b'INSTAGRAMMore than motivation - A recipe for success WORDS // AMANDA DONNETN ext year, I will be speaking at the Australian Breastfeeding Associations Health Professional Seminar series. One of the topics I will be speaking about is the psychological and emotional skills required for breastfeeding. Much of the advocacy work in breastfeeding focuses on increasing motivation. There is a large focus on discussing the benefits of breastfeeding (and/or the risks of not breastfeeding). Messages are designed to show the importance of breastfeeding in order to increase the motivation to succeed. But the reality is that women arent abandoning breastfeeding due to a lack of motivation. They want to breastfeed. We know 96% of women in Australia initiateBreastfeeding is a confidence trick! As well as confidence in breastfeeding. They start. They see it as important.the ability of her body to breastfeed, the mother also needs to And yet, many women do not meet their breastfeeding goals.feel confident in her role as a mother. She needs to feel able to Why?understand and interpret her babys cues and trust her ability to make decisions for herself and her family. Well, sustained engagement in any behaviour relies on more than motivation. As well as motivation (desire toThis also requires interpersonal confidencefeeling breastfeed) and competence (knowledge about how tocapable of asserting her needs, trusting her personalbreastfeed), mothers also need confidence (a belief in theirexpertise in advocating for her baby, asserting her needs, abilities) and support (an environment that actively enablesmaking sure she is heard and responded to. She needs the breastfeeding). confidence to take control in a situation and to seek help, when needed, from her partner, family and support services.MOTIVATION SUPPORTAs previously mentioned, this is where the bulk ofRegardless of how committed a person is to breastfeeding, breastfeeding advocacy has focused in the past. Helpingthey are going to struggle if they are living in an environment people to understand the value of breastfeeding is importantthat does not offer practical support to enable breastfeeding. for making breastfeeding a priority, particularly at aThis is where the work of ABA is crucial in continuing to population level. Breastfeeding is the biologically normal waycampaign for breastfeeding to be protected and supported to feed a baby and provides optimal outcomes to infants andthrough government policy and legislation. women.COMPETENCE By ensuring we continue to advocate for breastfeeding Along with motivation, a key ingredient in sustaining anysupport that includes all of these components, we are helping behaviour is competencethe actual ability to successfullyto create a recipe for success for Australian mothers to meet complete an action. In the case of breastfeeding, this meanstheir breastfeeding goals.the provision of realistic, accurate, evidence-based skillsAmanda Donnet is a Brisbane based Clinical Psychologist training. Breastfeeding is a learned skill and it is going to beand the Director of Spilt Milk Psychology. She will present two a hell of a lot harder to meet your breastfeeding goals if youtalks at the upcoming Health Professional Seminar Series dont know how to breastfeed. I think ABA does a fantastic jobin March 2020: Untangling the impact of birth trauma on of this through initiatives such as Breastfeeding Educationbreastfeeding and More than motivation: fostering the Classes and an abundance of resources on the website,psycho-emotional skills needed for breastfeedingincluding the free Breastfeeding Confidence booklet.CONFIDENCEWe live in a society where women are taught from when they are young girls that their bodies are inadequate, unreliable and untrustworthy. Capitalism relies on making people feel inadequate, so that it can sell us a solution for our shortcomings. We are immersed in a culture that tells women repeatedly that their bodies are never thin enough, young enough, pretty enough, strong enough. How then can we expect these same women to believe that they can rely on their bodies to adequately provide for their baby? December 2019 A ustralian Breastfeeding Association | Essence |17'