Indigenous mothers feel unsupported while breastfeeding, leaving many to give their babies formula

More than 70 per cent of First Nations mothers in Wagga Wagga use infant formula for their babies. (ABC Riverina: Shauna Foley)

Wiradjuri elder Aunty Donna Kirby is a “breastfeeding champion”.

Having breastfed more than 20 children, including six of her own, her sister’s and those of struggling mums in her community, her knowledge is sought out by mothers looking to nurse their newborns.

“My sister and I would breastfeed each other’s children. If I needed to go to the shop I knew my children were safe and would be fed by her breast,” Aunty Donna says.

“It’s that connection, it’s that bond. It’s that relationship between the mother, the child, then the aunties.

“There was [another woman] … she was an alcoholic, and I would breastfeed her two kids at my house.

“I’d give them a feed and put them to sleep, then they’d go home. I’ve done that for a few new mums in my community.”

In Wagga Wagga, where Aunty Donna resides, more than 70 per cent of First Nations women are opting for formula over breastfeeding.

The survey was conducted at the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation where the Wiradjuri elder is now working to help uncover why so many women are turning away from the breast.

The 2018–19 national Aboriginal health survey found that fewer than 70 per cent of Indigenous mothers start down the breastfeeding path, compared with 96 per cent of non-Indigenous mothers.

At three months of age, just 19 per cent of Indigenous infants were still breastfed; for non-Indigenous babies, the rate was about 50 per cent.

Given the bottle

After trying to teach herself how to breastfeed her newborn son, Kayla Price was left with cracked and bleeding nipples and the feeling of failure.

“I was in pain, I was crying and I had nowhere to go,” she says.

The Wiradjuri woman said she had wanted to breastfeed, but she didn’t know who to contact for help or what services were available.

“It was so easy for me to go and get a formula tin to feed my son because I didn’t know where the support was; who to ring or who to turn to,” she says.

Ms Price was diagnosed with mastitis, which she said could have been avoided with better support.

“He was crying from hunger and I was in so much pain so that’s when I gave up and got formula.”

With her third child, Ms Price had a similar experience.

But this time, when her baby became ill she was given formula.

She said years later she heard about the “supply-line” feeding method where expressed breastmilk is fed through a fine tube taped close to the nipple.

“It’s so upsetting because all I wanted to do was have that bond, that connection but they gave her the bottle instantly,” Ms Price says.

The mother of three says legions of other women have stories similar to hers.

“You ask anyone in our mob, they’d be experiencing the same thing,” Ms Price says.

‘Give them the boob’

Aunty Donna says she hopes the normalisation of bottle feeding becomes a thing of the past.

She believes First Nations women need to share their knowledge and experience.

“We’ve been [breastfeeding] for more than 65,000 years. Our community must continue to do so,” Aunty Donna says.

“You can do it anywhere, anytime. It’s the right temperature, you don’t have to muck around with sterilising the bottles.”

She says shame can be a barrier for mothers breastfeeding in public.

“I’ve been told, ‘Can you put a nappy over the baby so you don’t show other people your breast’.

“Why? Do we eat with our face covered? We need to just give them the boob.”

‘By our women, for our women’

The survey carried out by the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation is being used to develop a 12-month pilot program aimed at increasing breastfeeding rates.

“In Australia, there are other breastfeeding support programs but we know from our numbers that Aboriginal women are not accessing those services,” says board director Simone Sheriff.

“Some mothers are experiencing neglect or racism [in the hospitals], so these programs must be designed by our women, for our women.”

The pilot program is expected to begin in early 2024 and will focus on culturally sensitive practices and hiring additional First Nations midwives and lactation consultants to work at the centre.

“We’ve found the biggest barriers were cost and knowing where to go,” Ms Sheriff says.

“They’re being discharged 24 hours after birth, they’re going home with no knowledge or network so now we can be that place of support.”