Australia's low breastfeeding rate

[Katet]

EllenS, I can see where you are coming from, but really it still comes down to a system that doesn't support. The US (using Ellen's examples) doesn't seem to have half the free support we do in Aus, I had problems bf my first & the hospital told me I could stay there for as long as it took for me to be happy & comfortable bf if that is what I wanted... even if it was 3weeks. Then there were free drop in bf clinics at our free child health centres... 8 diff centres within my local Govt area covered the whole week so M-F I could travel less than 10km & seek help. There is also a free phone service which you could ring 24/7 for help.
Also we don't have paid Mat leave for most jobs, but it is a requirement of law that bf mothers (mothers of children under 6mo returning to work) are provided with an appropriate place to pump & time to do so, that is over & above a normal "break" time. I think they allow 20mins 3 times a day or something like that.

[Corinne's Mommy]

Formula certainly does not do harmful things to babies and the idea of putting warning labels on formula packages seems a bit absurd.  I commend you EllenS on everything you did to make BFing work for you and your little one.  For some reason or another you had the determination to persevere, and I'm assuming it's probably because you were very educated about BF.   Woman like you are able to use formula as a tool to get thing back on track and not as a solution for indefinitely feeding your baby.
In my experience with many moms (and the stats tend to support this) BF is usually the original intention.  Then more often than not (as we all know) something challenges the BF mom (pain, milk supply, etc.) and causes her to get out the formula.  That would be fine if moms would use this as a tool while sorting out the problem, but that fact is that most introduce formula and then it's only a matter of time before it's full time formula.
Of course moms should not be condemned for using formula (I'm sure there are many circumstances that make it the ONLY option for some moms), but the thing that makes me feel bad is that many moms had every intention of BFing but because they were not educated, or did not have free serveices offered to them, gave up and took the formula that was so readily available.

I guess the solution is not government control over what moms are exposed to (adds, coupons, even free samples) but education and support, like many of you have already said.

A concert might just be the most creative way to do this- now if only we could find someone to organize it!

[Jocasta]

I think family and friends often don't help either.  Four weeks in and Sophie was having four hour evening buffet sessions and feeding for at least an hour for each of her day feeds.  I had my MIL saying (with the best intentions) "this isn't normal Jo - we were always told ten minutes each side..." and her and DH saying things like "come one, you've done a month - no one will blame you for going over to formula..."

It was only my sheer determination and the knowledge that if I stopped bf I would regret it for the rest of my life (found out the hard way with DS) that stopped me going over.  I ended up searching online and found a telephone number for the "breast feeding network" and the woman I spoke to said that Sophie was completely normal - some babies fed for ten mins, some for over an hour.  Some babies went three hours, some only 1.5 - spending hours latched on during an evening in the early weeks was also completely normal - didn't happen for everyone but did for others... 

She said that BF wasn't easy - midwives and health professionals often make the mistake of implying that it is and that often leads to people giving up too early because they feel that they're failing.  She did say that breast feeding takes 6-8 weeks to establish and after that time, it should get easier although some found it a struggle pretty much throughout.  She gave me tons of encouragement but also the hard facts and I left the phonecall with a renewed sense of confidence and belief that I could do it!  If I had been just a tad weaker, I would have caved at MIL's and DH's "recommendations" and switched. 

How do we educate friends and family?  All I needed at that time was hug and to be told that I was doing a great job... 

[Laura's Mum]

Just read this - interesting article.

I found that amongst my circle of friends/work colleagues/mothers group etc virtually everyone was breastfeeding.  Very few babies in my circle were formula fed - and that was for a variety of reasons. 

I reckon the low rate is due to a lack of support in some areas? I live in Sydney and there is a lot of support for breastfeeding mums - but you do have to know where to get it and how to find it kwim?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I LOVE the idea of Boob Aid!!!!

I'm planning to attend the Breastfeeding Challenge again this year as part of our promotion of breastfeeding.  It's a lot of fun!
http://www.babyfriendly.ca/challenge/mother.php

[rinajack]

I just wanted to add that I agree that education about BF makes a massive difference.

I BF my daughter for just shy of 3 months.  Struggling through that growht spurt, I gave one bottle of formula to her, and she flat refused to latch on to me ever again (I was devastated).  She would scream and scream when I tried to feed her.  After that experience, I set about educating myself (with lots of help from this site).

This time, my son has had formula for two days on two seperate occasions due to medical complications.  The 1st two day period started at 36 hours, my milk wasn't in yet, I was instructed to pump, and we added what colustrum I pumped into the formula he was being tube fed.

The second two day period started at 9 days old - due to a rare complication, formula was actually better for him in the short term than my breast milk.  I insisted on tube feeding, no bottles (still pretty upset about the issue with my daughter ).  Paed was absolutely fine with this, said it was my choice.  I did have one midwife come in and say - why are we tube feeding if you are giving him formula - and I instantly explained.  She apologised, said she had just come on shift and hadn't had a chance to read our notes yet.

The thing with all of this is - if I didn't know how difficult it can be to get things working properly with BF, and hadn't educated myself about it all, I would have allowed the bottle feeding - and maybe that would have affected BF establishment, and maybe it wouldn't - but without the knowledge, it wouldn't really have been a concious choice iykwim.  A friend also had to formula feed her baby early on, and pump, same as I did - she is not as educated about BF (nor as determined to do it I don't think), and her baby got bottle fed. 

I am not anti formula, but this early on in the BF process, I am anti bottle, only because of how things went with my daughter.