Setting your breastfeeding goals: what, why and how
Pregnancy is relatively simple. All being well your baby lives in the womb for around 40 weeks. Most of the time they exit when they are ready. There is a beginning, a middle and an end.
For some mothers, breastfeeding is much the same. Their baby initiates feeding after birth, adds family foods to their diet after six months and they wean naturally from the breast a few years later. This child-led approach works well for many families.
Other women set goals which are important for them. Having a goal to work towards helps them feel in control and make plans.
Most people understand exclusive breastfeeding is important in the early weeks and months and their first goal might be to avoid using formula while breastfeeding is being established.
If they will be returning to work after a few months, they might plan to introduce expressing and bottle feeding once breastfeeding is established. Other parents decide to use infant formula as well as or instead of expressing their milk.
For some parents with a family history of allergies, avoiding infant formula altogether might be a goal. If they need to supplement they will seek out donor milk.
Mothers who don't have long-term plans might set short-term goals: give breastfeeding a go and see how they feel. Breastfeed exclusively for six or 12 weeks and partly or fully wean onto formula.
Some women have no intention of breastfeeding … until they meet their baby and instantly change their mind. Others stop breastfeeding after initial problems but decide to start again a few weeks later through relactation.
Exclusive expressing is an outcome of challenges for some women while others intend to do so right from the start.
There are no right or wrong goals around breastfeeding. The most important thing is to be supported, whatever your plans or experience might be.
Public Health Guidelines
The World Health Organization has breastfeeding goals too. So do individual countries and states. These goals are important at a global level, to ensure mothers and babies have their rights respected and their support needs met. These goals shape policies and funding. They influence legislation and service provision.
WHO and UNICEF recommend:
early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour of birth;
exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; and
introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.
Your personal breastfeeding goals might be based on these guidelines. You might choose to avoid formula and introduce solids at six months. This is known as exclusive breastfeeding. Hospitals and health professional bodies also have goals to support mothers to exclusively breastfeed but sometimes individual staff members have different values. They might not have the motivation to support your goals if they are burned out, overwhelmed or influenced by product marketing. Their own experiences as parents will also impact their actions.
Your Baby, your goals, your rights
If you feel you are not receiving the support you need, feel pressured or start to doubt your abilities, it can be hard to advocate for yourself. If you are hearing information about your baby’s growth or development in emotive language or an authoritarian manner, you can feel your goals are no longer relevant.
It can come as a shock that not everyone supporting you shares your goals. You might be told the World Health Organization guidelines only apply in poor countries. You might only meet mothers who began supplementing early on and get the feeling your goals are unrealistic.
Globally, humans aren't meeting these guidelines as a population in many countries. Too many babies are not being protected from inappropriate use of breastmilk substitutes. Industry influence and marketing are a huge problem in countries like the US, where mothers also lack maternity leave and confidence in public breastfeeding. Australia has better protections in place, however the internet has no borders and advertising and opinion are shared.
If your breastfeeding goals are under threat from those who should be supporting you, you might not feel empowered to stand up for your rights. Mothers need strong advocates in their partners, family and community to make sure their voices are heard.
Whatever your unique breastfeeding goals look like, you should be supported and respected to achieve them. Decisions should be fully-informed and time allowed for discussion and second opinions before any changes are made. Options should be presented to you without bias and with evidence to support their consideration.
