A lovely article about moves to support breastfeeding in New Zealand.

Pamela


Waikato Times
<http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3296953a6578,00.html>http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/0,2106,3296953a6578,00.html


Breast is best for Matilda

MONDAY , 30 MAY 2005

By DENISE IRVINE
Alison Barrett's gone public recently on the kind of intimate detail which 
women tend to keep to themselves.

She's still breastfeeding her youngest child Matilda, who is nearly five 
years old. It's no big deal, she says.

"Matilda is getting one feed a day, just a little bit of reassurance. It's 
the longest I've fed any of my children."

Barrett is almost as surprised as anyone about the length of time. She 
certainly didn't plan to set any kind of record.

Laziness on her part might have something to do with it, she thinks, plus 
she and Matilda both enjoy it. And there is also the huge volume of 
international research that supports both the medical and psychological 
value of extended breastfeeding.

Barrett, 42, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, is clinical director of 
maternity services at Waikato Hospital, and the mother of four children, 
ranging from a 15-year-old son to young Matilda. She started her medical 
training in her home city Toronto, Canada, and moved to New Zealand about 
nine years ago with her husband when he was offered a job at Waikato 
University.

By her own admission, Barrett's been "in the closet" about the fact she's 
fed Matilda for so long. But this month she's come out, talking and writing 
about her experience, and the health benefits of breastfeeding for women 
and children.

She's weighed in on a growing campaign to push for legislation to safeguard 
the rights of children of all ages to be breastfed, and the right of 
mothers to breastfeed them any time, anywhere.

Barrett is reasonable, not rabid: She would be uneasy about feeding Matilda 
in public, as the sight of an older breastfeeding child can be unexpected.

"I'm aware in myself that it (feeding in public) is not the thing to do." 
But, she adds, "I probably would have done it if everyone else did."

Earlier this month Barrett took part in a special forum of the Human Rights 
Commission which met in Wellington to discuss breastfeeding rights. The 
forum followed a 9000-signature petition last month to Parliament's health 
select committee, which called for new laws on breastfeeding. The petition 
was presented to the committee by Auckland mother Liz Weatherly, who said a 
new law would send a message that breastfeeding was acceptable and should 
be encouraged. Supporters at the hearing gave accounts of discrimination 
against breastfeeding mothers, and Weatherly said: "There might not be a 
law against breastfeeding in public, but ironically many mothers say they 
are treated as if there is."

Barrett, small, determined and articulate, is perfectly aware that such a 
call for legislation will be met in many quarters with groans, and 
questions about whether it is Nanny State's role to nursemaid breastfeeding.

She chuckles at a recent Sunday News column by broadcaster and former 
politician Pam Corkery which railed against the possibility of such 
legislation: "I'll hand in my feminist badge after this," Corkery said. 
"Women breastfeeding in public get right on my tits . . . public 
breastfeeding, unless there's a screaming rug-rat emergency, is pretentious 
and the hallmark of a new breed of mothers who have given birth later in 
life and think they've invented it."

Despite her good humour, Barrett is unapologetic: "I feel very strongly 
that we do need legislation to protect breastfeeding."

She argues it is unfortunate we need any laws at all. But as we can't be 
counted on to do the right thing and "play nicely", in any number of areas, 
we need laws to protect us.

"Unfortunately we can't leave it up to people to be reasonable about this. 
A law will go a long way to changing the disapproving behaviour, and send a 
powerful message to women that this is a valuable thing for them to do. It 
will also help improve our breastfeeding rates. "People just don't actually 
get it, don't realise how important it is for the health of New Zealand 
women and children."

New Zealand currently has no specific law to support breastfeeding in 
public, or at work, apart from anti-discrimination provisions of other laws 
which apply to breastfeeding women.

However, the Human Rights Commission has a long history of handling 
discrimination complaints and inquiries about breastfeeding. In a document 
called The Right to Breastfeed, published in February this year, the 
commission says that from mid-2000 to mid-2004, it had 29 inquiries on 
matters relating to breastfeeding. Such inquiries are apparently 
increasing, and most involve women being prohibited from breastfeeding in 
public places, including high schools, restaurants or at community events. 
Some also involve an employer resistant to the idea of a woman expressing 
milk or taking breastfeeding breaks at work.

Since 1989, the commission has accepted complaints of this nature as a form 
of sex discrimination, a principle supported by international law and 
overseas domestic legislation.

Barrett says one of the legislative options discussed at the recent forum 
on breastfeeding was the "very simple thing" of making a small change to 
the Human Rights Act to include the words "and breastfeeding" in section 
74, and in one other place.

Section 74 would then read that someone cannot be discriminated against on 
the grounds of sex, including childbirth "and breastfeeding".

There was also debate on the need for an entirely new, more comprehensive 
child-feeding act aimed at entrenching the rights of children to the best 
possible nutrition and health.

Barrett supports both legislative moves, her views backed by "the sheer 
mountain of scientific and epidemiological research that is so 
overwhelmingly in support of breastfeeding".

She says there is conclusive evidence that breastfeeding lowers the risks 
of most of the serious health epidemics facing women and children in the 
developed world, namely obesity, diabetes, breast cancer and osteoporosis.

"The goal is that we'd like all babies exclusively breastfed at six months; 
the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation is to do this, and to 
carry on with complementary feeding to two years and beyond."

Barrett points to an international study of 150,000 women published in the 
British medical journal Lancet in 2002 which concluded that if women 
breastfed to the pattern suggested by the WHO there would be a 25 per cent 
reduction in cases of breast cancer.

New Zealand breastfeeding statistics show we're nowhere near the WHO ideal: 
Currently, at six months, 10 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed; 
14 per cent are breastfed, with supplementary liquids; and 35 per cent are 
partially breastfed, with other liquids and solids. Forty-one per cent of 
babies between four to seven months are not being breastfed.

Barrett didn't necessarily set out to be a breastfeeding campaigner, but 
given her crucial role at Waikato Hospital, and her personal commitment to 
breastfeeding her own four children, she is a natural for it.

She jokes she's been breastfeeding for about 15 years "with a few gaps". 
But, more seriously, she talks about the support she's had to do this, and 
how this is perhaps at the nub of her push for a law change. "I'm not this 
wonderful person who is so lovely and perfect in every way that I have been 
able to breastfeed my children for so long. I've just had more support than 
the average mother to do it.

"I had easy births, I didn't have to go back to work immediately like a lot 
of women do, so I was able to establish breastfeeding. When I did return 
(when the children were about 12 weeks old) I had access to what I call an 
`industrial strength' breast pump to express milk, a room to do it in, and 
every support to do it." There was no disapproval, just across-the-board 
support from her husband, friends and colleagues.

Many women, Barrett says, have none of that, and it's not their fault if 
they choose not to do it. "We discriminate, we make it difficult in the 
workplace. You have to be extremely motivated. There are so many obstacles 
to overcome . . . from family and friends and, I hate to say it, from the 
medical profession."

She understands that some women have difficulty breastfeeding, and the last 
thing she wants to do is to make people feel guilty: "It's about wanting to 
change attitudes so there is a critical mass of breastfeeding mothers out 
there, so women see each other and feel supported. It not about forcing all 
mothers to breastfeed, it's about supporting those who wish to."

At Waikato Hospital, staff are currently working on implementing a "Ten 
Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" programme, developed as part of the 
WHO's global strategy. It focuses on staff training, helping mothers 
initiate and maintain breast-feeding, plus other information and practical 
support.

When Barrett and Matilda have their photograph taken together, Matilda 
displays a quirky independence that would defy anyone predicting that a 
child breastfed for this long might be a clinging vine.

"I'm a grown-up," she announces proudly when asked what month she'll be 
going to school.

Barrett predicts the day is fast approaching when Matilda will have her 
last feed. Her mum will miss their special bond, but is pleased to have 
nourished such a fine, strong child. She'd just like other women to have 
the same opportunity and support she's had.

[]

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