Shopping vouchers for breast feeding?

[PicandMinx]

AIBU in thinking that this is an awful way to encourage woman to breast feed their babies?

Same here, MsRyan, at least in part.

More seriously, I thought at first it was a wind-up and then I really couldn't believe it, so patronising.

Yet more discrimination against those who bottle-feed for whatever reason.

I bottle fed all of mine. I couldn't get on with breastfeeding and that was that. I was ill with gastro-enteritis a few days after my first daughter was born and needed all the help I could get, including other people to feed her. I dehydrated too, and any supply dried up never to return so all it achieved was a screaming, distressed and hungry baby who lost a lot of birth weight. So formula it was, and it was a relief to be honest.

Do these people really think that offering shopping vouchers would have stopped any of that happening?

Note that this study was is not a government study. I think that's an important factor.

I don't think the scheme is targeted at anyone who wants to breastfeed and, for whatever reason, is unable to. It targets women who would never have thought to breastfeed, where bottle feeding is so ingrained that the idea of feeding your baby yourself is utterly alien. If this scheme helps to change this, then great.

My question, though, is how do they know someone is still breastfeeding? How do they prove it?

"What about the women who hate bfing but feel like they have to continue due to needing the handouts/not being able to afford formula?"

If cost is that much of a consideration, then breastfeeding is always going to be the best choice anyway- what with it being free an'all.

This scheme will not affect that in any way.

Where are the rewards for the mothers who try flipping hard to breastfeed but it doesn't work so they use common sense/think of the best decision for baby and change/have to formula feed?

Oh no wait that's the expensive formula that is illegal to be reduced/on special offer and the ongoing feel of guilt/shame from not sticking with "breast is always best" and the start 4 life leaflets that tell you all the disadvantages of bottle feeding.

Don't get me wrong, in a perfect world everyone would happily be able to/want to breastfeed and all power to you if you've managed to! But you shouldn't need vouchers to tell you that, surely.

I agree that the money would be better spent on better support.

I am 22 on a young income. I still BF DS and while some extra money would be great, better support at the start would have been better.

I had been given next to no information on BF. My latch wasn't checked either. I had to completely wing it and hope for the best.

Surely you are already saving money by bf so it seems somewhat bizarre from a logical sense.

This is a study being undertaken by the University of Sheffield and isn't a government thing. I wish they would look at better support and access to tongue tie division instead.

I also wish there was more info about mixed feeding. In reality, this is what most people I know did from 6 weeks which prolonged their bf experience. It isn't one way or the other.

Small income obviously

I know there was a scheme in Scarborough which did this amongst young mothers back pre-2010. It wasn't widely trumpeted to the press etc, but was quite aggressively marketed 'on the ground'. It wasn't really very successful and I think it generally offended the people it was offered to rather than incentivised them. The idea that poor people are too selfish to breastfeed for any other reason than their own gain. I worked for the health trust that funded it and it was quietly dropped.

Support would be better. Consistent and reliable support not dependant upon where you live. The message you get about breastfeeding from the NHS seems to depend on who is saying it.

Also it is a cultural thing ie it depends on the culture around you. If women don't want to do it, fine but some people actively undermine breastfeeding and this includes health workers as well as relatives.

What about people who want to and don't need encouraging? Vouchers won't make it work however hard they try if it's not working.

However, maybe the vouchers would encourage a "not sure" person to try. But again without support again they could struggle.

Sadly the gov aren't going to hold the baby milk companies to task regarding the way they too try undermine breastfeeding. Too controversial.

The pilot has had quite startling results, the Mums maintained the breastfeeding longer than those who didn't get vouchers (although it was a small sample so percentages can be overstated). It's about helping Mums who start feeding to continue to feed for longer. Also it is about ownership and cultural changes for those who live in areas / socio-economic classes where breastfeeding is much less common. Also, because breastfeeding has long term positive health implications for Mum and baby it saves the NHS money in the long term; just like the scheme for those who stop smoking.

Can I backdate

No seriously, could be much better spend elsewhere in breastfeeding. More groups, more access to support and ongoing support.

Why is extra money an incentive to breast feed? Genuinely curious. I'm not able to check the link at the moment so I'm not sure if it cites the reason for the apparent success of the pilot scheme.

I understand that people like to get things for 'free', but in this instance I would have thought there is much more to it.

Formula feeding costs a lot more then exclusively breast feeding. If someone chooses not to breast feed, knowing it is 'free'/that it costs more to formula feed, then why would they suddenly change their mind based on getting a voucher?

I agree with all of the above regarding greater support for breast feeding.

Side note: in fact, I think there should just be greater support for infant feeding overall. I couldn't breastfeed, I believe I was given good support in trying to breastfeed but was unable to. When we eventually had to make the switch to formula no one could tell us anything about it, often they weren't 'permitted' to. We spent hours trawling the internet, agonising over how to safely make formula, the official advice was buried, we had a crying, hungry, thirsty baby in need of feeding having been effectively without for some time, whilst we were deprived of sleep and quite worried... the whole ordeal was pretty stressful

I had to demand readmission to our local midwife led unit to help with breastfeeding. I was transferred from there to hospital after I had DD and then was being discharged home. I kicked up a real stink that I wasn't able to latch DD on and basically demanded they let me go back to the midwife led unit for support. Luckily the midwife led unit wasn't busy so I stayed for 24hrs, ringing the bell every time DD needed to feed. Did the trick though, although it was still hell for weeks, I at least managed to do it (with the help of the MN feeding threads too).

I only carried on because I didn't have any bottles or formula and didn't think we could really afford it. I just ploughed on and we got there in the end. It was truly the hardest thing I've done. Very little support from parents (MIL was told she couldn't BF and my mum formula fed from the start).

It would be much better to have some proper BFing support in hospital and going home for those of us that want/need it. It would help everyone as those that want to try but find it hard could get help, those that want to stop could get advice on comfort and reducing supply.

REDEXPAT is that what they are actually saying? ?? That affluent, well educated over 30 are the main breastfeeding mothers
I breastfed my daughter and I was 23 when I had her and have always been a hairdresser on minimum wage lol. We do go to playgroups aswell where plenty of women breastfeed from all walks of life

Saying that a particular group is most likely to do something, does NOT mean to the exclusion of all other groups. It is based on statistics. It's like saying that the biggest killer of men aged 18-25 are traffic accidents (I think that's right). It doesnt mean that no one else dies from traffic accidents, nor does it mean it is the only thing that men 18-25 die of.

I doubt any woman will choose bf just to get the vouchers. They work as motivation to keep going for just a few more days. I think the Guardian article explains it better.

this is a terrible idea. I breastfed my son out of love and maternal instinct, I don't need paying off to do it. are we that disconnected with our children and natural instincts now that we need money incentives to actually do what comes naturally? and what about women who can't bf for any reason that is not their own fault, how are they meant to feel!!

It would be nice if there was a way to normalize breastfeeding to give more women the confidence to try it. The long term effect would be that more women would have experience of breastfeeding to pass onto and support new mums, as I imagine happened back in the days when everyone breastfed.
I don't think this scheme is the right way to do it though.

In London they offered pregnant women 100 pounds to give up smoking which is awful. I think a lot of breastfeeding support groups can be quite old fashioned and off putting. Breastfeeding is about finding your way and what works, it would help if midwifes didn't make a big deal about you choosing to breastfeed because it's normal. I would have liked a pack of things like nipple soothing cream, breast pads and pregnacare tablets and maybe some nipple shields that would have been more helpful

The really funny thing about this story was the fact the woman the BBC interviewed said that what she needed was the support and not the money and it was the support that the scheme provided that was invaluable. She said she would have done it without the encouragement of the vouchers.

So why they aren't just focusing on the support aspect, I really do not know.

I breastfed 4 of my children and expressed and bottlefed the other. I think it's a terrible idea and I would much rather have had better support than vouchers.

if it's aimed at those on income support I think it's a good idea. They get vouchers for formula milk and the idea that breastfeeding is totally free isn't really true as the calories need to come from somewhere.

It's a better idea than littering everywhere with 'breast is best' posters. Now that's what gives me the rage. .....

I agree that the money should go towards more breastfeeding support. So many mums I know didn't get the support in the crucial early days because the hospitals are so keen to get you out as soon as possible. I was 'lucky' enough to have to stay in for 24 hours (Group B Strep) so I had help from the midwives learning how to get baby to latch on, otherwise I don't think I would have been able to! I think the vouchers will just add more contempt to the bf vs ff argument and make women who are unable to bf feel worse.