DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines - Eat For Health

5.3.1.3 Mothers in the workplace
Evidence is emerging that a mother’s employment status and number of hours worked outside the
home influences the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Women who are not employed fulltime
[906], are self-employed or have flexible working hours are more likely to breastfeed for six
months. Using only parental childcare has a positive association with continuation of breastfeeding
[907].
5.3.1.4 Low socioeconomic status mothers
Women from the lowest socioeconomic quintile in Australia have lower breastfeeding rates than
those from the most affluent quintile [908-910].
5.3.1.5 Culturally and linguistically diverse mothers
Limited available data suggest that, in general, the rates of breastfeeding among CALD women in
Australia reflect trends in their countries of origin [911-915].
5.3.1.6 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers
Indigenous mothers tend to breastfeed for longer than non-Indigenous mothers, especially in rural
areas [30]. In the Perth Aboriginal Breastfeeding Study, Aboriginal Australians had higher
breastfeeding rates than non-Aboriginal women [916].
5.3.1.7 Mothers who use illicit drugs
WHO recommends that mothers who use illicit drugs while breastfeeding should be evaluated on
an individual basis. Breastfeeding may need to be discontinued [917], but each case needs detailed
medical assessment [906].
5.3.2 Support for breastfeeding
5.3.2.1 Promoting breastfeeding in prospective parents
Overall, reviews of interventions to support breastfeeding have found that education before birth
and continuing support after birth for breastfeeding mothers were effective in breastfeeding
continuation.
The US Preventive Services Task Force found that any intervention to promote breastfeeding
significantly increased rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the short term [875].
DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 141