Close the Gap

Aboriginal Breastfeeding

The benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and infants are well documented with exclusive breastfeeding recommended for the first six months of an infant's life.

However, only 52.5% of infants born to Aboriginal women in SWSLHD are fully breastfed on discharge from hospital (compared with 80% of infants in NSW). By two months of age, breastfeeding rates for Aboriginal infants in SWSLHD had also dropped rapidly to 26.3%.

Barriers and enablers to breastfeeding were discussed with Aboriginal services and organisations that support Aboriginal women in the SWSLHD. The findings revealed:

• Social and cultural influences significantly impact breastfeeding, "So coming from a cultural perspective, that's how it's been done for thousands of years. Over the last 200 or so years, that's changed enormously"
• Partners and maternal mothers have a great influence on a woman's decision to breastfeed. "I've seen with some of the girls that if their mum didn't breastfeed or if they don't have that family support or some have been brought up in foster care and they've lost that inter-generational support"
• Physical and environmental factors also impact on the ability to breastfeed.... "There's a stigma [of breastfeeding in public] and how the community makes you feel about breastfeeding your child when you could just pull a bottle out and that's more accepted than the more natural way".

Increasing breastfeeding rates in the Aboriginal community is a key priority for the Health Promotion Service and Aboriginal Services in SWSLHD. The Health Promotion Service is commencing the development of a culturally appropriate breastfeeding intervention.

Contact Danielle Weber on 02 8738 5825 or email Danielle.Weber@sswahs.nsw.gov.au