This is the question writ large (very large, in fact) on the front cover of last week's British Medical Journal.

The BMJ is delivered to the home or work place of practically every doctor in the UK. It is read by many other health professionals.

I assume that the editor of the BMJ did not intend this as a rhetorical question. (It actually refers to an article in the magazine, which I thought was interesting).

I would like to offer 2 (humble) suggestions:-

1. Mumsnetters post their (constructive) comments/ideas/suggestions here.

2. Mumsnet Towers write to the aforementioned editor, and suggest that the BMJ readership log onto mumsnet and read the thread.

I think there is a real opportunity here to make the voices of consumers heard.

What do you think??

Sounds like a plan

Maybe the rates would increase if breast feeding mothers were portrayed in the media in a more positive light. Maybe if some actresses in the soaps that most of the nation are addicted to breast fed their babies. Maybe if there were feeding friendly places/policies everywhere so mothers didn't feel as if they have to nurse their baby in a dirty toilet, this would help.

Bumping b/c this is important!!

I am breast feeding my 14 week old and love it! The main reason a lot of my friends have stopped(5 out of 6 from our ante-natal group ) is the theory that formula fed babies can sleep better/longer and also the lack of routine that may accompany BLF(especially as these things can be true). This makes me sad - yes, BLF is difficult, but so worth it and in the long run for such a relatively short perid of time.

My DS is not a brilliant sleeper and I'm constantly being told to 'switch to formula' or 'top him up at night time with formula' to make him sleep better. When you are a sleep deprived unsure new mum, you may try anything that you think will help to make things slightly easier. So I suppose I'm saying I believe (and this is only my belief from my friends experiences - I may be way out ) some people may not BF, or switch from bottle as they are persuaded/convinced by others that there is an easier option (when this isn't always the case). I hope this helps, and I haven't offended anyone. I realise that both BF and FF have their pros and cons.

Great idea.

To increase rates we need to normalise it. More 'education' of benefits won't do the trick I feel. To do this we need:
1) A law that anywhere a women has the right to be with her baby she has the right to feed him. The fear of it being an issue puts some people off. The attitude that you should give them a bottle when out and about makes breast feeding close to impossible to establish properly.
2) Breast feeding the norm in films, TV etc (OK hard for govrenments to do anything about)
3) And my personal bug bear-dolls shouldn't be sold with a bottle included. Even my dd (breast fed nuntil 14 months with breast fed baby brother) always bottle feeds her dollies and seems to think we are doing it wrong breast feeding the baby. Nursaries have a role to play here too, they should role play breast feeding rather than bottle feeding dollies I feel (though maybe not everyone woukld be comfortable with this?)
4) Every NHS trust to have an REALLY expert lactation consultant (but just a nurse with some extra trainning) who can give advice, do tongue tie snips etc
5) more honest videos/pamfletc etc to give to antenatal mums. admit the problems so tht when they come along women don't think 'oh if i have problems I must not be able to breast feed'. also try and make it look less middle class and only for people who eat fresh fruit and fish etc etc. the pictures accompanying advice to eat a healthy and varied diet must put off your average person who thinks 'my diet looks nothing like that so I can't do it'. you can breast feed fine on fish fingers chips and peas, you don't have to eat a variety of pulses!
6) produce material aimed at fathers stressing their role

I meant NOT just a nurse with extra trainning obviously

Bf cafes in every surestart centre or attached to maternity wards open for at least a few hours every day so mums could pop in. How about bf counsellors attached to every maternity ward whose sole job it is to promote and establish bf in the wards. At the moment, the mws are all too busy helping women give birth(!) to spend time watching feeds or helping new mothers with latching on etc. When all said and done, it all comes down to funding

Agree with nicewarmslippers, in an effort to up bf rates, NHS to stop posting nice cosy leaflets about how great bf is and tell the truth: bf can be hard - much harder than FF in the first few months but worth it in the end. Most women dont give up bf because they are selfish but because they lose their confidence

from my perspective, two things helped me breastfeed successfully:

1. Seeing close friends breastfeeding helped me view it as a normal way to feed a baby. I only ever saw breastfeeding on one occasion as a child, and to me it was not a normal way of feeding a baby. i thought it was something only extroverts did.My friends helped me change my views.

2. Excellent midwife with specialist breastfeeding qualifications. If it hadn't been for her, I would probably have given up breastfeeding as I found it so difficult and painful despite attending a breastfeeding class during pregnancy.

I think as I was in a foreign country and pretty isolated the ONE thing that led me to successfully breastfeed was that I stayed in hospital for FIVE days after delivery (normal delivery) and was helped constantly to position the baby correctly on the breast. I left feeling confident that I knew what I was doing.

I can't believe that here people are shoved out of hospitals after 24 hours and told to try for the best, then they are visited once every 24 hours, have painful horrid nipples, told their baby is losing weight and to start using formula.

I think if there should be a wing attached to each maternity hospital, not having to be attached to whizzbang equipment, more like a boarding house, with a kitchen and IKEA poang chairs and footstools, and a few helpful breastfeeding advisors, then for a few days after birth, mothers and babies could be looked after, chat, fed, and receive support, and go home a few days later when the mothers felt ready and confident about breastfeeding.

I feel the costs of looking after a mother and child in a low intensity environment for a few days would be immediately recouped in lower costs for treating PND, and also in terms of the lifelong health of the mother and child, lower rates of illness, obesity etc.

If you think about the low costs of staying at a hotel like a Travelodge or a hostel or something, it really wouldn't be that much in the context of the lifelong benefits.

I really feels the NHS places URGENCY before IMPORTANCE. Breastfeeding might not be URGENT but it is IMPORTANT.

In fact I think I would like to set up a little charity breastfeeding hotel just thinking about this!

Christiana - I also stayed in hospital five days after a normal delivery (in Belgium), and had good help with breastfeeding for all of that time.