Hi everyone
We have a full edition for you this month with extra articles and information from some different parts of the organization.
Check out ABA’s Breastfeeding Friendly Australia (BFA) Coordinator Emily’s review of the recent national survey about experiences at work for women during pregnancy and as a primary caregiver. Great to see that ABA’s BFA is doing such great work in this space, but the struggle is real out there. Feel free to suggest Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Accreditation to your workplace!
I really wanted to share something special with you that is new from ABA – it’s a three-part learning and support resource about The First 72 hours after birth. It is available FREE to parents with our ABA Virtual Village offer.
You can take a look at our information about it on the ABA website HERE
What I love about this package is that it is really the first time I have seen the mysteries of the early post-birth hours and days properly unpacked and described. You know that ABA runs breastfeeding education and preparation already but this is the really intense first days only. Some might say – the part that really has a big impact on what is to follow.
When I was working as a midwife I enjoyed talking to prospective parents during their antenatal clinic appointments about breastfeeding and life after the baby arrives. People are so receptive to information during pregnancy.
You can read something I wrote a while ago on talking to women during pregnancy about breastfeeding. Here’s a snippet:
“Then I tell a story to them. It’s the story of what happens when their baby is born and they start to breastfeed. My plan is to normalise the experience and to be realistic about what the first days with a newborn are like. Prospective parents are unlikely to hear about this from other people… in fact the families I look after in the post-natal period seem to generally be overwhelmed by their experience in the first days. It is such a short and stunning period of time for new parents that it is quickly forgotten. But this moment is an opportunity to consider what a baby’s first days are like – physiologically, and then to relate this to the experience of breastfeeding in the early days. Which we know as midwives is a cruel, intense but life-changing time for parents and their babies.”
But the things I said to them I had learned in practice, and I am still convinced that none of this is written down in a book anywhere. I know you know this – but how interesting are babies in the first few days?! And midwives know so much about the nuances and the range of behaviours that they have – but it’s rarely mentioned in classes or in the usual parenting books.
Writing and designing these modules was a wonderful experience because I thought of all the things that I said to pregnant women and new mothers over and over, the things I wished I could say better and these have now been placed in the loving hands of our education designers so that listening to the monotonous voice of a rather intense midwife is now not the only way for families to prepare for breastfeeding or to get support when they are starting the adventure.
We share things you wish new mums knew …what the first 24 hours are really like, the reason why colostrum feeding is different to breastfeeding later on, how newborn babies behave, how to get rest, what really matters and how to find your own style and rhythm as a new mum.
GREAT NEWS! If you are a ABA member you can also access the first module in a free taster offer HERE . Please tell the families you care for to have a look or have a look with them or you can tell them to join Virtual Village where they get this for free.
Got a question about breastfeeding? Email me on engagement@breastfeeding.asn.au
Dr Jen Hocking
Professional Engagement Lead
