JANA Pittman has revealed how her struggle to breastfeed left her feeling like a “complete failure”.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who has one son and two daughters, told Channel Nine her first attempts at breastfeeding were a “disaster”, which she puts down to a lack of education.

The former world champion hurdler, who is now studying to be a gynaecologist at the University of Western Sydney, said many women were lulled into thinking that breastfeeding would be easy.

Pittman shares son Cornelius,11, with ex-husband Chris Rawlinson.

She also has two daughters — Emily, three, and Jemima, one, conceiving both through IVF treatment with an anonymous sperm donor.

The 36-year-old told the Today show she struggled with painful mastitis while breastfeeding her first two children.

“I think it’s particularly hard for women who are quite successful in life and their jobs and things like that, you think it’s going to come quite naturally,” Pittman told the Today show.

“It's a journey that not everyone tells you is going to be a difficult one.

“I was quite young with my first son and I thought this is going to be great.

“I’d just won the World Championships previously and I’m going to master this beautifully and it was a complete failure within three to four weeks.

“I wasn’t educated on that journey and I got lots and lots of mastitis, which is the infection in your breasts, but I was quite determined to go on again.”

Pittman said after her disappointing experience the first time around, she hoped things would be different with her second child. But again, she struggled.

“So with my two daughters, who I had recently in the last four years, I really tried to again establish that good flow of milk and again it was a disaster.

“I don’t know what was wrong with me but it was something that I found really difficult.

“The constant infections and everything meant that when I hear about other mothers having this really beautiful journey with their childrent and that bonding, it wasn’t something that came so easily.”

Pittman was given an all-natural breastfeeding supplement by a midwife when she was pregnant with her second child.

“I did get given that by my lovely midwife quite soon into my journey with my second daughter and thankfully for my last pregancy.

“I’m still, at 18 months, feeding my little daughter.

So it is something that I feel like I’ve conquered. Considering how many things I’ve done in my life, I do think it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

Pittman said during World Breastfeeding Week she wants to promote the benefits of breastfeeding such as bonding and the nutritional value for babies.

She said she is aiming to breastfeed her daughter until the age of two.

“I don’t think I’m going to be one of those mums with a baby hanging on at eight, so let’s hope we get to two years.”

When asked if she thought there was too much pressure on new mothers to breastfeed, Pittman told Today “that’s one of the problems”.

“ I think when you get really stressed, and you’re worrying about the fact that you haven’t got a good supply or you’re not getting that bonding experience, that dries the milk up even more.

“You’re just constantly worrying and you’re not getting enough sleep.

“I’m a big positive around co-sleeping and having my baby right there with me to try and increase that supply and getting in the good nutrition for myself and fluids.”

Pittman said the benefits of breastfeeding far outweighed the difficulties.

“It’s a journey that I know is difficult dor a lot of women and it certainly was one of my greatest challenges

“I feel very, very strongly that if you get the right support around you, it’s something that you should try and persist with.”