Today, August 1, marks the start of World Breastfeeding Week.
The global 2024 theme as set by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action is “Closing the Gap”, with a focus on the critical first week: “Lack of breastfeeding support during the critical first week negatively affects the overall breastfeeding intentions and prevalence”.
Each year, the week aims to “inform, anchor, engage and galvanise” action for breastfeeding.
Etta Watts-Russell, Founder of Lactamo, a clinically validated Australian breastfeeding solution, is excited about the theme this year.
“The critical first week postpartum is where most mothers experience problems and is ‘make or break’ for breastfeeding: what a mother establishes in the first week sets her up for her entire breastfeeding journey. This is clearly the time to focus on support for women,” she said.
Lactamo is a women-led, social impact innovative solution addressing the global breastfeeding problem, supported by funding from the Australian government.
The World Breastfeeding Week theme directly aligns with hospital pilot programs that Lactamo has been carrying out in Australia and India, looking at the profound benefits of supporting patients in the first week, and then beyond.
The benefits are clear
According to the WHO, “babies and mothers worldwide are being failed by a lack of investment in breastfeeding”, and aside from the health implications of this, the economic impacts are profound.
It is estimated that the total global economic losses of not breastfeeding are estimated to be US$341.3 billion. For Australia, this translates to around AU$7.5 billion per year. There is an urgent need to provide women with effective solutions and support to significantly reduce these economic burdens. UNICEF sets out that “every $1 invested in breastfeeding yields $35 in economic returns”.
The “Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy: 2019 and Beyond”, developed in 2019 in response to low breastfeeding rates set a goal of achieving 50 per cent exclusive breastfeeding rates by 2025. However, with only 37.5 per cent of infants in Australia exclusively breastfed until 6 months, there is still substantial work to be done to meet this target.
A call for collaborative efforts
Hospitals are best positioned in their maternity wards to empower, support and upskill women after birth in establishing optimal breastfeeding. But the stats are telling us that current approaches to breastfeeding support need to be improved: overburdened healthcare providers, a lack of access for patients to specialised lactation consultants, societal pressures and a lack of solutions are a perfect storm, failing our mothers at one of their most vulnerable touchpoints in the motherhood journey.
According to Watts-Russell, “there is a pressing need for early access to innovative solutions that offer personalised and effective support to breastfeeding mothers”.
The first week postpartum represents a crucial window for establishing successful breastfeeding and ensuring long-term success. Research consistently underscores that the support that a mother receives during this period is pivotal. Effective breastfeeding in the early days can prevent common issues including engorgement, blocked ducts, and inadequate milk supply. But many mothers lack access to timely, knowledgeable support, leading to premature cessation of breastfeeding.
Lactamo carries out an annual breastfeeding survey in line with World Breastfeeding Week, taking the pulse of the current status quo in the hope of tracking progress in the future. The 2024 results have just been released by Lactamo and include the following findings:
- Before breastfeeding, only 13 per cent thought breastfeeding would be hard
- The reality: 95 per cent of women reported breastfeeding challenges
- 76 per cent reported facing barriers to accessing breastfeeding support
- 91 per cent believed that subsidised lactation consultants would be valuable
- 69 per cent of women thought more suport in the ‘critical first week’ would have improved their breastfeeding experience
Hospital Pilots: validating the critical window
Lactamo has spent the last six months working with hospitals, providing Lactamo to patients in nationwide Pilots in Australian and India, highlighting the benefits of support during the first week postpartum. The feedback from the healthcare professionals is that using Lactamo in this period empowers mothers to navigate breastfeeding challenges with “unprecedented” benefits.
Using Lactamo in the first week postpartum was shown to proactively prevent lactation issues, supporting long-term breastfeeding success. Notably, the Pilot in Cloudnine Private Hospitals in India revealed that during the month-long Pilot, mothers in their hospitals experienced zero breast abscesses (compared to the very high incidence that they usually experience). Lactamo was described as “phenomenal for engorgement, oversupply, pain, and blocked ducts.” It allowed patients to use massage therapy where they otherwise couldn’t and “resolved 90% of all breastfeeding problems easily”.
The stats are dire, but the future is bright. The recent Pilots are an exciting and pivotal point for Lactamo and for breastfeeding progress, supporting and empowering women in their journeys, targeting long-term success.