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

[mummycate]

i really wish i had tried harder to bf. (read earlier post on my story). but there really does need more info on bf and how to overcome problems. also lcs should be covered by medicare. most of us can't afford an lc but feel they needed one. one mum mentioned that formula should be prescription only. not fair. if its late at night and if u were desperate, in a hell of a lot of pain with a hungry baby, would u be ok to wait at a doctor's office or emergency room for a prescription and then have to find an open chemist or wait till morning? its not fair. we should be supporting eachother, not going around and saying formula is bad and artificial. yes its not breastmilk but it does provide nourishment when u can't. continuity of care and education are so important. but we still need to support those who can't bf. i had huge guilt. i felt like i failed. half the mums in my mum's group formula feed and we don't see it any different to bf. one bub had horrendous reflux, another was lactose intolerant and after 6 kinds of formula was put on soy formula and is doing better. the other ff mums had various supply and damage problems. if the availability of formula was taken away, it makes it harder on those who have no choice. i'm 21 this year. my baby is 4 months old. i so wanted to breast feed and if i had continuity of care and more education i reckon i would still be bf. sure we all get those books when we see the doc or midwife during the pregnancy but i had bad attachment. i followed those books so well. when the midwife actually helped me stick my daughter on, then i felt i got it right. but then i got damaged (after they healed during a few days of expressing (didn't get enough milk anyway, still had to supplement) the damage came back) and had letdown issues and when i was getting my supply back, she refused it and was happy on the bottle. i kept trying. i expressed. 40ml in 3 days is not enough. if i had continuity of care i would have had meds to increase supply and someone to help. not the case. so we need to stop making ff mums feel bad and tell them what they need to hear. they aren't failures. they didn't take to easy way out (formula is costly and washing and sterilising, and warming it up is a pain in the a**). they just found another way to feed their babies rather than push on with pain, and putting their babies health at risk. but on the other hand, those that never tried to bf or never asked for help are the ones that make the rest of us feel so bad and get judged way too quickly.
sorry for another long post, this is a very emotional issue.

[LG]

Just a quick note to Catherine (and anyone else), sounds like you have had it tough and you are experiencing a fair bit of grief and guilt over not BFing. If you are still feeling this way, i would urge you to contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) on their helpline. These are the numbers:

BREASTFEEDING HELPLINES
ACT/Southern New South Wales (02) 6258 8928
New South Wales (02) 8853 4999
Queensland (07) 3844 8977 or (07) 3844 8166
Townsville (07) 4723 5566
Cairns (07) 4058 0007
Toowoomba (07) 4639 2401
South Australia and NT (08) 8411 0050
Northern Territory counsellor contact line (08) 8411 0301
Tasmania (03) 6223 2609
Tasmania - North (03) 6331 2799
Victoria (03) 9885 0653
Western Australia (08) 9340 1200

You won't ever be told what to do by a counsellor or made to feel guilty or pressured in any way, i can assure you of that. At 17 weeks it might not be too late to reattach your baby to the breast. Some mums have found that they can go on to have a successful breastfeeding relationship even after months of not feeding. And if that is not what you want, then you may still find it helpful to talk through your feelings about your guilt. You might find it is a way to "let go", or to seek advice and contacts for next time around. Contacting the helpline is free to everyone.

[alioops]

Hi,

I think this is a very popular thread! the email from BB told me who the 1st post I missed was from but I can't find it coz its been so busy in here. maybe we should have threads dedicated to this in age groups or state groups? just a suggestion.