Mary Paton is an occupational therapist and the founder of the

Australian Breastfeeding Association The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) is an Australian organisation interested in the promotion of breastfeeding and protection of nursing mothers. Members of ABA include nursing mothers and their partners as well as health professionals ...

(originally called the Nursing Mothers' Association, later the Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia).

Biography

Mary Paton founded the Nursing Mothers' Association with five other mothers in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

after having difficulty

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that br ...

her first child. Doctors and nurses at the time were not trained to handle breastfeeding problems and with the modern

nuclear family A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...

there were few older women to turn to for advice, so the founding members supported each other. This created the model for mother-to-mother support that continues today. The other founders were Glenise Francis, Pat Patterson, Jan Barry (a member of the Coles family), Pauline Pick and Sue Woods. In 1981 she received an Advance Australia Award and in 1993 was ''

Family Circle ''Family Circle'' was an American magazine that covered such topics as homemaking, recipes, and health. It was published from 1932 until the end of 2019. Originally distributed at supermarkets, it was one of the " Seven Sisters," a group of se ...

'' magazine's 'Woman of the Year.' She was awarded an Order of the General Division of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in 1978. In 2001, NMAA changed its name to Australian Breastfeeding Association and Paton was included in the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

as part of the Centenary of Federation's Ordinary Woman: Extraordinary lives. In March 2004 Paton became an Australian Living Treasure. On the 2006 Australia Day Honours list Mary Paton OAM, was awarded the higher honour of Member (AM) in the general division - 'for service to the community as the founder of the Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia, and to the development of policies, protocols, management, support and training methods to assist nursing mothers and their babies.'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Mary Living people Occupational therapists Year of birth missing (living people)