Too much pressure placed on mothers
PERINATAL expert Dr Nicole Highet said spoken and unspoken pressure to breastfeed could be overwhelming for new mums.
“It’s an extremely vulnerable time for women, it’s all new, they’re often sleep- deprived, they’re trying to adapt to the needs of their newborn, they have high expectations and things that no one told them about are happening to them,” Dr Highet said.
“Women don’t realise that for a large portion of women, breastfeeding is very challenging.
“Because they’re getting messages pushed onto them all the time that breast is best, of course they feel like they’ve failed.”
The founder and executive director of the Centre of Perinatal Excellence ( COPE) said there was a strong effect on emotional and mental health when breastfeeding or switching to formula.
“If a woman is struggling, it becomes very distressing and impacts on her ability to breastfeed and makes her feel like a failure,” she said.
“There’s huge pressure from everywhere to breastfeed and of course women feel guilty when they’re not able to do that.
“We really need to be aware of the impacts of this on their emotional and mental health.”
Visit cope. org. au/ firstyear for more information about the challenges of adjusting to parenthood.
Dr Highet said the hospital’s policy to not feed parents or visitors was likely in place so as to not increase demand.
“They are probably trying to do the right thing for those who are breastfeeding as their milk supply will rely on having food, which is not the case here,” she said.