00:00 Child care worker Kayla Price's experience of breastfeeding her newborn son will be familiar
00:07 to many mothers.
00:10 I remember just being in the hospital bed and I put him on me and I, like I said, I've
00:14 never breastfed, didn't know what I was doing, didn't even know if he was latched.
00:18 But research suggests First Nations mothers like Kayla are finding it more challenging
00:23 than most.
00:24 Less than 70% of Indigenous mothers start breastfeeding their babies, compared with
00:30 96% of non-Indigenous mothers.
00:32 At three months, 19% of Indigenous infants are still breastfed.
00:37 It's around 50% for other babies.
00:40 I didn't know who to contact.
00:42 I didn't know what services were available.
00:44 Wiradjuri elder Donna Kirby supports mothers at the local Aboriginal health centre in Wagga
00:50 Wagga.
00:51 She suspects a number of factors are involved.
00:54 The removal of children have really impacted on breastfeeding and keeping our kids safe
01:01 and healthy and respected.
01:04 Many First Nations women say culturally appropriate support in and out of hospital is lacking.
01:10 The local Aboriginal health centre is developing a 12-month pilot program here in Wagga Wagga.
01:16 It will have a focus on creating more culturally sensitive spaces and hiring more Indigenous
01:20 midwives and lactation consultants.
01:22 I think this will be a really exciting project that hopefully will be able to feed into national
01:27 policies and programs.
01:28 Our kids have needs.
01:31 We can fulfil their needs.
01:34 It's a sentiment she hopes will resonate with the current generation of mothers.
01:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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