Breastfeeding support for young Canterbury mums
From L-R back row: Sharmaine Cotton with Nova, Rachel Warwick with Quinn and Katrina Smith with Violet. From L-R front row: Jordan Woodward with Madison and Eli, Azalia Gove with Abel and Jasmine Clarke with Violet.
Pegasus Health is encouraging young Canterbury mums to breastfeed for as long as possible, through regular support groups.
Te Mahuri Breastfeeding Support Groups run weekly in Barrington and Woolston and are open to antenatal or postnatal mothers aged 24 and under. Pegasus Health funding for the Early Start Project is used to employ group facilitators and develop content and resources for the sessions.
Topics such as milk supply and infant first aid are covered in the evidence-based education programme, provided at the group sessions. The women learn that breastfeeding helps boost immunity; prevent sickness and diarrhoea; and assists babies to maintain a healthy weight, Facilitator Azalia Gove says. “The groups also help mums to connect with other mums.”
Nikki, one of the regular attendees, says that the support groups have made her feel more confident in her choice to breastfeed. “I have been breastfeeding for nine months now, which I didn't expect. It's good to know it's normal to extend feeding past 12 months. And it has given me confidence knowing that breastfeeding is more common than I thought and that more people do it in public. I keep coming back to the sessions (when I can) to socialise with the other mums and ask questions without any pressure.”
The facilitators also support the mothers through phone calls, home visits, providing transport, and answering questions on Facebook.
Early Start General Manager Hildegard Grant says a number of attendees over the years have done peer counsellor training. They act as role models and provide a secondary layer of support to the mothers by attending the sessions and assisting with facilitation and transport.
In Canterbury, there are a number of breastfeeding advocates and experts, like Facilitator Jenny Dewar, who trained as a peer counsellor between having her first and second child.
“I feel really passionate about women having access to whatever support they need to reach their breastfeeding goals and the easiest way to access that is through peers and local support groups,” Jenny says.
“I love facilitating the Woolston Te Mahuri Group, and consider it a success when a woman asks a question and others in the group provide accurate and supportive answers from the information they’ve learned from the group and their own experiences.”
A recent snapshot of the Barrington group showed that 11 of 17 mothers who had recently attended were still breastfeeding. Eight of 10 mothers from the Woolston group were also still breastfeeding at the time.