Breastfeeding Q&A is an online community group hosted on Facebook for mother-to-mother support to enable and empower mums in the UAE to meet their breastfeeding goals in their particular situations.
We have members with widely differing circumstances, but we are here to encourage and support each mother to make decisions which are right for her, and to achieve her breastfeeding goals. |
Who We Are |
We are a group of mothers and breastfeeding supporters who share information and experiences and cheer each other on. We recognise that society does not fully support breastfeeding families and that there is a lot of incorrect and unhelpful information out there. We therefore aim to provide a safe space where mothers can receive evidence-based information and support to make decisions which are right for her. We acknowledge that these decisions will vary widely from one family to another, and that we all have different circumstances; we embrace these differences and support each individual family along their journey.
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Our History
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Breastfeeding Q&A was set up in 2006 by mother-of-three Farangis Bakhtiar. Research has found that peer support groups are an effective way of increasing breastfeeding rates in areas where new mothers have few breastfeeding role models and a bottle-feeding culture predominates. No such groups existed in Dubai when Farangis had her first child fifteen years ago.
"I wanted to breastfeed, but I just didn't know how. In the hospital where they were born, everything was fine but when I got home, everything fell apart. I didn't know how to make sure he was getting enough milk, or to check that he was latched okay." Her breastfeeding relationship with her son lasted only a short time and it was a similar story with her second son. However, when she was five and a half months pregnant with her third child, she promised herself that things would be better. A chance online encounter with Zoe Nye, a breastfeeding counsellor with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, led to her receiving the support she so desperately wanted. Via e-mail, Zoe taught Farangis how to hold her baby, what to pay attention to, and where to get evidence-based information. Empowered with knowledge, when her daughter was born in March 2005, she knew what she was doing. "Within the first few hours everything came together. It was a completely different experience than with my first two children." Grateful for the online help she had received, Farangis set up an online support group for breastfeeding mothers. Initially hosted by Yahoo Groups, Breastfeeding Q&A moved to the Facebook platform in 2012 and now has almost 3000 members. The group is moderated by Farangis, Zoe (now a board-certified lactation consultant) and Sian (also a board-certified lactation consultant). We are currently meeting once a month in in conjunction with Babies and Beyond. Meetings are hosted by Breastfeeding Peer Counsellor Regina Kambulatova who offers breastfeeding information and support, with the opportunity to weigh baby and ask newborn-related questions provided by a midwife.
Send an inbox message to our Facebook page (click here), including brief information about yourself and your reason for wanting to join the group.
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