In the weeks that followed, her daughter began to lose weight because she was not receiving enough milk from breastfeeding alone.<\/p>\n
Emotionally exhausted and sleep-deprived, Ms Barrett said she was then put on a “triple feeding” plan by nurses, which involved breastfeeding, pumping milk and formula feeding her daughter.<\/p>\n
“It absolutely broke me,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I was up around the clock, trying to pump every three hours to establish and protect my supply.<\/p>\n
“My daughter was often unsettled and unhappy throughout the process, and I felt like our entire lives revolved around feeding.”<\/p>\n
Ms Barrett’s postpartum experience was similar to several other women the ABC spoke to, who reported inconsistent advice from care providers after they’d delivered their babies.<\/p>\n
According to a 2024 review of antenatal care guidelines <\/a>used in Australia, several commonly used guidelines for parents were found to be inconsistent in their recommendations for childbirth and early parenting.<\/p>\n The independent review, published in the Journal of Midwifery, evaluated five guidelines for antenatal care across six domains: scope and purpose, stakeholder involvement, rigour of development, clarity of presentation, applicability, and editorial independence,\u00a0<\/p>\n All five guidelines scored low in each section.<\/p>\n Mental health, social media and ‘overwhelm of information’\u00a0<\/p>\n Getting conflicting advice could increase a new parent’s level of distress and worsen their mental health, according to the executive director of the Centre of Perinatal Excellence (COPE), Nicole Highet.<\/p>\n “It undermines their confidence because they have got no reference point as a new parent. They don’t know what to expect. Then they’re constantly getting conflicting advice, which increases their stress and their levels of anxiety,” Dr Highet said.<\/p>\n People might delay getting help early because they fear being “judged” for not being a successful parent, Dr Highet said.<\/p>\n “The overwhelm of information, all of these things together make it an extremely stressful and vulnerable time for parents when it comes to mental health.”<\/p>\n ‘I cried all the time’: What it’s like to have postnatal depression<\/a><\/p>\n Postnatal depression is a common experience among new mums and dads, but many still struggle with how to talk about it.<\/p>\n Information may not be uniform across all health practitioners for multiple reasons, including practitioners giving personal or anecdotal advice, she said.<\/p>\n Guidelines are reviewed every five years, which could make some information outdated, she added.<\/p>\n The national guidelines only recommend screening for postnatal depression before and after birth, but that is not enough according to Dr Highet.<\/p>\n “We know that for most people who develop postnatal depression, that will occur after six weeks. It might occur between six to eight months, yet no one is screening after that,” she said.<\/p>\n “This is an example of where we have guidelines, but we don’t have policy that aligns with the guidelines \u2026 and guidelines are not being reflected in practice,” she said.<\/p>\n Erin Seeto, director of clinical services at the Gidget Foundation, said postnatal depression and anxiety could occur in one in five women and one in 10 men.<\/p>\n “Depending on whether you’re a woman or a man, you might seek help differently,” Dr Seeto said.<\/p>\n “We know that men tend to delay help-seeking until things are more acute, whereas women tend to have multiple touch points with health practitioners, but maybe not then be directed to the help that works for them within the time frame that they need.”<\/p>\n
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