ABA - Berwick/Pakenham Group

Covering all suburbs from Berwick through Pakenham and surrouding areas.

Current Group Leader is Shelley
Group counsellors are Leonie, Jenny, Shelley, Helen and Ruth.

Please send us an email We would love to hear from you.

Welcome to our page! The Berwick/Pakenham Group belongs to the South Eastern Region of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Breastfeeding Assocation(ABA). We are a group of mothers who all believe in the importance of breastmilk for our babies. We get together regularly to share information and support each other in our roles as parents. Some of us are in the paid workforce, some are busy at home working. One way or another we are all busy mothers coping with motherhood!. We come from all walks of life, and have had different life experiences. Some of us are first time parents, others are older than we care to admit!, but we all are united in our desire to help mothers who wish to breastfeed their babies. We all enjoy each others company and have benefited greatly from our time with the Australian Breastfeeding Assocaition!

Counselling: We offer breastfeeding counselling support to mothers in our area. All counsellors are mothers themselves who have successfully breastfed their own children. Counsellors have also undergone an intensive training course with the ABA training unit. Visit the ABA site to find out more about our counsellors.
Meetings: We hold regular meetings where mothers can get together to exchange information, learn and support each other in their roles as parents. Our current program of meetings is outlined below!
Community education: As a Group we try to promote and educate the community on the benefits of breastfeeding. We visit schools - both primary and secondary, and talk to the students about parenting and child development. We bring our babies along and let the students observe them being bathed, fed and playing together. We often have displays at our local shopping centre and we partake in other community activities, such as the local market day. We liaise closely with local Maternal and Child Health Center nurses. Generally, we are open to any opportunity whereby we can promote the many many benefits of breastfeeding to babies, mothers, the community and the environment!
Local access to ABA products: Products from the ABA - Mothers Direct catalogue can be purchased directly from the Group.
Parenting and Breastfeeding Library!: Our Group has its own library of books on breastfeeding, child development and parenting. These books can be borrowed free of charge by members!

Month	Date	Time	Location	Topic
June 2009	Monday 1st	10am-12noon	Berwick	The Breastfed Newborn
	Tuesday 16th	10am-12noon	Berwick	Introducing Solids
	Friday 26th	10am-12noon	Pakenham	Bonding with your baby
July 2009	Monday 6th	10am-12noon	Berwick	Coffee, Chat and Play
	Tuesday 21st	10am-12noon	Berwick	Guest Speaker - Speech Pathologist
	Friday 24th	10am-12noon	Pakenham	Breast Issues: Mastitis, Thrush, Blocked Ducts
	Thursday 31st	8pm-10pm	Berwick	Food Intolerances and Allergies
August 2009	Monday 3rd	10am-12noon	Berwick	Breastfeeding an older baby
	Tuesday 18th	10am-12noon	Berwick	Breastmilk: too much, too little
	Friday 28th	10am-12noon	Pakenham	Guest Speaker: Chiropractor
September 2009	Tuesday 1st	8pm	Hampton Park	Looking after yourself
	Monday 7th	10am-12noon	Berwick	Attachment and positioning
	Tuesday 15th	10am-12noon	Berwick	Connecting with your baby
	Friday 25th	10am-12noon	Pakenham	Coffee, Chat and Play

Please contact one of the group counsellors by email if you would like more information about our Group meetings or our Group in general.

Page maintained by Jenny. Updated: 07/06/2009