It's worth a look. Find Aotearoa New Zealand under the Western Pacific Region.

The Liggins Institute has a Health Research Project Grant to develop Aotearoa Nutrition Guidelines for Preterm Babies

Our April newsletter is out now! Catch up on everything "baby friendly"!

To provide the best start in life, businesses, companies and places of work need to be on board with breastfeeding.

The Paediatric Society of New Zealand (PSNZ), the New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA), and the New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) have joined forces to advocate for workplace support for breastfeeding parents in honour of World Breastfeeding Week.

The first indigenous breastfeeding App, Māmā Aroha, was launched on 2 August 2021. By July 2023 the App had been downloaded nearly 15,000 times, almost entirely from Aotearoa and mostly from mobile devices (905).

The Maternal Mental Health Service in New Zealand stocktake report released in 2021 noted several key findings.

Links to the Lancet 2023 Breastfeeding series and recent Australasia & Pacific launch.

After several enquiries, we are sharing information on Infant Feeding in Emergencies.

WABA is pleased to announce that the slogan for #WBW2023 is "Enabling breastfeeding: Making a difference to working parents".

Introducing Kahu Taurima, a joint programme between Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora. The programme aims to transform maternity and early years services, from conception to five years old, for all people across Aotearoa.

The latest report by the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (the PMMRC), released today, paints a stark picture of the persisting inequities that exist within the maternity and neonatal sectors.

Preterm and LBW infants have a 2- to 10-fold higher risk of mortality than infants born at term and with normal birth weight. Despite substantial progress over the last 10 years, the survival, health, growth and neurodevelopment of preterm and LBW infants remains concerning in many countries. Reasons include the complexities of caring for these vulnerable infants and preventing complications.

The MSD report on Child Poverty 2022 was launched last month. The data showed there are still too many children in New Zealand locked into poverty.

LLLNZ's mission is to help mothers to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.

Sharing inter-generational knowledge in maternal and child wellbeing

As people across the globe celebrate World Breastfeeding Week, Nutrition International and Alive & Thrive are pleased to announce a comprehensive update to the Cost of Not Breastfeeding Tool, with data for virtually every country around the world, a new easy-to-use dashboard and a feature that explores what would happen if a country’s breastfeeding rates increased.

New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA), the NZ College of Midwives and the Paediatric Society of New Zealand have joined forces to remind New Zealanders that successful breastfeeding involves the whole whānau.

Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) is the leading cause of preventable mortality in New Zealand infants. Māori and Pacific infants have consistently higher rates of SUDI compared to non-Māori and non-Pacific infants. The Ministry commissioned research in 2020 to better understand the reasons behind the number of babies dying from SUDI and identify improvements to the Ministry-led National SUDI Prevention Programme (NSPP). The NSPP is the latest iteration of SUDI-prevention initiatives.

The publication includes 60 recommendations to help shape a positive postnatal experience, including guidelines for breastfeeding counseling to aid attachment and positioning as breastfeeding is established.

Ngā Wānanga o Hine Kōpū is a kaupapa Māori birth and parenting programme reframing how to tautoko wāhine hapū and their whānau. Ataria Sharman met three wāhine hapū at the Whangārei wānanga.

Guidance for Waitaha midwives in their support of Infant Feeding (Ūkaipotanga)

New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA), the NZ College of Midwives and the Paediatric Society have joined forces to remind New Zealanders that breastfeeding should be a shared responsibility.

The Government commissioned a review of Well Child Tamariki Ora in late 2018 in response to concerns about equity of access, outcomes for tamariki and whānau, and the financial sustainability of the programme. The Review was carried out during 2019/20 with input from Māori, DHBs, Well Child Tamariki Ora providers and Government agencies. A report on the Review was considered by the Government in April 2021.

The 20 district health boards which run services for individual areas around the country will be replaced by one new body, Health NZ, which will instead plan services for the whole population. Health NZ will have four regional divisions but also district offices. It will delegate authority to local levels so regional services have a say in what they need and how they work. There will also be a new Māori Health Authority, sitting alongside that, to both set policies for Māori health and to decide and fund those who will deliver services. The new Māori Health Authority will have the power to directly commission health services for Māori.

Advice for breastfeeding mothers about the current COVID-19 vaccine and whether it is safe for themselves and their babies has been unveiled. The advice, in the form of an infographic, was today launched by the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), the New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG).

Urgent action needed to address ongoing inequity in maternity sector

TAS spoke with programme providers directly, and has outlined the theory for improving breastfeeding rates, how the programme is implemented and how it works for Māori. Information is also provided on how users can access the service as well as any data supporting its effectiveness.

A roadmap to action: 2020 and beyond.

This publication provides Ministry of Health’s recommendations on reducing the risk of food-related choking in early learning services such as early childhood education services, ngā kōhanga reo and certificated playgroups.

New Zealand Aotearoa’s Guidance on Contraception is intended for use by health professionals who provide contraception and contraceptive advice to individuals.

The Ministry of Health has updated the Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults to include advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

This Ministry of Health guidance provides the health sector with clear, concise and consistent evidence-based information on the identification, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of tongue-tie in New Zealand.

Implementation of the Ten Steps in facilities caring for populations of small, sick and preterm newborns can dramatically increase breastfeeding rates. Facilities ensuring adherence to evidence-based recommendations on maternity and newborn care can substantially improve the health and well-being of both mothers and infants, globally.

Whakamaua: Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025 is the implementation plan for He Korowai Oranga, New Zealand’s Māori Health Strategy – it will help us achieve better health outcomes for Māori by setting the government’s direction for Māori health advancement over the next five years.

Breastfeeding is key to the comprehensive development of children, their mothers and society.

This report provides updated information on the status of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (“the Code”) in countries.

This publication presents data from the National Maternity Collection, and is the latest release in the Report on Maternity series. It provides annual health statistics about women giving birth, their pregnancy and childbirth experience and the characteristics of live-born babies in New Zealand.

Rapua Te Aronga-a-Hine is the first comprehensive literature review of the Māori midwifery workforce in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Hiringa Hauora has been asked to develop messages and work with others to reach out to soon-to-be and new parents to provide information and support on looking after mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19.

The UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative has received a number of queries regarding best practice for infant feeding on neonatal units during the Covid-19 outbreak.

This editorial summarises the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the justification for the elimination strategy adopted by New Zealand, and some of the actions required to maximise the chances of success.

COVID-19 ADVICE FOR MĀORI Nau mai, haere mai! ​ Here you will find information and resources specifically for Māori about the COVID-19 pandemic. This information has been developed by leading Māori medical experts for whānau Māori.

COVID-19 Breastfeeding advice for pregnant women or those who have recently given birth.

Pregnant women do not appear to be more susceptible to the consequences of coronavirus than the general population and there is no evidence that the virus can pass to a baby during pregnancy.

UNICEF provides practical information on COVID-19 and what parents should know.

Within the first few hours after birth, most healthy newborns will instinctively move to their mother’s breast and attach on their own. This video shows early breastfeeding initiation through the journeys of 3 newborns and ways to ensure the success of this vital practice for any new mother and baby.

NZBA's achievements for year ending 30 June 2019 presented at our AGM, November 2019.

Dr Marewa Glover’s award-winning mini-series Tiakina Wāhine Hapū follows a whānau through pregnancy... and shows how much easier it would be to make changes for pēpi if all the whānau experienced being pregnant.

This Current Programme of Action sets out the actions - policies, initiatives, programmes and plans - the Government will implement to help achieve the vision and outcomes of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy (the Strategy).

What follows is a potted history of the New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance as we celebrate the point NZBA agreed a contract with the Health Funding Authority to develop the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative(BFHI) documents for Aotearoa New Zealand. This was 20 years ago. In our busy lives it is important to stop, take stock and celebrate the hard work of many to achieve much. In this case a significant increase in breastfeeding rates giving babies a good start to life.

The Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy: 2019 and Beyond (the Strategy) provides an enduring policy framework for all Australian governments to provide a supportive and enabling environment for breastfeeding.

Although intention to breastfeed in Western culture is high, many women stop breastfeeding before they are ready. From a physiological perspective, rates of primary milk insufficiency or contraindications to breastfeed should be low. However, numerous women encounter numerous barriers to breastfeeding, many of which occur at the social, cultural and political level and are therefore outside of maternal control.

UNICEF UK has developed a series of resources covering a range of issues around supporting close and loving relationships between parents and babies.

The Ministry of Health is currently aware of interest from companies wishing to import, market and sell human breast milk products in Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, human milk is classified as a human tissue under the Human Tissue Act 2008. Under the Human Tissue Act 2008, the sale and marketing of breast milk products is prohibited unless an exemption is granted by the Minister of Health.

Last week clinical psychologist Dr Natalie Flynn was interviewed about the new release of her parenting book Smart Mothering. In her book, she draws on scientific literature to provide parents with the up-to-date, state of the art research on varying parenting practices, one topic being infant feeding. Though the intentions sit in the right place, it is questionable whether more parenting books are the solution to ‘bombardment stress’.

A growing body of evidence confirms that experiences during the first 1000 days, the period from conception until a child’s second birthday, have a far-reaching impact on health, educational, and social outcomes, and on health equity.

The Office of the Children's Commissioner asked children and young people for their views on what wellbeing means to them. They heard from more than 6,000 children and young people about what a good life is and what they thought were the most important areas to focus on to make things better for all children and young people.

This guideline examines the evidence and makes recommendations and remarks on the implementation of some of the details of breastfeeding counselling, such as frequency, timing, mode and provider of breastfeeding counselling, to improve breastfeeding practices.

The aim of this research was to better understand Māori and Pasifika mother’s experiences of breastfeeding and to identify improvements that could be made to ensure their experience was equitable, high quality and best value.

Infant Feeding in New Zealand: Adherence to Food and Nutrition Guidelines among the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort.

eCALD's vision is to enhance culturally and linguistically diverse cultural competence through the provision of courses and resources for the New Zealand health workforce, for better client/patient outcomes and experience.