BREASTFEEDING MEDICINE Volume 9, Number 9, 2014 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/bfm.2014.9974
President’s Corner
Working Together to Support Breastfeeding Wendy E. Brodribb
A
t the beginning of August I was a keynote speaker at a conference in Melbourne, Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Nursing Mothers Association of Australia (now the Australian Breastfeeding Association), an organization similar in purpose to La Leche League and other breastfeeding mother support groups throughout the world. There were over 1,000 attendees at the conference, including mothers who support other mothers by providing information and practical encouragement, nurses, midwives, lactation consultants, and physicians. This conference is certainly not unique. Similar events occur throughout the world and bring together a range of people with a common aspiration and purpose—to enable women to breastfeed. How each of us works to fulfill that purpose varies, depending on the health system in the country where we live, our particular training and expertise, and the role we play within the breastfeeding support continuum. Women need breastfeeding information and assistance in different forms and from different people from the time they conceive until they have weaned their infant (and sometimes beyond that time). Mother-to-mother support groups provide peer understanding, experiential knowledge, and teaching by example. Nurses, midwives, and lactation consultants often have the day-to-day care of women during the perinatal period and, in some countries and situations, extended contact into the postpartum period, when they play an important role in assisting women establish and maintain breastfeeding. However, without well-trained physicians and support for evidence-based protocols and procedures within healthcare facilities, many women still have to overcome enormous hurdles to breastfeed successfully. To have all groups working cooperatively and collaboratively together improves the
chances of women receiving the best breastfeeding care they can and reduces the risks for breastfeeding difficulties. From the mid-1940s, physicians, such as Dr. Edith Jackson, have been working to improve breastfeeding rates by changing routines and systems and helping women overcome difficulties. They have also played an important role in the furtherance of mother-to-mother breastfeeding support groups and have assisted in educating many other health professionals. However, in 1993 a group of physicians met together to establish a new physician organization—the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. The goals of the ABM are ‘‘physician education; expansion of knowledge in both breastfeeding science and human lactation; facilitation of optimal breastfeeding practices for mothers, children, and families; and the exchange of information among international maternal–child health organizations.’’ Over the past 20 years ABM has expanded in influence and in the evidence-based information and education we provide. However, many physicians are still unaware of ABM and how the organization can assist them. At the conference mentioned previously I was able to include information about ABM in all the presentations I gave and had conversations with a number of physicians who had not previously been aware of ABM. If you have an opportunity to spread the word about ABM and would like some assistance, please contact the ABM office ([email protected]), and we will help however we can.
488
—Wendy E. Brodribb, MBBS, PhD, FABM President, Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
President’s Corner
Working Together to Support Breastfeeding Wendy E. Brodribb
A
t the beginning of August I was a keynote speaker at a conference in Melbourne, Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Nursing Mothers Association of Australia (now the Australian Breastfeeding Association), an organization similar in purpose to La Leche League and other breastfeeding mother support groups throughout the world. There were over 1,000 attendees at the conference, including mothers who support other mothers by providing information and practical encouragement, nurses, midwives, lactation consultants, and physicians. This conference is certainly not unique. Similar events occur throughout the world and bring together a range of people with a common aspiration and purpose—to enable women to breastfeed. How each of us works to fulfill that purpose varies, depending on the health system in the country where we live, our particular training and expertise, and the role we play within the breastfeeding support continuum. Women need breastfeeding information and assistance in different forms and from different people from the time they conceive until they have weaned their infant (and sometimes beyond that time). Mother-to-mother support groups provide peer understanding, experiential knowledge, and teaching by example. Nurses, midwives, and lactation consultants often have the day-to-day care of women during the perinatal period and, in some countries and situations, extended contact into the postpartum period, when they play an important role in assisting women establish and maintain breastfeeding. However, without well-trained physicians and support for evidence-based protocols and procedures within healthcare facilities, many women still have to overcome enormous hurdles to breastfeed successfully. To have all groups working cooperatively and collaboratively together improves the
chances of women receiving the best breastfeeding care they can and reduces the risks for breastfeeding difficulties. From the mid-1940s, physicians, such as Dr. Edith Jackson, have been working to improve breastfeeding rates by changing routines and systems and helping women overcome difficulties. They have also played an important role in the furtherance of mother-to-mother breastfeeding support groups and have assisted in educating many other health professionals. However, in 1993 a group of physicians met together to establish a new physician organization—the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. The goals of the ABM are ‘‘physician education; expansion of knowledge in both breastfeeding science and human lactation; facilitation of optimal breastfeeding practices for mothers, children, and families; and the exchange of information among international maternal–child health organizations.’’ Over the past 20 years ABM has expanded in influence and in the evidence-based information and education we provide. However, many physicians are still unaware of ABM and how the organization can assist them. At the conference mentioned previously I was able to include information about ABM in all the presentations I gave and had conversations with a number of physicians who had not previously been aware of ABM. If you have an opportunity to spread the word about ABM and would like some assistance, please contact the ABM office ([email protected]), and we will help however we can.
488
—Wendy E. Brodribb, MBBS, PhD, FABM President, Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
