Individual communication helps to achieve a woman's desire to feel confident with breastfeeding her baby in her own unique way.
A brief overview
Thank you for visiting this website, this brief profile reflects a sliver of my professional and personal birth and breastfeeding journey with women and their babies.
As a young mother breastfeeding my babies was simply normal. I was a registered nurse at the time (1961) and had very little antenatal care with my first pregnancy. I birthed my first baby (1965) with midwives who held his head back and forced a mask over my face yelling at me to “stop pushing until the doctor arrived”. No time for any of that nonsense with my second birth (1968) nor with my stillborn baby (1973). A ‘stay at home mum’ for nine years I returned to the health profession to complete Midwifery (1974) and Maternal & Child Health qualifications (1975).
In the 1960s your baby was taken from you soon after birth, babies were kept in the labour ward nursery to be bathed and checked by the midwives before transfer to the postnatal ward. Newborns were first fed glucose water 20mls via a bottle and teat to make sure the digestive system was patent. After the routine bath, weigh and check, the baby was wheeled in a steel cot straight to the vigilant guard of the postnatal nursery. This routine processing most often occurred before the mother had time to hold or breastfeed her baby. Rarely did she get the opportunity to breastfeed before being conveyed to the postnatal ward. It was common practice for mothers and babies to be separated for hours, sometimes days.
On reflection – I wonder just how women survived the dominant initiation into birth, breastfeeding and motherhood.
The postnatal stay was generally seven to ten days, during this time mothers only connected with their babies for short three to four hourly scheduled feed times. After each scheduled feed babies were routinely returned to the nursery, they were often supplemented with commercial formula without the mothers consent to ensure they slept until the next scheduled roll out.
From 1974 to 1987 I continued to work side-by-side with pregnant and birthing women in the hospital system. From 1987 until now I have enjoyed the privilege of being with women who employed me to birth their babies at home. My private midwifery practice Melbourne Midwifery Pty Ltd was closed in May 2011. After a quarter of a century homebirthing I have decided to retire. However, I will continue with women I have worked with previously. My time will now be concentrated on assisting women with breastfeeding and completing a PhD. As a privately practising midwife have I have experienced the ultimate honour of being with women in their homes. My focus on breastfeeding is synonymous with birthing, a natural follow on event yet, hundreds of women have been referred for breastfeeding difficulties. My PhD by research involves a cohort of 806 wonderful women referred for breastfeeding difficulties during eight years of part-time service with Darebin Maternal & Child Health, Melbourne.
Painful, nipple trauma is one of the most common problems experienced by breastfeeding women.
Most breastfeeding consultations until recently have been with women in the homes, some via telephone. Since 2008 there has been an increasing demand for Skype Video consultation, nationally and internationally.
Warm regards, Robyn
Learning from my Mum
For over 40 years now I have been around the dining room table with my mum and dad hearing stories about what happened during ‘their day”, and sharing mine. Mum's stories, mostly about mothers, babies, birthing, breastfeeding and midwifery intrigued me. Over the years I was aware of my mum being focused on providing personalised care for women. Due to this family communication I became much more aware of the common elements of what she says and does in her practice of midwifery and breastfeeding.
This web site aims to give visitors access to sharing her knowledge, and is my gift to my mother for all her unwavering support for me as person, a woman and most of all a daughter. As the site slowly unfolds, it is our desire to share with you some of the special things that mothers can teach their daughters. It will also have the capacity to provide knowledge for midwives and other interested professionals.
In appreciation, Joanne.
