Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines (PDF, 3MB) - Eat For Health

• improved mother and infant bonding and attachment [897].Additional health benefits to women who breastfeed may include:• promotion of maternal recovery from childbirth through accelerated uterine involution andreduced risk of haemorrhage [898]• accelerated weight loss and return to pre-pregnancy body weight [866, 882]• reduced risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer [891]• reduced risk of ovarian cancer [891]• improved bone mineralisation and thereby decreased risk of post-menopausal hip fracture[899, 900].5.3 Practical considerations: Encourage andsupport breastfeedingFurther information is included in the Infant Feeding Guidelines for Health Workers [133].5.3.1 Breastfeeding initiation and durationIt is estimated that in Australia 90–92% of mothers initiate breastfeeding and approximately 50%are still breastfeeding at six months. Few infants are exclusively breastfed until six months inAustralia [901]. However reliable national data on breastfeeding rates is difficult to obtain forseveral reasons, including inconsistent use of definitions of breastfeeding [902] [864].5.3.1.1 Early interactionMothers should have contact with their babies as soon after birth and for as long as they wish[874]. Interventions aimed at either delaying or speeding up the length of the first feed should beavoided. Hospitals can encourage ‘rooming-in’ to facilitate frequent mother and child contact[903].5.3.1.2 Adolescent mothersBreastfeeding initiation and duration rates are below recommended levels among adolescentmothers [14]. Specific breastfeeding education programs in USA, UK and Australia targeted atpregnant adolescents have been somewhat effective in increasing breastfeeding initiation inadolescent mothers [904, 905]. Adolescent mothers identify emotional and network support aswell as self-esteem as being crucial to breastfeeding success [904].DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 140