A few URLs you might be interested in from the Australian press.
Breastfeeding is certainly in the news at the moment.

http://heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7306385%255E2902,00.html

Kate's feed makes TV history

19sep03
COMEDIAN Kate Langbroek made television history when she became the
first celebrity to breastfeed live on TV.
But Langbroek's late-night "TV snack" on The Panel sparked
controversy yesterday.

Equal Opportunity Commissioner Diane Sisely applauded Langbroek for
claiming her right to breastfeed in her workplace.

"I hope it becomes so unremarkable that there won't be hysteria when
other women do this," she said.

But radio gossip regular Peter Ford criticised Langbroek for brazen
breast-baring. "If your baby needs you that much, Kate, stay home,"
he said.

The Panel regular breastfed Lewis for about five minutes during the
closing segment of the show.

She did not expose her breasts.

It was Langbroek's first TV appearance since Lewis's birth five weeks ago.


http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/18/1063625153238.html

Sure fire way to milk a reaction
By Daniel Dasey and AAP
September 19, 2003

Victorian MP Kirstie Marshall started the ball rolling when she
nursed her 10-day-old daughter, Charlotte, in Parliament in February.

Then entertainer Kate Langbroek upped the ante by breastfeeding her
son, Lewis, live on national television on the talk show, The Panel,
on Wednesday night.

Now a prominent mothers' group wants to take public breastfeeding a
step further by encouraging actors in dramas, newsreaders and
children's show hosts to nurse on television to raise awareness.

"We need more role models," Lee King, a director of the Australian
Breastfeeding Association, said yesterday.

Nursing had health benefits but was unfairly regarded as a taboo by
many people, she said.

"In sitcoms and various shows when there are characters having a baby
which is written into the script it should follow on to breastfeed as
well."

Langbroek's decision to breastfeed on air drew criticism from
talkback radio hosts, but support from sections of the medical
community.

A regular guest on The Panel, she was making her first appearance
after the birth of her son Lewis six weeks ago, when she began
nursing him towards the end of the program.

"The baby was hungry and she had said to her husband before, 'If he
gets really hungry you better bring him to me'," Langbroek's agent,
Liz Adams, said yesterday. "It wasn't at all premeditated."

A Network Ten spokeswoman said yesterday that stations had received
about 10 calls, all of them supportive of Langbroek.

But Sydney and Melbourne talk show hosts criticised the entertainer.

Radio station 2UE afternoon presenter Steve Price said Langbroek
should not have brought her baby to work and breastfed on air.

The president of the Australian Medical Association in Queensland, Dr
Ingrid Tall, said: "We need people who are brave and to go out there
and make a public statement.

"If a woman doesn't breastfeed it raises their risk of ovarian cancer
and breast cancer. If the baby doesn't get breastfed their IQ can be
potentially lowered by a few points and they are in greater risk of
infections and a greater risk of asthma allergies."

Ms Marshall was evicted from Victoria's Legislative Assembly in
February for breastfeeding Charlotte.


http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,7304455%255E
24331,00.html

More mums follow the milky way
By JEN KELLY, medical reporter
19sep03
AUSTRALIAN mums are heeding health messages to breastfeed, with
almost nine in 10 babies drinking mothers' milk.
About half of all babies are still breastfeeding at six months old,
delighting experts who say a mother's milk is best.

But only one in 100 tots still turn to mum at age two, despite World
Health Organisation guidelines saying they should, an Australian
Bureau of Statistics report reveals.

The report also shows a worrying 3.5 per cent of breastfeeding
mothers are drinking alcohol at harmful levels, endangering their
babies' health.

ABS statisticians believe the true figure may be much higher, with
women tending to under-report alcohol consumption.

Harmful levels were defined as three to four standard drinks every
day, or more.

Lactation consultant Kate Mortensen warned that women who abused
alcohol while breastfeeding risked long-term harm to their babies.

"With severe alcohol abuse, there has been a study showing that it
has detrimental effects on their development," said Ms Mortensen,
manager of the Australian Breastfeeding Association's lactation
resource centre.

Association spokeswoman Karen Commisso said mothers should know heavy
drinking could be harmful.

"Alcohol is like any other drug that a mother ingests -- it passes
through her milk to the baby," Ms Commisso said.

"It has to be metabolised by their liver, in an immature system.

"It's like giving a toddler alcohol to drink -- you wouldn't do it."

Ms Commisso welcomed the news that more women were starting
breastfeeding, but said it was unfortunate that more women did not
continue into the child's second year.

"The immunological factors in breast milk are still as strong in a
two-year-old as they are in a two-month-old," she said.

"And the milk changes to suit the needs of the child, so it's better
nutritionally than formula milk."

Yarraville mum Jodie Wood, 29, hopes to keep breastfeeding Noah, 6
1/2 months, until he is nine months old.

"But we'll see how we go when the teeth come through -- hopefully
he's not a biter," she said.

While health benefits are foremost in her mind, the first-time mum
says the emotional satisfaction from breastfeeding is important to
her.

"It's our time together. It's comforting for him and it's comforting
for me also," she said.

"At the moment I find it's the only affection and response I get from him.

"It's not as though he can turn around and say, 'I love you mum', or
give you kisses or cuddles at the moment.

"When he's on the breast feeding, I find it's the only little bit of
affection I get because he is in complete awe and comfort, and lies
there content."

The ABS report shows that 87 per cent of children three or under in
2001 had been breastfed at some stage.

And 83 per cent of babies were breastfed when first taken home from
hospital, compared with only 40 to 45 per cent in the 1970s.

Breastfeeding helps a mother's body recover to its pre-pregnant state
more quickly, and lactation protects against pre-menopausal breast
cancer and osteoporosis, the report says.

The psychological benefits of encouraging close bonds between a
mother and baby when breastfeeding have also been recognised, it says.

Australian authorities recommend babies have only breast milk until
six months, then have breast milk and some solids between six months
and one year of age.

The WHO says some breastfeeding should continue until age two.
******************************************************************
Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Australian Breastfeeding Association counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
******************************************************************

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