Sally T: The distinction Dawn makes between shame and guilt was new to me. I had not given it much consideration before hearing her lecture.

Sally J: This distinction was also new to me. Dawn presents a convincing argument for developing awareness of and sensitivity to those who experience internalised and sometimes intense feelings of shame. However, she balances this with a helpful warning about the dangers of not ‘overstating’ the ‘possibility of shame’. It's important not to overgeneralise, particularly when considering population health.

Sally J: The tide is definitely shifting away from public health campaigns that have ‘breast is best’ type messages at the centre, but rather promoting services that support women, some of whom may not find it easy to establish breastfeeding. One local campaign, promoting the message of ‘go with the flow’ was directly inspired by the breastfeeding seminar series. It was intended to challenge the idea of getting your baby into a routine, an idea that in some bestselling books on parenting is synonymous with ‘good mothering’, and to promote responsive feeding and sensitive, attuned baby-led parenting.