OH! Magazine - Australian Version September 2016 | Page 10

( Nutrition )

JUST WHY

BREAST IS BEST
Dr Joanna explains the benefits of breastfeeding
– without the judgement!
ecently I was asked to write a
foreword for a book entitled
Born to Breastfeed by Rowena Gray. I
read the manuscript, was really
impressed and so agreed. The book
was published recently and I spoke at
their launch event. The feedback has
been mostly positive but what
surprised me was the passionate
reactions from some media camps. It
seems that just talking about
breastfeeding divides women. It
ignites a sense of ‘judgement’ or
‘mother guilt’ that inevitably
accompanies anything to do with
parenting or mothering, in particular.

R

So right up front I want to make it
absolutely clear: this is not about
judging anyone. As women we should
always have each other’s back and be
supportive of one another. That’s the
way any woman worth her salt
behaves. So, if for whatever reason
you are formula feeding your infant or
did formula feed, this is not about
shaming you. There are a myriad of
reasons that drive a mother’s decision
as to how to feed her baby and
sometimes it's a choice and other
times it’s not.

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OH! MAGAZINE (SEPTEMBER 2016)

Each family has their own unique
circumstance that drives the
outcome, and whatever works for your
family is right for your family!
What I am concerned about however
is that in our fear of judging women,
the conversation about exactly why
‘breast is best’ is being muted.
Several media outlets have refused to
run any breastfeeding stories and to
me that is doing women and their
babies a disservice. Regardless of the
topic, my goal is always to give
women all of the information available
so that they are in a position to be
able to make the best choice for
them. Without the correct knowledge
how can an informed decision be
made?
Sadly this is exactly what is
happening. Yes there are
circumstances, be they medical or
situational, where formula feeding
might be best for a particular family.
But where there is a choice it’s a
woman’s right to understand the full
benefits that come with
breastfeeding. They then need to have
the support and guidance to get the
best outcome for them and their baby.

The WHO and our own NHMRC
recommend exclusive breastfeeding
to around six months, continuing
breastfeeding while solids are
introduced until 12 months, and
longer if both mum and baby wish.
Here in Australia we are falling far
short of these recommendations.
While we have fantastic rates of
initiation of breastfeeding with 96 per
cent of women choosing to do so, this
falls away rapidly such that by three
months of age only 39 per cent of
babies are being exclusively
breastfed, and by five months, only
15 per cent.
Why does this matter? The truth is,
from a nutritional and health
perspective there is no contest
between formula and breast milk.
Breast milk wins hands down as it is
a unique living substance that is
impossible to replicate with formula.
Formula companies do a great job of
mimicking the nutritional aspects of
breast milk as best they can, and the
result is a safe product that certainly
meets the baby’s nutritional needs.
However there are key differences and
many aspects that just cannot be
replicated.