Breastfeeding Promotion

Support Breastfeeding

Welcome to Best Start Ballarat's Breastfeeding Charter.

There are many ways you, your business or community group can support breastfeeding in our community and our Charter provides a simple three-step guide to the options available.

Why not take the first step by registering your support. Just click on the Charter link below.  Our project worker can then provide more information on the following supports and discuss other ways that might suit your business or group.

Would you like to display a Breastfeeding Welcome Here sticker on the door of your shop or office? If you have a welcoming attitude to breastfeeding, are smoke free and accessible for prams, you can.

Perhaps you can set up a baby care room where families can feed and change a baby or toddler when out and about?

Would your business like to become breastfeeding-friendly by

developing policy around lactation breaks and, eventually, seeking Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Accreditation?

It is free to be part of our Charter. Register now to be part of a project that aims to give all Ballarat babies the best start. Phone Michelle Ainley on 5320 5676, or email breastfeeding@ballarat.vic.gov.au, or complete the online Ballarat Breastfeeding Charter registration form.

How Ballarat Compares

Ballarat's breastfeeding rates are consistently lower than the State, metropolitan, regional and Grampians averages. On current figures, only three in 10 Ballarat babies are still breastfed at six months.

The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years - and beyond.

Breastfeeding: a lifelong investment

Breastmilk is a complete food: it contains everything a baby needs to grow strong and healthy.

Only breastmilk contains all the nutrients, antibodies, hormones, immune factors and antioxidants an infant needs to thrive. Colostrum immediately following birth, and the breastmilk that follows, protects babies from illness and infection.
Research has also established that breastmilk provides protection from chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Breastfeeding also assists maternal recovery following birth and has long-term health benefits for mothers such as reduced risks of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

The World Health Organisation and UNICEF recommend that ALL infants drink only breastmilk for six months. Breastmilk remains the most important part of a baby's diet - even following the introduction of solids in their second six months of life.

Basic facts about breastmilk

• natural, fresh and the best nutrient for all infants
• always safe and free from microbes and other contaminants
• ready at all times, without cost or any special spending
• fully and easily digestible by an infant's small stomach
• strengthens the immune system and contributes to muscular and bone development
• meets the water requirements of the infant (ie. there is no need for extra water)
• aids the development of an infant's eyesight, speech and intelligence
• For more information visit the UNICEF website www.unicef.org

Contact Details

For further information contact one of our Breastfeeding Facilitators on 03 5320 5676 or email lisathorneycroft@ballarat.vic.gov.au

For information on the local Australian Breastfeeding Association group phone 0435 034 277

To speak to a breastfeeding counsellor, phone the Australian Breastfeeding Association's 24 hour hotline on

03 9885 0653.