An Innovation in Informal Adult Education: Mother to Mother Learning in the Australian Breastfeeding Association

International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), Volume 7, Issue 2, June 2016 An Innovation in Informal Adult Education: Mother to Mother Learning in the Australian Breastfeeding Association Margaret Mary Carmody Australian Catholic University, Research Services Melbourne Campus Abstract To understand the Australian Breastfeeding response to this situation, Mary Paton, along with a Association’s approach to adult education and the few of her friends, began a voluntary association to educational practices it introduced into maternal support mothers who chose to breastfeed their babies education in Australia in the period 1964-2009, it is and provide them with reliable information about useful to consider adult education generally and breastfeeding, in the face of overwhelming medical maternal education specifically during the twentieth and community support for artificial feeding. This century. Most of what passes for education of voluntary association, the Australian Breastfeeding mothers is informal adult education. One view is that Association (ABA), which Mary Paton began in mothers require expert instruction and supervision 1964 as the Nursing Mothers’ Association (NMA) with regulation of feeding to ensure their babies and became the Nursing Mothers’ Association of survive. The opposite view is that mothers should Australia (NMAA) is today one of the largest receive no formal instruction at all about being voluntary women’s associations in Australia [1]. mothers: breastfeeding and caring for babies are, in This paper argues that there was a successful this view, instinctive activities. However, the challenge to perceptions of motherhood by the Association’s approach has featured autonomous Association in its first 45 years, from 1964 to 2009, learners with volunteer facilitators in informal with particular emphasis on its innovative mother to settings. One theory that assists particularly in mother education in the area of breastfeeding and its understanding the educational model used by the contribution not only to the changing knowledge Association is the humanistic theory of adult about motherhood but also to the discourse of infant education. Another theory relevant to maternal nutrition. It also argues that the Association played a education is a heutagogical approach to adult major role in the improvement in breastfeeding rates education, advocated by radical adult education in Australia 1964 – 2009: that Mary Paton devised a theorists. To understand the Association’s new method of educating mothers about infant educational approach, it is necessary to establish the nutrition and breastfeeding. core principles of the education provided to mothers by the Association. The archival research has 2. Aims demonstrated an understanding of the Association’s approach to maternal education. The primary The aims of this paper are to consider the feature of the approach is mother to mother learning. contribution, over its first 45 years, of the The findings of this paper will increase knowledge of Association as an adult education provider. It how adults are educated and contribute to addresses specifically the Association’s approach to understanding of adult education, particularly adult education and the educational practices it maternal education. There will be implications for introduced into maternal education in Australia. The education of mothers and perhaps of women first section is a literature review of adult education, generally which will be of interest to those involved particularly informal adult education and identifies in adult education. the major theoretical approaches. This section also provides an analysis of the educational approaches 1. Introduction taken in the maternal education provided to mothers in Australia in the first half of the twentieth century. Imagine a world where no one can tell mothers It will explore the educational methodology how to feed naturally, where it seems as though employed in a variety of forms of education provided almost everyone has forgotten what a normal, natural to mothers by many different organisations in a breastfeeding relationship between mother and baby variety of settings. The second section of this paper is, and forgotten the importance of breastfeeding to will examine the role of Mary Paton and the founders the mother, the baby and society as a whole. This in setting up the Association in 1964, the role of the was the world that faced a young mother, Mary Association in changing maternal education in Paton, living in Melbourne in the 1960s, where, like Australia and its effects on breastfeeding in the rest of Australia, there had been a steady decline Australia. in breastfeeding rates since World War II. In Copyright © 2016, Infonomics Society 2782 International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), Volume 7, Issue 2, June 2016 3. The breastfeeding landscape There is very little literature that discusses specifically the theory of maternal education. To It is very difficult to know how many babies have seek an understanding of the educational approaches been breastfed at any time in the twentieth century in that have been employed it is necessary to review the Australia. There have been no consistent surveys and work of theorists about adult education in general there has been no serious attempt to find out until and then examine the writings of the health recently. Moreover, the statistics that are available professionals who provided the education to look for are confusing because the surveys do not use clues as to their methodology and their theoretical consistent definitions, and do not ask the same base. There are also histories of women’s questions, despite the World Health Organisation organisations to consider, indeed, much research into definitions for full, exclusive and partial the history of the Association has already been breastfeeding. There are important implications for completed: this paper views these resources from an researchers from this inconsistency which have adult education perspective. resulted in contradictory conclusions. [2] For the period up to the mid-1980s, when the 4. Informal adult education Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a National Health Survey, it is necessary to rely on state based Most of what passes for education of mothers is surveys which are not really comparable because informal adult education. It is not offered as a they have used varying definitions of breastfeeding certificated course at a technical college or a degree and their questions have not been consistent. In at a university, however, informal maternal Australia, there has been promotion of breastfeeding education is ubiquitous in our community.[4] nationally and in state policies as the desirable Livingstone defines informal education as “when feeding practice, however, this promotion and mentors instruct novices in spontaneous learning writing of policies has not resulted in consistent situations without sustained reference to an definitions of important aspects and levels of intentionally organised body of knowledge”.[5] On breastfeeding. This makes it very difficult for any given day, across Australia, mothers have been researchers to know what has happened and it makes engaged in informal education in a variety of settings it difficult for policy makers interpreting data. such as local baby health clinics, maternity hospitals, It appears that the most comprehensive statistics community centres and private homes. While are those available for the Australian state of lifelong learning is supported and encouraged by the Victoria which is the second most populous state UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, informal with the highest education levels and a adult learning receives less attention than other areas. comparatively low Indigenous population. In This is of concern because informal adult education Victoria, the decline in breastfeeding in the post- encourages social participation. Precisely because it World War II period was from almost half of babies’ is informal education and it is ubiquitous in the breastfed at three months in 1950 to less than a third community, it is often ignored and moreover, the by 1961 and indeed continued to decline to one fifth ways that adults learn generally are often by 1971. For babies aged six months, the decline was misunderstood. from less than two fifths in 1950 to one fifth in 1961 It has been suggested that there are three main and down to less than one in ten by 1971. “These ways that adults learn: natural learning, which is data from Victoria are likely to be indicative of long learning that occurs in the individual’s environment term time trends for breastfeeding rates for Australia in their usual social interactions with friends and at the national level.” [3] What is apparent from the family and is essentially informal learning; formal various surveys, however, is that, apart from surveys learning, which occurs in institutional settings such such as the one of Rural Aboriginal Groups in as school where the format and material is selected Western Australia in 1983 where 99% of babies were by others and lastly, personal learning which breastfed at three and six months they all indicate involves self-directed, purposeful learning activities levels of breastfeeding which are far lower, such as private reading on a topic of interest and may particularly at age six months, than the national goals be formal learning if it is part of a course

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