothers to learn about bf straight away after birth. Going through all of this has really turned me off bf my DD. I know that even now I could probably increase my milk and get her solely on the breast, but with all of the trouble I went through, I am scared to do it and think it is easier (and will keep me more sane) to just continue with the bottle. There should also be more education (free!!) for pregnant women to prepare them for the trials of bf. I was never prepared for how hard it really is.

[Pandora]

Women who force their babies to breastfeed (for the so called nutritional benefits) need to think about the long term effect of depriving their child of food and what effect this has on their personality.

I assume you mean women who have no milk or are unable for some other reason to breastfeed, and won't give their babies formula, letting them go hungry? I don't know any mother who would deliberately starve their child (but who knows)

Otherwise, I'm not sure how you educated yourself on the benefits of breastfeeding, but I'd be looking at other sources next time. the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding are well proven.

I don't think anyone is trying to make formula feeding mums feel bad. I formula fed my son from 6 months.

I think the breast is beast message is out there sure. But not everyone gets accurate information. I think the education should be aimed equally as much at the medical professionals who are supporting mums and expectant mums.

[celinchand]

i think its more to do with lack of support and affordability of support, as breastfeeding a baby means every 2-3 hours you will have to leave everything and feed a baby. Also if you really want to breast feed then you will have to take some time off work, not many employers want to give a paid maternity leave and i think if you are breastfeeding then you should be granted atleast 6 months of paid maternity leave so you can support yourself well, and the care after having a baby in australia is shameful. Women are left on their own to cope up with the most stressful period of their lives, no wonder the rate of post natal depression are so high, and when are you depressed you body doesnt tend to do the natural things, even the milk produced is not sufficient. A mother needs privacy while feeding a baby and you literally have to look around to find a place to feed, even a stone or wooden fixed chair in a public toilets with a small curtian would be so helpful. But generally i think the mothers are just not cared for they have no support or very minimal support to be thinking the best for the child all the time is not possible, so much to do with a small baby, and hardly any rest, mothers are so tired all the time, life is very difficult at that itme and all the time there is so much to do, breastfeeding becomes a problem at that time with so much associated with it
hope government takes some proper measures

[*Elle*]

If breasfeeding works for you, have fun with it. But don't make new Mum's feel bad if they tried and it didn't work. More education is not the issue (don't you think it's in your face and suffocating enough??) but 'informed' midwife support and more lactation consultants are needed 24 X 7.

I agree with you on the point of not making formular feeding mums feel bad, I had alot of this when I stopped feeding both of my children but it was mainly from the SIL from hell LOL, I also agree that Breast feeding can be an in your face thing, but having said that I do think that this and education are very different, I think that yes when I had my DS I was not given the oppurtunity to even say 'hmm maybe I will just formular feed' I just had no choice or it felt that way for me anyway, but I also had no education, no one to sit with me and show me how to attach him properly no information, nothing at all, I think the aim of the advertising needs to be to make public more accepting of BF and not so shamed about it, I dont think it needs to be there to make formular feeders feel terrible about their decissions, as I dont feel thats fair either, I know how hard it was for me to make the choice to stop BF and with the added pressure I was made to feel like i had commited a crime against my baby and that felt truly awful.

[Rouge]

Breastfeeding. Something I was extremely well educated about. Something that I longed to do for my baby; who I had wanted for soooo long. I breastfed for 36 hours.

But after not sleeping a wink, that second night my daughter and I spent together, after being told by a midwife that I needed to 'just breastfeed her 45 minutes each side (again)' and then she'd stop screaming... I decided the breastfeeding world and I were not compatible. I might add that this midwife told me to buzz (after trying for an hour and a half with my baby's eyes and my eyes closed from fatigue) but there was no way in heaven and earth I would trust my precious bundle in that midwife's care.

Hmmm, I dunno about that. My milk didn't come in for 48 hours with my second child and he screamed blue murder the first night because as the midwife said he wanted steak and chips and all he was getting was bread and water... The whole reason babies cry when the milk hasn't come in is to help stimulate the hormones that bring the milk in. So it is ok to hear your baby cry, and it is ok for baby to cry. Some babies don't cry and my first didn't but my second did. I was offered formula in the middle of the night (before my milk came in) and I said no way. I knew he wasn't going to die if he didn't have formula because I knew I had colostrum and I know my milk was going to be there eventually. So I really do stand by my claims that we need more education because the steak & cheese crying is perfectly normal and its often misunderstood, or thought to be starvation when in fact its all part of the grand plan...

*hugs*
Cailin

[Liz]

But after not sleeping a wink, that second night my daughter and I spent together,

...Women who force their babies to breastfeed (for the so called nutritional benefits) need to think about the long term effect of depriving their child of food and what effect this has on their personality.

Baby's are born with fat stores to live off in those first few days whilst they drink colostrum, hence why they lose a bit of weight. It can take up to 4+ days for milk to come in. No one is starving their baby in the time it takes for milk to come in. It's knowing this kind of information that gets mums through rough patches. There's no need to panic about starving your baby in those first days, there is time to learn how to breastfeed.

And the nutritional benefits are far from so-called. This sadly is where formula companies mislead the public, making people believe it's as a good as or better than breastmilk. I've seen posted on these boards "no-one can tell me that breastmilk has all the ingredients that are listed on the tin of formula". OMG - no it certainly doesn't. It has far more than what's on the tin, and far less of the bad stuff that's on the tin (ie sugar)

[hannahfroodoo]

I hear so many women saying they wanted their babies to sleep through the night so they switched to formula It's such a myth too as my fully breastfed baby slept 12 hours a niight from 2 months old. The problem is that there are a lot of well meaning family and friends out there spreading this myth further and further.

I too had a fully breast fed baby who slept 12 hours a night before 3 months of age. In my mother's group, I have heard discussions about trying baby out on a bottle of formula before bed in the hopes that this is what will get them sleeping through. It is a huge myth.

On the education topic - Yes, there is a lot of advertising out there for the 'Breast is Best' campaign. and I think that advertising is good and necessary BUT there is a lack of education on the how-to side. Not just 'this is how you do it' but 'this is what you do and where you turn if you have problems.'
I didn't even know LCs existed until my DD was a week old.
I love the idea of having a LC come to see you prior to discharge from hospital just as you can't discharge until the OB and peadeatrician have seen you, you should have to see the LC too.

I always thought everyone KNEW that BF is better for baby than FF - but I had a friend who told me (in my vulnerable state when DD was 1 week old and I was having BF problems) "these days, FF is just as good as BF. They put all the nutrients into formula that your baby needs."
If you want to/need to FF your baby, there is no problem with that. And your baby will still be happy and healthy. However, I think there is a problem with believing that FF is equivalent to BF in terms of what is good for your baby.

Let's face it - BF IS hard. And FF can be so much more convenient - you don't have to wait to find a quiet spot, you can whip the bottle out without stopping what you're doing and no one looks twice. If we DON'T consistently seek to educate people that BF is better for baby, where is the motivation to do it? Why wouldn't you just FF straight up?

As Liz said:
I've seen posted on these boards "no-one can tell me that breastmilk has all the ingredients that are listed on the tin of formula". OMG - no it certainly doesn't. It has far more than what's on the tin, and far less of the bad stuff that's on the tin (ie sugar)

100% agree. People forget that there are ingredients in breastmilk which science can't even isolate and identify - let alone replicate.

[Liz]

I personally don't see FF as more convenient. I was too lazy to express milk, and sterilise bottles etc so DS was on the boob all the time. So there's no way I'd find FF easier, with bottles to wash etc. Much quicker to whip out a boob too rather than mix formula and heat it up, especially at night. Can't think of a faster way to get bub (and mum!) back to sleep than sticking em on the boob

[Rouge]

Yeah I agree after having a baby that I FF and a baby that I BF I think BF'ing is way easier in the long run LOL! The amount of times we'd go out and I'd have forgotten my formula container or couldn't find somewhere to heat up her bottles, and sterilising was the pits for me. But everyone is different so what one person may hate another may love.

*hugs*
Cailin

[Tobily]

Yep me too.
I've formula fed one baby from two months old and I can't come at the argument that FF is easier. No way.
When DS wakes up during the night he has a boob in his mouth before he can even open it enough to scream most of the time
If we were bottle feeding by the time his bottle was heated the whole house would be awake because he DON'T like to wait!
And that's not even mentioning washing, sterilising, and making up bottles every day. And then there's going out...... I love that I can throw a bib and a nappy in my handbag and that's all he needs.
But alas we digress.....

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Gosh yes - midwives telling you that your baby is starving, give her formula or I'll take her away and do it (and yes, I have a son, but despite the blue decor the evil midwife kept calling DS "she") before the milk comes in should be shot! That's why DS was on formula and BM for 3 weeks.

But for night formula feeds, I was told (when my family were trying to bully me into FF my baby pre-birth) that it's easy because you make the bottle, sleep with it next to your skin so when baby wakes up it's the right temperature. (Yes, I do know that's very dangerous, but that's what a family member did and thought it was great to do.)

[Soph]

Ah I wish I had time to read all these posts...very interesting. I voted for health professionals eg MCHN - the number of times they have told me and other people to FF and especially to top up with FFs when weight gain is slow - I've lost count. It's crazy when you think that doing that usually means the beginning of the end for BF.....anyway I could go on forever here!

I too agree - I had #1 who wouldn't BF and I expressed for 8 weeks then FF and #2 who is still BF - wow BF is soooooooooooooooooooo much easier in terms of daily work and in the middle of the night!

[RachaelAustin]

ETA: - Wow RachaelAustin, I had no idea that midwives don't recieve training on b/f! That amazes me! I would say that could be one of the best ways to improve the b/f rate in Aus. As the midwives are there for so much of the support during those first crucial days.

I know it's scary! But consider this too. For the little education midwives get...doctors get even less, if any. And frequently women turn to them for advice (doctors should know right) often get VERY dodgy, very inaccurate, not researched advice . But in fairness to doctors (SURGEONS) they are trained in high risk birth, not normal everyday birth that accounts for approx 95% of the population.

The training is apalling for a start, then accessibility to trained professionals i.e LC's.

Blessings,
Rachael Austin
Midwife in Private Practice

[amy&rafi]

rachael austin- it has been really great reading what you have to say! i completely agree with you on all accounts!

my mum (who has been a breastfeeding mother for 27 years) was told recently by a doctor that my baby sister (9 mths) should no longer be on the breast. that it was ridiculous that a 'child of that age' still be being breastfed. he told her that there 'was no nutritional value to it after 3 mths and any mother who continues to after that age is only doing it for their own gratification'... !!! talk about misinformation!!

not a big blow to my mum though cos she can't stand doctors at the best of times so thankfully she took that advice with a grain of salt...

it is surprising how little education is provided to midwives considering the most common reason for mothers hitting the 'nurse call' bell is for breastfeeding queries... hopefully the course outlines in universities will steadily change over the upcoming years.

[mipsy]

Haven't posted for a while - I have been lucky and had a wonderful little girl, great mother's group, good family support etc etc, but have to put in my two cents worth in reply to this question.

I breastfed my littlie until she was 9mths, by which time we were both kind of over it all. She had no probs stopping at all, she pretty much gave it up herself.

However, in answer to the actual question, accessability of artificial milk is up there as a big reason why b/feeding is stopped so early. Personally, being on a budget meant that breastfeeding was a perfect solution for me - I mean, really, I didnt have to pay for food for my Mousette unitl she started on solids at 6+ months!! Also, I knew it was the best thing for her and apart from a major amount of "ouch" factor during first week we never had any issues. Positive attitude + having to budget = successful breastfeeding!!

cheers all,
Anna

(my little one is a very happy, very healthy, brilliant sleeper, 2 1/2yr old now )