When Gold Coast mum Heidi gave birth to her second child, a daughter, a week and a half before her due date on March 14, the rest of the country was preparing to go into lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Upon reflection, little Sophia’s early arrival was a ‘blessing in disguise,’ Heidi tells Yahoo Lifestyle, as it allowed for her mum and dad to drive from their home in Bundaberg to meet their newest grandchild.

With COVID-19 raging on, Heidi admits that issues with breastfeeding Sophia were ‘the last thing I thought I had to think about’; outside of a pandemic, she thinks she would’ve noticed she was having a bit of trouble earlier on and reached out for help sooner.

In the end, Heidi got in touch with her sister-in-law who is a counsellor with the Australian Breastfeeding Association, who helped her get back on track.

But that’s not the case with many other struggling Aussie mums. According to new research conducted by Pureprofile in collaboration with Philips Avent, almost a third of the 1,000 nursing mothers surveyed reported that they’re embarrassed to discuss their feeding issues because of societal pressures.