Breastfeeding essentials
World breastfeeding week
World Breastfeeding week is celebrated around the world in the first week of August each year. This year, the theme is Supporting breastfeeding for a healthier planet. To recognise the importance of sustaining the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding, Mater Mothers’ Hospitals are focusing on skin-to-skin cuddles.
Skin-to-skin cuddles immediately following birth—and continued for at least one uninterrupted hour—encourages mothers to recognise feeding cues for when their baby is ready to breastfeed.
At birth, your baby receives a surge of stress hormones, which helps them to adapt to life outside the uterus. Skin-to-skin time for a mum and their baby, naturally counteracts this stress of being born, allowing you to respond to each other and connect for the first feed in a calm and nurturing environment while releasing hormones for breastfeeding.
Most of the care that you or your baby may need after birth can be done while you continue with skin-to-skin, or can even be delayed to allow time for skin-to-skin.
Continuing skin-to-skin with your baby while you transfer to the postnatal ward by bed or chair is also strongly encouraged, especially if your baby hasn’t yet breastfed.
Mater’s Parenting Support Centre
Mater’s Parenting Support Centre is available to support mothers throughout their feeding experience up to six months of age. The service offers sessions for both pregnant and postnatal women in hospital and also an outpatient service for once you go home, free of charge for women who birth at Mater and are Medicare eligible.
All services are run by qualified lactation consultants who are experienced in caring for newborn, premature and special needs mothers and babies.
Mater’s Parenting Support Centre is open from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). For further information or to make a booking, call 07 3163 2229.
Mater Health Hub, Springfield
Individual appointments with a qualified lactation consultant are also available at Mater's new purpose-built health facility in Springfield Central.
Click here for more information or to make a booking, call 07 3163 3760.
Hear from our Mater expert
Stacy has been a midwife for over 20 years, including 16 years as a lactation consultant. She is a proud mum of two teenage girls whom she was able to breastfeed for two and three years consecutively. At the time of her first daughter’s birth, breastfeeding didn't start out easily and this led her having a deeper appreciation for the struggles many new mums experience when developing this new important relationship with their baby.
Stacy currently works with the breastfeeding team at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals in South Brisbane providing support in its postnatal wards as a lactation consultant, and also as a childbirth educator teaching parent education classes.