Breastfeeding support enables choice

La Leche League New Zealand Leader Katie Fourie with two of her children at a Big Latch On event in Cambridge. Photo/Supplied

World Breastfeed Week is being held fromAugust 1-7. Itwas started in 1992 to generatepublic awareness and supportfor breastfeeding.

LaLecheLeague National Board MemberLorraineTaylor speaksto writer Ruby Harfield about what support is availablefor people on their breastfeeding journey in New Zealand.

Tell me about LaLecheLeague LaLecheLeague NewZealand (LLLNZ)is our local version of an international organisation run by volunteers. Our volunteers are women andparents who havegone through their own breastfeeding experience and then achieve an accreditationtorepresent the organisation and offer breastfeeding support and information in their communities. The support is in the form offacilitated group meetings totalk about and learn about breastfeeding and theearly days with a newbaby and beyond. What is La LecheLeague doingfor World Breastfeeding Week? Every year,many groups hold a specialcelebration or promotional eventfor World Breastfeeding Week whether that’s a morningtea with whānau, or invited guests, or workshopsfor breastfeeding supporters and healthcareworkers. Inrecent years,LLLNZhasalso collaborated with the Women’s Health Action andparticipated in the world wide Big Latch On where everyone present attemptstofeed their childrenatthe same time. It is fun, happily chaotic, public and a celebration of all breastand infant feeding journeys. This year’sBig Latch On has been postponed until April 2023 duetoCovid. What support is availablefor people on their breastfeeding journey? The best supportfor anynew parent is quality informal support –family, friends and knowledgeable supporters whocan encourage. Midwives,Plunketnursesandpeer supporters also offernewparents essential information ona range oftopics including breastfeeding. Whena mother is havinga challenge with breastfeeding or has specific questions about her own situation, shereally needs accessible, available and timely assistance in the community- and ittobe available sometimesatstressful times. Thiscan be lactationconsultants, breastfeeding supporters, breastfeeding support group, La LecheLeague and breastfeeding drop-in clinics, but thisrequires knowing where these services are, and being abletoaccess them often with travel, money and emotional resilience.

LaLecheLeague in Aotearoa offers a friendly andknowledgeable person tochat at the end ofa phone, in Facebook groups, on email,zoom andinperson meetings, bytext, workshops andconferences. Going alongtocommunity groups is what many of us havefoundtobe an incredible sourcefor encouragement, support and information,for breastfeeding andraising our children.

Why is this important? It’s notalwayseasytobreastfeed- as women we oftenfeel it shouldcome very naturallytous, andfor some it does, but it is alsoa learned behavior. We learn how to breastfeed from other women and breastfeeding supporters. We needtosee it and talkto others who havebeen there tolearn howtofeeda newbaby. For some itcomeseasily, forothers it takes time and assistance. It doesn’t always workout - and we needtotalk it through, in those situations also. What arethe benefits of breastfeeding? There areso many greatthings about breastfeeding- it’s apositive choice for mum, it’s definitelya positive optionfor thebaby, and there are reasons why breastfeeding isgood for the wholefamily, community and even the environment. We probably know more about why breastfeeding is awesome thanwedidonlya few decades ago. But that is notthe wholestory.

It’s notjust about thereasons breastmilk isgoodfor baby and mother. We honoureach and every mother’srighttomake the decisions that arerightfor them and their family, including if they choose not to breastfeed in ordertoshare that load with herpartner. We trust a woman tomake the decisions that areright for her. Community supportfor breastfeeding allows breastfeeding tobea true choice fora mother. If she can initiateand sustain breastfeeding shecan choose whethertocontinue, andfor how long that is rightfor her and herfamily. If she does not get the support she needstoinitiate breastfeeding then that choice is taken away from her.

Women don’t needtobeconvinced of thereasonstobreastfeed- what they need is support, value and help –they needa community who believes in what they’redoing.

Thestatistics in New Zealand show that most women initiate breastfeeding- many women find breastfeedingtobea very immediate way of connectingwith their new baby, with optimalnutrition. The babygetsall it needs ina warm cuddle- human milk that is exactly rightfor humanbabies. Both mum andbabyget oxytocin surges, the ‘falling in love’ hormones. Caring for your child with or without breastfeeding is an incredible journey. Let’shelp mumsactually have the choice to breastfeed or not, inways that suit them. That means enabling mums from theget go.Then each mother, baby and thefamily can experience the greatthings about breastfeeding- and make the decision that’s rightfor them.

A chat from a breastfeeding support with a mum and her baby. Photo/Supplied