Expecting Twins or More?

Did you know the Australian Breastfeeding Association runs specific Breastfeeding Education Classes (BECs) tailored to your needs?

Held at the Breastfeeding Centre in Dandenong, these dedicated classes cover all aspects of breastfeeding with two or more babies.

Please consider a class during your second trimester - ie between weeks 13 and 24. This is to allow for the mother's comfort and babies who arrive early. Of course, we are also happy to accommodate those further along than this!

Our final class for 2009 will be held on Saturday November 14th from 1pm to 5pm.

For full details visit our class calendar , where you will also find more information on our general breastfeeding classes.

READY

STEADY

GO!

Come and meet the Chinese Fellows!

This week, special guests of the LRC are visiting Melbourne to learn about the great job we do supporting BF women and to learn more about how we do it.

Wednesday July 8 2009 Lunch at the Breastfeeding Centre – 12.30pm

All welcome to the drop in day to meet the visitors and take part in a discussion about what how ABA helps.

Lunch provided, please RSVP for catering purposes.

REVISED Professional photo shoot for ABA - NOW Friday June 5th during school hours :)

Mothers of babies and toddlers in Melbourne (see below) are invited to a photo shoot with www.susandarcy.com.au to contribute images to the photo library of the Australian Breastfeeding Association.

Where: Susan D’Arcy Photography 81 Poath Rd, Murrumbeena, 3163 p:  9568 1441

Who: mums to pose with their children in individual and group shots in the studio and in surrounding neighbourhood for images depicting the social aspects of ABA membership as well as general mothering and breastfeeding images for our library. Also photos of ABA slings in use for Mothers Direct.

When: Friday June 5th between 9.30 and 3pm, times by arrangement.

You will give full consent for the use of all images by the photographer and ABA and associates and will receive images on CD for personal use.

For more details, please contact Susan susan@susandarcy.com.au or Phone the Studio on 9568 1441

Expressions of interest for a second session based in and around the Breastfeeding Centre in Dandenong are also sought.

————————

Please forward this blog post to all your melbourne Mum friends.

If at all possible we are after mothers of different nationalities, race and colour.

If possible we would love a NEWBORN (preferably under 2 weeks old)

If possible we would love a grandmother to come along.

If possible we would love a dad to come along.

Pregnant and breastfeeding? then come along!

Breastfeeding a toddler? Breastfeeding a toddler and baby? Then we want you!

All offers to model welcome

May News from the Aust Breastfeeding Assoc

Welcome to your newsletter from the Australian Breastfeeding Association!  In this edition: Give your friends and family a gift subscription Last chance to win a $15,000 shopping spree Extended opening hours at Mothers Direct Have you called the new Breastfeeding Helpline? National Mothering Week May 4-10 Give a gift that shows you really care! Flowers are lovely, but soon wilt. Baby clothes are cute but are soon outgrown (or never worn at all). In this time of economic uncertainty, give the new mums in your life a gift that will last. Give them a 12-month gift subscription to the Australian Breastfeeding Association! This includes their free copy of our book 'Breastfeeding ... naturally', our magazine Essence sent direct to their home every two months, links to their local group activities, discounts on breast pump hire and shopping through Mothers Direct - all for only $65. Click here to buy a gift subscription. Last chance to win a $15,000 shopping spree! The ABA's annual raffle ends on Mothers Day, May 10. This is your last chance to win one of the great prizes, including a $15,000 shopping spree, a $10,000 shopping spree and a plasma TV. Tickets are available online (minimum purchase one book of 10 tickets) or through your local ABA group for just $2 per ticket. Click here to buy your book of 10 tickets for $20 online. Click here for your local ABA group contact details. Please note: Under licencing laws WA residents are not permitted to buy tickets in the national raffle. To purchase tickets in the special WA raffle please contact Kirsten Tannenbaum onkirstentann@iinet.net.au or Karen Gonsalves on kazlmg@arach.net.au Mothers Direct open longer The Mothers Direct stores in Brisbane and Sydney are now both open from 9am-5pm each week day. Brisbane is also open 10am-3.30pm Saturdays. Sydney - 4 McMullen Ave, Castle Hill Brisbane - 2A/26 Eva Street, Coorparoo And don't forget - ABA subscribers receive 10% discount at Mothers Direct! Mothers Direct has a great selection of Mothers' Day specials available, both online and in-store. Visit the Mothers Direct website for details! Have you called the new Breastfeeding Helpline? The ABA's Breastfeeding Helpline number is now 1800 mum 2 mum (1800 686 2 686). This number is national and replaces the state-based helplines we had in the past. If you have trouble calling the new number and you are using VoIP/LIP technology (calling over the internet) please drop the last '6' and call 1800 68 62 68. The Breastfeeding Helpline has been very busy since it was launched in March, which is fantastic. While the 1800 number is answered 24-hours, please consider our volunteer breastfeeding counsellors who are answering calls in their own homes and will be asleep overnight. They would really appreciate emergency/urgent calls only between 11pm and 7am! National Mothering Week May 4-10 The Australian Breastfeeding Association celebrates National Mothering Week from May 4-10 each year. This year we celebrate 30 years of National Mothering Week, which started in 1979! This year's theme mum2mum - across the generations celebrates mothers supporting each other across the generations - from mothers, to daughters and granddaughters.  Many ABA groups are holding events and activities in their local area for National Mothering Week. Contact your local group leader for more details. Click here to find your local group.

Beauty in the Every Day — Images of Breastfeeding Required

Australian families are being encouraged to celebrate magic moments in breastfeeding by submitting photographs to the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s (ABA) tenth annual calendar.

Calendar project manager Barb Glare says, ‘With so much emphasis placed on issues like sleepless nights and sore nipples, we don’t often see the beautiful moments breastfeeding offers a mother and her new baby’.

‘The first time your baby looks up at you and gives you a milky smile; those special night feeds when it’s just the two of you together; or those times when you’re out and about and feel a huge sense of accomplishment when you calm an upset child with ‘mummy milk’. We want everyone to know that that’s what breastfeeding’s all about.’

The breastfeeding calendar seeks to present breastfeeding as the normal way of feeding a baby by promoting images of breastfeeding to the wider community. All profits from sales of the calendar support the work of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Breastfeeding Association. www.abavic.asn.au

 

‘Breastfeeding won’t be fully accepted as the normal way to feed babies and young children until it is something that is seen and talked about, rather than being hidden away’, says Ms. Glare.

 

Australia’s breastfeeding rates fall well below the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Around 90% of Australian mothers initiate breastfeeding in hospital, but by 6 months, fewer than half of babies are still breastfeed.

 

The World Health Organization recommends that for optimal brain development mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first 6 months (no other foods or drinks are necessary) and gradually introduce solid foods from around 6 months. WHO also recommends mothers continue breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond, for as long as the mother and child desire.

 

Photo submissions showing babies of any age, stage and setting being breastfed can be sent to calendars@breastfeeding.asn.au by 20 May 2009. Low-resolution jpegs please.

 

Peer Support Training! Are you of Arabic, African, Vietnamese or Cambodian* heritage?

Would you like to help mums like you learn to breastfeed their babies? 

The Australian Breastfeeding Association and the City of Greater Dandenong are training peer support workers to teach breastfeeding and support mothers. 

A two-day workshop will be held in Dandenong on Thursday February 26 9.30am – 3.00pm and Thursday March 5 9.30am – 3.00pm 

To find out more phone Yvette 9791 4644 or Jan 9767 0816 or visit the Breastfeeding Centre 

*Further training sessions for other groups will be run this year - please let us know if you would like to involved.