Breastfeeding gives babies an important nutritional foundation during the earliest stages of life, providing a unique combination of nutrients and bioactive components that adapt to their changing needs. Yet while the benefits of breastfeeding are well recognised, continuing to breastfeed isn't always straightforward.
For many mothers, the challenge is not simply starting breastfeeding but finding ways to sustain it as everyday life evolves. Returning to work, managing busy routines, expressing and storing breastmilk, and balancing the demands of motherhood can all influence how long a mother is able to continue her breastfeeding journey.
This is why breastfeeding support needs to extend beyond the mother herself.
World Breastfeeding Week 2026 - Breastfeeding for Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works brings renewed attention to the importance of strengthening the systems surrounding breastfeeding mothers. From access to reliable information and professional guidance to supportive workplaces, informed families and practical feeding solutions, creating the right environment can make breastfeeding more sustainable in everyday life.
As part of this conversation, nutritionist Hanis Bazila shares expert insights into the nutritional importance of breastmilk and why empowering mothers with knowledge, practical support and appropriate feeding solutions can help give babies a sustainable start in life.
Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthening the Support Mothers Need
Breastfeeding awareness has grown significantly, with more families recognising the nutritional and developmental benefits breastmilk can provide during the earliest stages of a baby's life.
But awareness is only the beginning.
For many mothers, the bigger challenge comes after breastfeeding begins: finding ways to continue while recovering after birth, navigating feeding challenges, returning to work, managing family responsibilities and adapting to the changing demands of everyday life.
Supporting breastfeeding therefore means looking beyond whether a mother chooses to breastfeed and asking a more important question:
What support does she need to continue?
Creating sustainable breastfeeding support requires more than encouragement. Mothers need access to trusted information, professional guidance, supportive families and workplaces, and practical solutions that help breastfeeding fit into real life.
This World Breastfeeding Month, strengthening these support systems can help more mothers feel confident and empowered throughout every stage of their breastfeeding journey.
Breastfeeding Support Starts With Understanding Why Nutrition Matters
The early stages of life are an important period of growth and development, and nutrition plays a fundamental role in building that foundation.
Breastmilk is uniquely suited to an infant's nutritional needs, providing energy, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and bioactive components that support healthy growth and development.
Its composition also changes as a baby grows, helping to meet evolving nutritional needs throughout the breastfeeding journey.
According to Hanis Bazila, Nutritionist:
"Breastmilk provides a unique combination of energy, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds that support optimal infant growth, development, immune function, and overall health. Strengthening the support available to mothers, including breastfeeding education and practical feeding strategies can help them initiate and sustain breastfeeding, enabling infants to receive the full nutritional and developmental benefits of human milk while establishing a strong foundation for lifelong health."
Understanding the nutritional value of breastmilk helps explain why breastfeeding remains so important.
But recognising its benefits alone does not remove the challenges mothers may encounter.
If mothers are expected to sustain breastfeeding, the support surrounding them needs to evolve alongside their journey.
The Real Challenge Can Be Continuing Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding journeys rarely follow a perfectly predictable path.
During the early days, mothers and babies are learning together. Latching difficulties, concerns about milk supply, physical discomfort and uncertainty about whether a baby is feeding effectively can all arise.
Later, the challenges may change.
A mother may return to work. Her daily routine may become busier. She may need to spend longer periods away from her baby or begin expressing and storing breastmilk.
This is why breastfeeding support should not stop once breastfeeding has been successfully initiated.
Mothers need different kinds of support at different stages.
Sometimes that means professional breastfeeding guidance. Sometimes it means practical help from family members. For working mothers, it may mean having an appropriate place and sufficient time to express milk during the working day.
And for mothers who need to express breastmilk, it may mean finding a pumping routine and solution that works comfortably with their lifestyle.
Supporting breastfeeding is therefore not about expecting mothers to simply "keep going."
It is about creating a supportive environment and conditions that help both mothers and babies thrive in continued breastfeeding.
Every Breastfeeding Journey Needs Different Support
No two mothers experience breastfeeding in exactly the same way.
Some mothers may primarily breastfeed directly, while others combine direct breastfeeding with expressing milk. Some may need to pump because they are returning to work or temporarily separated from their baby, while others may not need to introduce pumping immediately.
This is why breastfeeding advice should never follow a one-size-fits-all approach.
For example, mothers sometimes assume that pumping should automatically begin soon after giving birth. But when a baby is breastfeeding effectively, this may not always be necessary.
As Dr. Rachel Ooi, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), explains:
"If your baby is feeding well, latching effectively, producing enough wet and dirty diapers, and gaining weight appropriately, there's generally no need to pump immediately. In fact, focusing on direct breastfeeding is usually the best way to establish your milk supply."
There are, however, circumstances where expressing milk can become an important part of supporting breastfeeding.
A mother may need to express milk if her baby is premature, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), experiencing latching difficulties or temporarily separated from her.
Others may introduce pumping later as they prepare to return to work or need greater flexibility in their daily routine.
What matters is understanding what each mother and baby need at that particular stage of their journey.
Returning to Work Shouldn't Mean the End of Breastfeeding
For many mothers, returning to work represents one of the biggest changes in their breastfeeding journey.
Maternity leave may end, but a mother's breastfeeding goals do not necessarily end with it.
However, continuing breastfeeding while managing working hours, commuting, meetings and family responsibilities can require significant adjustment.
This is where supportive workplaces and practical solutions such as wearable breast pumps become particularly important.
Breastfeeding-friendly workplaces can help by providing mothers with suitable spaces to express milk, reasonable pumping breaks and a culture that recognises breastfeeding as a normal part of postpartum life.
At the same time, expressing and safely storing breastmilk can give mothers greater flexibility when they cannot be physically present for every feed.
As Hanis Bazila explains:
"Returning to work can be a significant transition for breastfeeding mothers. Access to reliable pumping solutions and proper milk storage practices can help mothers continue providing breastmilk, ensuring their babies continue receiving the nutrients and protective components that support healthy growth and development."
Supporting working mothers therefore requires more than telling them that breastfeeding is beneficial.
It means making continued breastfeeding realistically possible within the demands of everyday working life.
When Pumping Becomes Part of the Journey
For mothers who need or choose to express breastmilk, pumping can provide valuable flexibility.
But effective pumping is not simply about using higher pumping suction levels or pumping for longer periods.
Comfort, correct flange fit and choosing a breast pump that suits the mother's feeding routine can all influence the pumping experience.
According to Dr. Rachel Ooi, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant:
"Many mothers focus only on suction strength, but stronger suction doesn't automatically mean better milk removal and may even injure breast tissue. Flange fit is one of the most important factors, and the right pump depends entirely on your feeding goals and lifestyle."
This distinction is important because every mother's pumping needs are different.
Someone who primarily breastfeeds directly and expresses milk occasionally may require a very different setup from a mother who pumps several times throughout the working day.
Rather than focusing only on specifications or maximum suction strength, mothers should consider how a pump fits into their overall breastfeeding goals, comfort and daily routine.
Pumping should help make breastfeeding more manageable, not become another source of pressure.
Practical Support Goes Beyond the Breast Pump
Breastfeeding support is not defined by one product or one solution.
For mothers who express milk, knowing how to safely handle and store breastmilk is also important. Having appropriate storage solutions and understanding recommended breastmilk handling practices can help mothers feel more confident when feeding beyond the breast.
Professional guidance is equally valuable.
When mothers experience persistent breastfeeding pain, concerns about milk supply, difficulties with latching or uncertainty about pumping, early support from an IBCLC or healthcare professional can help identify the underlying issue and provide personalised guidance.
Families also play an important role.
Sharing household responsibilities, helping with childcare or simply providing encouragement can give breastfeeding mothers more time to rest, recover, feed or express milk.
The same applies to employers and communities.
When the people and environments surrounding a mother actively support breastfeeding, the responsibility no longer sits entirely on her shoulders.
That is what sustainable breastfeeding support should look like.
From Breastfeeding Awareness to Everyday Support
For years, breastfeeding advocacy has focused heavily on increasing awareness of why breastfeeding matters.
That work remains important.
But the next step is ensuring mothers have the confidence, knowledge and support they need once their breastfeeding journey has begun.
This means recognising the everyday realities that can make breastfeeding difficult to sustain and creating stronger systems around mothers to help address them.
Healthcare professionals can provide trusted guidance.
Families can provide emotional and practical support.
Employers can create breastfeeding-friendly working environments.
Communities can help normalise breastfeeding and expressing milk.
And thoughtfully designed breastfeeding solutions can provide greater flexibility when direct breastfeeding is not always possible.
Together, these forms of support can help move the breastfeeding conversation from simply promoting its benefits to helping mothers navigate what comes next.
Breathe & Breastfeed: Support for Every Latch, Letdown and Little Win
This belief is at the heart of Breathe & Breastfeed, Momcozy's World Breastfeeding Month initiative across Southeast Asia, guided by the message "Support for Every Latch, Letdown and Little Win."
The initiative recognises that breastfeeding is made up of many moments, some rewarding, some challenging and many that mothers may never expect before their journey begins.
Throughout World Breastfeeding Month, Momcozy is bringing together breastfeeding education, expert perspectives and community conversations to help mothers feel better informed and supported throughout these moments.
Because meaningful breastfeeding support should not begin and end with awareness.
It should continue through the everyday realities of motherhood, from establishing breastfeeding and navigating early challenges to returning to work, expressing milk and adapting as routines change.
Supporting Mothers Through Everyday Breastfeeding
At Momcozy, supporting breastfeeding begins with recognising that motherhood does not happen in one place or follow one routine.
Mothers breastfeed and express milk at home, at work, while travelling and throughout the many responsibilities that make up everyday family life.
Their needs can also change throughout the breastfeeding journey.
Momcozy's breastfeeding support ecosystem is therefore designed around these changing realities, providing practical solutions that can support mothers through different stages of breastfeeding and milk expression.
But products are only one part of that support.
Trusted information, professional expertise, supportive communities and greater understanding of the realities mothers experience are equally important.
By working alongside lactation consultants, nutritionists and healthcare professionals, Momcozy aims to help mothers feel informed, confident and supported in the feeding decisions that are right for themselves and their babies. This is done by encouraging more open conversations around breastfeeding.
Technology should not replace the breastfeeding relationship between mother and baby.
It should help mothers protect and continue it.
A Sustainable Start Begins With Supporting Mothers
Breastfeeding can provide babies with valuable nutrition during one of the most important stages of growth and development.
But sustaining breastfeeding requires more than knowing why it matters.
It requires creating environments where mothers have access to knowledge, professional guidance, practical solutions and everyday support.
For one mother, that support may come from a breastfeeding counsellor, helping her navigate an early breastfeeding challenge.
For another, it may be an employer providing the time and privacy she needs to express milk after returning to work.
Sometimes it may simply mean sharing newborn night feedings with a partner, recognising that breastfeeding takes time, energy and patience, and making the rest of the day a little easier.
Every form of support matters.
This World Breastfeeding Month, the conversation should therefore go beyond asking mothers to breastfeed.
We should also be asking: What can we do to help mothers continue?
Because when we strengthen the support surrounding mothers, we strengthen breastfeeding itself, and help give more babies a sustainable start in life.
At Momcozy, that means continuing to support every latch, every letdown and every little win along the way.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider regarding any medical condition. Momcozy is not responsible for any consequences arising from the use of this content.
