Breastfeeding, like anything related to parenthood, comes with a ton of advice and opinions! A lot of it is incorrect and sometimes downright dangerous! Here are 12 myths I would love to dispel!

There isn’t always one obvious cause of mastitis. Some of the detective work we have to do is asking lots of questions about your history. There can be some strange things that make someone unfortunately more susceptible to mastitis. There are the obvious ones, not fully draining the breast, skipping feeds or a poor latch. But sometimes a perfect storm of stress, trauma coming to surface, lack of sleep, poor snacking habits and a body prone to inflammation can trigger it. As always, seek help and try to be aware of what might be triggering for you so that you can take steps to manage your situation.

Breastfeeding has been recommended for children up to 2 years and as long as mutually desired. And yet we still hear stories of Mums being told to wean because there is no longer a benefit to their baby. So here are some reasons to continue breastfeeding your “older” child.

Connection - I loved feeding my older child, especially after being away from him all day at work. I called it “Reconnection Feeding”. I moment to stop, relax and chill out together!

Immunity - This is the biggest one! Those first years of daycare germs are brutal on the immune system! They get sick with everything (and so do you!). Your breastmilk is an alive substance. By taking in all of those disgusting germs, your milk then changes to combat those germs and get your little one get over those illnesses a little quicker.

SO HOW DOES ANTENATAL COLOSTRUM COLLECTION HELP US?

Well, it does a number of things. It helps women get to know their body, learn about their breasts and start stimulating their breast tissue, glands and ducts. The colostrum that is collected can be saved, frozen and taken to the hospital to be given to the baby if required. It can also help to kickstart your breasts so if anything does cause a delay, then we have given everything a little pre birth boost. It can also prevent unnecessary formula use if we have it in our back pocket, so for that reason, I do recommend giving it a go.

In April of this year I created a petition to increase paid parental leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks and I gave a number of evidence based recommendations to justify the increase based on best practice for breastfeeding (because that’s what I do and is my passion!). I also sent letters to various ministers and was told by the then social services minister that the 2009 Productivity Commission Report that was the basis for the decision around 18 weeks. I’ve since gone through the entire 585 page report shows evidence on so many levels that 6 months is the optimal length of time for parental leave, not just for breastfeeding outcomes, but overall child development, child attachment and maternal and parenting outcomes. The petition closed on 27/4/22 with 8,461 signatures and since then the government has changed hands so I am writing to the new ministers with the below information.

I have copied and pasted key highlights below that support 26 weeks parental leave.

The Australian Parental Leave Pay (PLP) policy is currently up to 18 weeks paid at minimum wage. 

The WHO and UNICEF recommendations for breastfeeding of infants, is for children to be exclusively breastfed for 6 months. 

One of the main objectives of the Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy: 2019 and Beyond; is to increase the population of babies who are exclusively breastfed to around 6 months of age by 2025, particularly in priority populations and vulnerable groups. 

The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Breastfeeding report shows that at 4 months of age 61% of children were exclusively breastfed but at 6 months of age this dramatically drops to only 29% of children who were exclusively breastfeeding. 

There is strong evidence from diverse countries that longer duration of paid maternity leave increases breastfeeding duration and improves maternal health. One of these many studies can be found here.

Increasing access to paid maternity leave will have a direct positive impact on these national and worldwide health objectives. This structural policy change is in the direct ability of the Commonwealth Government to achieve. 

We therefore ask the House to immediately increase of the Australian Parental Leave Pay (PLP) Policy from 18 weeks to 26 weeks in line with the WHO recommendations and Australian national breastfeeding objectives.