Victorian Government Initiative To Boost Breastfeeding Rates

From The Hearld Sun newspaper From http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23751149-2862,00.html:

Mums to get guides
Peter Rolfe

May 25, 2008 12:00am

BREASTFEEDING guides will be hired to encourage mothers to feed their babies naturally, under a Brumby Government plan.

In a bid to boost breastfeeding rates, the guides will work across the state.

Breastfeeding education classes are being developed, with more than $60,000 given to the Victorian branch of the Australian Breastfeeding Association to carry out the plan.

New figures reveal big variations in breastfeeding rates.

West Wimmera, Mansfield and Queenscliff have the highest breastfeeding rates in the state, according to a Department of Education and Early Childhood Development report.

But the City of Casey, which takes in Berwick, Cranbourne and Narre Warren, has by far the state's lowest rate.

Only 62 per cent of Casey mothers breastfed when they were discharged from hospital, compared with more than 93 per cent in West Wimmera and 90 per cent in Mansfield. The figure dropped to only 13.8 per cent after six months.

A department spokeswoman said culture, beliefs and a desire to return to work affected breastfeeding rates.

It's times like these I am filled with state pride. What great news for the babies to be and mothers living in Victoria, Australia! Better still is the fact that the government is working with the ABA to bring this initiative into being rather than trying to reinvent the wheel themselves.