MAY 4, 2023, marks an important milestone for an essential Portland community service: 40 years of continuous support and education to local breastfeeding mothers and their families through the Nursing Mothers Association of Australia (NMAA).

Now known as the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), the support group was initially called the Nursing Mothers Association because the group “wasn’t allowed to use the word ‘breast’ in the phone book”, said Lynda Cooper, a veteran of the national association’s Portland Group. We’ve come a long way.

A breastfeeding educator with the ABA now for generations of young mothers, Mrs Cooper said there have been “possibly thousands of mums over the past 40 years who have attended our monthly get-togethers, meetings, walk-and-talks, discussions and breastfeeding information sessions or who have sought help from our breastfeeding counsellors”.

“The Portland Group has helped women achieve breastfeeding goals, helped overcome breastfeeding challenges, make long-term friendships, boosted mental health … and increased the health outcomes of thousands of babies,” Mrs Cooper said.

“Mums are always being offered (casual) advice which unfortunately is sometimes incorrect or outdated, but mothers can always be confident that the information they receive from ABA is current, evidence-based scientific research.”

It’s an invaluable network that encourages, supports and recognises the importance of breastfeeding, she said.

“For me living six hours away from my family, Nursing Mums (as it was then) became my ‘other’ family. They provided a social group of like-minded people who believed that breastfeeding was normal and important for the development of our children. To this day many of the women I met through Nursing Mums when my children were little are still good friends.”

As a breastfeeding educator, Mrs Cooper now even finds herself giving breastfeeding classes to many of her friends’ “babies” from 20 and 30 years ago. And so the world goes on.

Pixie Endacott, an ABA breastfeeding counsellor and current Portland Group Leader, said that as long as mothers keep having babies and want to breastfeed there will always be a need for the ABA.

“In 2022, over 60,000 mothers sought support from our National Breastfeeding Helpline,” Ms Endacott said. Additionally, the ABA’s online Live Chat program attracted 4,800 mothers needing advice or support in 2022. The ABA receives funding from the federal government.

The birth of ABA

The nursing mothers movement kicked off in Australia in 1964, when women who wanted to breastfeed found it almost impossible to get practical help and advice. It was decades before the birth of the internet and nor were there any books written on the subject for mothers here.

But a book on breastfeeding just published then in the USA made its way back to Australia with a Melbourne mother. Before long, she and a group of five other friends had set up their own peer-support group.

This marked the beginnings of the NMAA. From Melbourne the association spread rapidly to regional Victoria, then interstate. Local women Jenn Collett and Sue North are credited with having started the Portland Group in 1982.

The ABA is now the leading breastfeeding organisation in Australia, bound by a code of ethics and breastfeeding policies. Its breastfeeding counsellors and educators are all volunteers.

With the 2019 Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy acknowledging the long-held beliefs of nursing mothers that “the first 1000 days (from conception to the end of the child’s second year) is the period with the greatest potential to affect health and wellbeing over the life course”, the ABA goes from strength to strength.

Now a registered training organisation (RTO), with its own nationally accredited courses, which include a Certificate IV in Breastfeeding Education and a Diploma in Breastfeeding Management, ABA’s trainers and assessors hold Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. ABA breastfeeding counsellors and educators are trained by the association and qualified by the ABA Board. So Portland’s new mothers are truly in safe hands.

Group meetings have always been held in accessible, local venues, said Mrs Cooper. These have ranged from members’ homes, church halls, the Portland Botanic Gardens and other parks, South West TAFE, and currently, the Portland Library.

“There are always babies and toddlers at meetings, so we are careful to provide safe, child-friendly venues, with seating, toilets, and room for prams,” Mrs Cooper said.

The group has always provided breastfeeding support, counselling, information and education, said Ms Endacott.

“We’ve extended the services offered to mothers in the past 20 years, and mothers can now hire hospital-grade breast pumps (and we) now have a Portland Group Facebook presence. Our local counselling has extended to include our National Breastfeeding Helpline 24/7 and an online chat service, all run voluntarily.

“Our group has also developed an excellent relationship with Portland District Health who give free ABA memberships to women who intend to have their baby there. This membership includes a free breastfeeding education class which is attended by the parents-to-be and their support people before their baby is born.

“Since 2016, 174 women have received a membership through this offer.”

Fundraising

With every ABA Group responsible for being financially stable and self-sufficient, the Portland Group has come up with some innovative fundraising strategies.

In the days before the internet, holding an annual garage sale of just children’s goods not only raised money but was another way of connecting with mothers.

“This was very successful and provided funds to allow counsellors and educators to attend annual branch conferences, breastfeeding seminars in Melbourne, manage local group expenses and more,” said Mrs Cooper.

Another popular fundraiser right around the country continues to be the ABA Feeding Cues Resources, initiated by the Portland Group. These are tear-off sheets in pads, posters, and photo packs which show how babies let parents know when they are ready for a feed.

Other methods to keep the group financially sound include sales of nationally produced booklets, breastfeeding education classes, breast pump hire, national raffle, donations, Breastfeeding Welcome Here stickers distributed to local businesses, and other products driven mainly by the national association.

The ABA also receives some funding from the federal government.

Member for South West Coast, Roma Britnell MP, sent her congratulations to the Portland Group for its 40 years of continuous service.

“This is a terrific milestone … Over the past four decades your association has provided invaluable resources, education and guidance to new mothers, helping them to navigate the challenges of breastfeeding and providing a supportive community to lean on,” Ms Britnell said.

“The dedication and commitment of your educators and volunteers has no doubt improved the lives of countless families and helped promote the importance of breastfeeding as a vital aspect of maternal and child health.”

Portland Group breastfeeding counsellors are available at Group activities, by telephone, SMS, or casual contact. Breastfeeding educators run ABA’s specific Breastfeeding Education Class program, attend maternity antenatals when possible, give talks to all school levels, and for 25 years broadcast a weekly ABA program on 3RPC, the local community radio station.

The National Association of the ABA will be celebrating 60 years next year.