Maternal Health Solution at Scale | The Thompson Method
The late Dr Robyn Thompson OAM PhD RN RM MCaFHN presenting at the ICM, Prague 2014
Founder of The Thompson Method and My Milk Map
The Foundations of The Thompson Method
For more than fifty years, Dr Robyn Thompson PhD OAM sat beside mothers and babies in the first tender hours of feeding, as a registered nurse, registered midwife, maternal and child health nurse, researcher, educator and breastfeeding specialist.
First inside Australian hospitals, and later in the quiet of women’s own homes, she witnessed feeding unfold across two very different worlds. It was that rare vantage point that led her to a question she could not put down: why were so many women being discharged from hospital with painful nipple trauma, when the women she cared for at home so often were not?
She spent the better part of seven years answering that question, drawing on decades of experience. Returning again and again to what she had observed while sitting “with and beside” women and babies, Dr Robyn began to map a gentler, more instinctive approach, one grounded in mindful observation, respectful language, the natural anatomy and reflexes of a baby at the breast, and a deep trust in the mother-baby relationship.
In 2014, at the age of seventy, she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from Australian Catholic University for research that became the foundation of The Thompson Method.
Photo: Dr Robyn Thompson with friends & colleagues after being awarded her PhD in 2014
The research study at Australia's largest maternity hospital
What began as one midwife’s question has since been examined by others. In 2023, Dr Jyai Allen PhD RM, with colleagues from Mater Research Institute, Mater Mothers' Hospital and Charles Darwin University, published an implementation study of The Thompson Method in the International Journal of Nursing Studies.
Drawing on records from 13,667 mother-baby pairs, the researchers found that implementing the method across a tertiary maternity hospital improved trends in direct breastfeeding at hospital discharge. Among women who left hospital exclusively breastfeeding, exposure to The Thompson Method was also associated with a lower risk of discontinuing exclusive breastfeeding by three months.
For Dr Robyn, it meant that a question first explored through decades of practice had also been independently evaluated through rigorous implementation research.
Recognition naturally followed when Dr Robyn was appointed Adjunct Associate Professor with the College of Nursing and Midwifery at Charles Darwin University.
Photo: Dr Robyn Thompson with Order of Australia Medal, 2023
In recognition of her life's work
In June 2023, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday Honours List, for service to medicine, particularly as a midwife and breastfeeding specialist. It was a fitting recognition of her contribution to midwifery, breastfeeding research and practice, and to the mothers and babies whose experiences shaped her life’s work.
Over the past decade, The Thompson Method has moved from one practitioner’s hands into the hands of families around the world. Through its online programs, more than 100,000 mothers, babies and health professionals have been supported, extending Dr Robyn’s gentle, evidence-based approach beyond a single clinic, hospital or country.
What began beside one mother and baby at a time has become ten years of real-world implementation, shaped by the experiences of the families and professionals who continue to use it.
Photo: Dr Robyn Thompson - in home support with a breastfeeding mother and baby
The next chapter for The Thompson Method
That decade of real-world experience now forms the foundation for the next chapter. The Thompson Method has grown into a femtech solution for maternal health, carrying the same gentle, evidence-based care into technology designed for the realities of pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and the first 1,000 days of motherhood.
At its centre is My Milk Map, a guided digital companion for the period many health apps overlook, from late pregnancy through the early postnatal weeks and the breastfeeding journey. Rather than leaving a new mother to piece together conflicting advice, My Milk Map meets her where she is, with calm, personalised guidance at each stage, so challenges can be recognised early and gently prevented where possible.
Underpinning it is the Infant-Feeding Index, an evolving body of real-world evidence drawn, with consent, from the experiences of the families the program serves. By listening at scale to how feeding actually unfolds, and to what mothers report about their own wellbeing, the Index turns lived experience into insight. It helps identify where and why feeding becomes difficult, and supports the ongoing improvement of the guidance offered in response. It is the bridge between Dr Robyn’s clinically developed, independently evaluated method and a more continuous, data-informed model of care for mothers and babies.
The purpose behind the data is simple. Breastfeeding challenges are common, costly and, in many cases, preventable. When they are recognised early and responded to gently, the strain on families and stretched health systems can be eased. The impact reaches beyond feeding itself, supporting a mother’s confidence and wellbeing, a baby’s health and development, and the quiet confidence of a family finding its feet. Better supported feeding is, in the end, better maternal and infant health.
Professional respect and confirmation on the 'gap'
Dr Robyn Thompson was a brave, courageous pioneer. She was a fierce advocate for mothers and babies. She also stood up for and supported her colleagues as they navigated their own professional journeys.
She was a midwife called upon by other midwives.
Her legacy is The Thompson Method and has become the life mission of her daughter Joanne Thompson - the architect of My Milk Map and the Infant Feeding Index.
With support from the Thompson Method 'Midwife Collective' led by Rachael Austin (RM, RN, IBCLC) and a dedicated team of Educators, Joanne is committed to the mission that's improving breastfeeding outcomes for mothers and babies globally.
And with so many healthcare professionals who acknowledge the gaps in breastfeeding education that are leading to the systemic failure of maternal healthcare, particularly in the early postnatal period, the Breastfeeding Academy was established to share Dr Robyn's knowledge and experience with midwives, IBCLCs, doulas and allied healthcare professionals.
And for those healthcare professionals interested in the peer reviewed research, a clinical summary has been developed that encapsulates the research published between 2011 and 2023.
Request the Breastfeeding Research →
Fifty years on, the question that started it all still guides the work: not how do we get this baby to feed, but how do we help each unique mother and baby find their own way, in their own good time?
What has changed is the reach. Care once offered one mother at a time can now be shared with families around the world, without losing the gentleness, respect and compassion that made it matter in the first place.
About Dr Robyn Thompson [1944 - 2025]
Dr Robyn Thompson OAM PhD RN RM MCaFHN was a registered nurse, registered midwife, maternal and child health nurse, researcher, educator and founder of The Thompson Method and My Milk Map. Awarded a PhD for her research into gentle, pain-free breastfeeding - and later the Medal of the Order of Australia - her method has been independently validated in a study of 13,667 mother–baby pairs and has supported more than 100,000 families worldwide. Today, her life’s work continues through a femtech solution for maternal health, bringing gentle, evidence-based breastfeeding care to families at scale.
