"The ability to breastfeed and the mother's milk supply is not affected by age and although older mothers may be more tired from frequent breastfeeding, age is not a barrier to breastfeeding," says Lorraine O'Hagan, breastfeeding support nurse at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles St, Dublin.
And although Ireland has the worst breastfeeding rates in Europe, older mothers, particularly those in higher socio-economic groups, tend to be the most highly motivated breastfeeding mothers in this country.
However, that said, public health nurses are still seeing a huge drop-off in breastfeeding even among those who successfully breastfeed their babies while in hospital.
"The main barrier is the culture of bottle-feeding. A lot of women haven't seen a baby being breastfed and they are going home from hospital without that deep cultural understanding and support for breastfeeding," says O'Hagan.
The importance of support for new mothers cannot be overstated. Organisations such as the Irish Childbirth Trust (www.cuidiu-ict.ie) and La Leche League (www.lalecheleague.ie) provide voluntary support to women through their network of branches throughout the country.
Public health nurses, breastfeeding counsellors, lactation consultants and community mothers are other sources of support available to new mothers.
"Sometimes, women only need one meeting with a breastfeeding counsellor to get them through a difficult stage.
"They need help from an outsider often because they are getting too much conflicting information from family and friends," says Lucy Glendinning, who trained with the Eastern Regional Health Authority as a community mother and is training to be a breastfeeding counsellor with the Irish Childbirth Trust.
Getting advice and support and seeing other mothers breastfeed even before the baby is born can help set in train a support system which becomes a lifeline for many new mothers whatever their age.