The imperative to breastfeed : an Australian perspective

Australia is considered to have a high breastfeeding initiation rate. Research has demonstrated that the main reason that many women choose to breastfeed their baby is based on their understanding that ‘breast is best’. This is not surprising given that the benefits of breastfeeding are broadly promoted and a number of strategies have been deliberately employed globally, nationally and locally to actively support and promote breastfeeding. In this chapter, we argue that in Australia there is now a well-constructed cultural imperative to breastfeed