Hi everyone, what a wild few months it has been. I hope everyone is safe and well and managing with the level of restrictions that apply where you are. The year is certainly flying by. As always it has been extremely busy here at ABA. So, I have much to share with you.

Discounted Professional Membership for groups of friends/colleagues

Launching during World Breastfeeding Week 2020.

Next time your membership is up for renewal you might like to gather a group of friends/colleagues and join together. If there is five or more, you will all receive a 10% discount on an annual membership, and if there is 10 or more you will receive a 15% discount. This offer applies to annual membership only. To take up this discount opportunity, please contact: abaprofessional@breastfeeding.asn.au with the names and email addresses of each person in your group. You will receive one itemised invoice with each person’s name. Once this invoice is paid each person will receive a code to use in the sign-up process.

Breastfeeding Management in Australia 5th Edition price reduction for World Breastfeeding Week

Our latest edition of our textbook Breastfeeding Management in Australia, 5th Edn was released in March this year. If you haven’t already snapped up your own copy now is your chance. The price will be reduced until 15 August. For ABA Members the price will be $154 (plus p&h) and non-members $176 (plus p&h) (RRP $220). Non-members purchase via the ABA Shop: https://shop.breastfeeding.asn.au/collections/breastfeeding-books/

Members will need to contact info@breastfeeding.asn.au for the reduced price.

ABA research published online ‘pre-print’.

Providing breastfeeding support during the COVID-19 pandemic: Concerns of mothers who contacted the Australian Breastfeeding Association

Since March ABA has been collecting information from our volunteers by survey regarding any interactions they have with mothers where the topic of the COVID-19 pandemic is raised. We found that there were some repeating common themes of isolation, anxiety over lack of services, desire to breastfeed for longer. The results over a 6-week period were analysed and have been written up for publication. They show the importance of the work of ABA’s volunteers during times of emergencies and pandemics. ABA’s services have continued throughout the pandemic with some changes to such things as face-to-face group meetings >Zoom meetings, and Breastfeeding Education Classes >Breastfeeding Education Live (BELs). The Breastfeeding Helpline and LiveChat continued on and the number of calls increased quite dramatically in these months. For full access to the abstract and link to the paper read here.

Staff Update

The BIR Team and the Training and Education Team would like to announce that we have a new staff member who started with us on 20 July, 2020. Some of you will know her already.

Dr Susan Tawia will be working in the new role of ‘Breastfeeding Researcher and Health Professional Educator’. This is a full-time role. Susan is a part of the BIR Team but sharing her time between working on health professional educational resource production with the Training and Education Team and also working with the BIR team on research partnerships and collaborations, external submissions, conference papers and our peer-reviewed journal, Breastfeeding Review.

Susan is an ABA Community Educator and has a BSc, Dip Ed, Dip BF Management, and a PhD to top it all off. She previously worked as the Manager Breastfeeding Information and Research until 2017 and has been working since then with the Continence Foundation. Welcome back Susan!

ABA Submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Government’s COVID-19 response.

The Senate Select Committee has accepted our submission (written in March 2020) and is able to be found here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/COVID-19/COVID19/Submissions

We are number 357.

Mum2Mum App new version release

Recently we launched the new version of our app. The new features in ABA’s app mum2mum are set to support mums through the challenges of breastfeeding.

Mum2mum will send personalised push notifications to parents based on the age of their baby, letting them know when to expect milestones and common breastfeeding challenges. The app will be an invaluable tool for new parents who will get the information they need, right when they need it most.

With the new features in the mum2mum app, parents will have an idea of what to expect. The app will also provide extra support to parents who may have difficulty accessing health professionals during COVID-19 restrictions.

The mum2mum app also allows parents to track baby’s feeds, sleeps and nappies, record milestones and keep a journal of information to help at health professional appointments.

All members of ABA will have access to premium content, as will people who have purchased the paid version of the app.

Learn more about it by watching this video.

Thanks everyone. We hope you enjoy this month’s feature article on Lactation After Infant Death, and our Research Summaries.

Naomi Hull RN, IBCLC, MPH

Senior Manager Breastfeeding Information and Research