The Last Day

I slept in this morning. And then I missed the train, and being a Saturday I had to wait a little while for the next train. So, in other words I didn't get to see the morning sessions, but on the plus side I was early for morning tea!

The first concurrent session was an absolute gem, and I am so glad I chose it! Warwick Shanks spoke about Breastfeeding and Men. Warwick is a CE from New South Wales, and he gave us a witty and insightful look into how to really involve men at Breastfeeding Education Classes, and encourage them to support their partner breastfeeding. We've just had a couple of husbands of ABA members in our group volunteer to speak to expectant fathers, so I was very keen to hear Warwick speak and he sure didn't disappoint - he received a well-deserved standing ovation at the end. It was a double whammy of a session, too, because Dale Nigro then spoke about Nipple Shields. Her talk was really useful. There's not much evidence-based information or research about nipple shields, so Dale talked about the shields available on the market, outlined the current ABA policy on nipple shields and urged anyone with direct or indirect information to submit their experience to the Lactation Resource Centre to build up a knowledge base. ABA policy recognises that nipple shields are of great use to many women, and actually talks about how to get the best use out of them - which surprises many people who presume this is not the case.

After lunch I went along to the session with Dr Ted Greiner, about A Family Affair: Getting Dad Involved. Surprisingly, this turned into a really lively debate, particularly over the point Dr Greiner made that women should talk to their partners about where their partners feel it is "okay" to breastfeed in public. Many felt that it was completely up to the mother to feed whenever and wherever she was allowed to be, in line with her legal right to do so. Many others felt that the partners had a right to express their discomfort and talk about it, whether or not it was the "right" way to feel. With all the back and forth discussion, we didn't get to the second part of the session, Breastfeeding Promotion Issues: Questions and Informal Discussion before afternoon tea. A few dozen of us took Dr Greiner's suggestion to stay during afternoon tea to discuss it with him. It was a pleasure to sit in on the discussion in such a small group, with some great ideas. The main message I took from the discussion was that you need both media promotion and the resources in the community to reinforce that media message. I appreciated Dr Greiner's explanation that things like peer-to-peer support and knowledgeable healthcare professionals are the nuts and bolts of breastfeeding promotion, but that media coverage gives the message the "halo".

I really wish that session could have gone on longer, but afternoon tea had finished and the next lectures were starting. I decided to skip the last few afternoon sessions; I had already heard a little about the subjects of these sessions in others I had attended. Before leaving the conference centre for the last time, I did shopping amongst the group projects (something I hadn't had much chance to do yet). I then said goodbye to the lovely people I had met during the conference and made my way into Melbourne city for some Saturday night fun!

Sunday will be spent sightseeing, which I will post before I sign off for good so I can concentrate on collating everything I have learned. I should have some photos tomorrow, too. My camera's memory card seems to be cactus, so I've had to rely on the mobile phone. It takes beautiful photos, as long as it's not dark (no flash) and I stay perfectly still!

Bye for now!