Four Urgent Actions for the Rights to Culturally Safe Breastfeeding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mothers

Jessica Bennett1,2, Jamie Bryant1,3, Kade Booth1,3

  • 1School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.

Breast milk provides both short-term and long-term health benefits and is critical for infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Presently, there is a large focus on increasing breastfeeding rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women; however, culturally safe breastfeeding support is under-recognised and inadequately addressed in the NICU setting. This perspective highlights cultural and structural barriers and calls for urgent action to include the following four proposed strategies: strengthening the Aboriginal lactation workforce, embedding culturally inclusive education, partnering with community-controlled services, and developing a culturally specific NICU breastfeeding policy to improve outcomes.

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