To think mothers should not be offered a financial incentive to breastfeed their babies?

[brasty]

This is based on a pilot study being reported on the news. I don't think we should be paying new mothers to breast feed. Instead we should be looking at proper support. New mothers used to not be discharged from hospital until breastfeeding was established.

I had loads of support. Still didn't work out for me, I couldn't have BF even if you paid me.

It's for food shopping vouchers not cash if it's this article.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/12/cash-incentives-to-encourage-breastfeeding-backed-by-experts

I think it's a good idea.

hatsoffdear I agree. That said, waterrat nothing wrong with keeping on promoting the health benefits to those in deprived areas but the cash incentive is insulting. Let them make informed choices !

Oh blimey. They are discussing this on Loose Women today.

@DeStijl it is "policed" by the women filling out and signing a form, and it being counter signed by their midwife or HV.

"If someone needs a financial incentive to breast feed then quite honestly they are a crap parent"

I think this is totally wrong. This study was done in areas with very low breastfeeding initiation rates. So no culture of breastfeeding, no knowledge about breastfeeding, no support, etc etc. Are you seriously suggesting that all the mothers there are crap parents?! They just have a culture of formula feeding. This scheme persuaded some to give breastfeeding a go where they might not have done otherwise. That's all.

I think it recognises the fact that breastfeeding can be a huge commitment that limits a lot of a mother’s freedom, including her ability to earn money.

Breastfeeding is only free if you place no value on a woman’s time.

I suspect the whole programme also involved a lot more support for the women. I don’t agree with paying women’s to breast feed as it is just another stick to beat women with if it fails but I do believe there should be a lot more support and education about how to breast feed.

I get it in those very particular circumstances. But broadly speaking no, I don't think women should be bribed to breastfeed.

The fact is that the things they are already doing are not making much headway with improving the rates, particularly in some communities. If it means more people give it a go then I don't have a problem with it.
I speak as someone who tried and failed at breastfeeding. TBH I felt crap enough about it at the time anyway. I doubt this would have made me feel any worse

Hells no, giving financial incentives to do something that doesn’t cost money is crazy. Support yes, cash no.

I'm a health researcher. It's not unusual to offer financial incentives for all sorts of positive health behaviours as measured at a population level and there is some (but not all) research showing that increased breastfeeding has positive outcomes at the population level (not necessarily individual level though). I don't personally see why breastfeeding is any different than all these other outcomes we've incentivised. The NHS has trialled offering financial incentives for weight loss and increased physical activity, for taking medication as prescribed, for achieving and maintaining certain blood test results.

I only bf my first for 10 weeks and then switched to formula, which was the best possible decision for us, but it wouldn't offend me if there were financial incentives offered. I wouldn't have been able to keep going (I had to stop for medical reasons), but if it helps support someone who can and it's ultimately a positive experience for them, then great. That doesn't bother me. I'm still happy with the decisions we made.

That said, the incentives are very minor. I think in the particular trial most of them were aimed at establishing bf, so getting people started and keeping them going to 6-10 weeks and then perhaps again at 6 months. It isn't an ongoing regular payment and it's not very much either at that. I think it's only controversial because breastfeeding is something people get so heated about, but it's not so controversial when you put it in the context of other health behaviours.

I breastfed for as long as I did largely because formula is expensive. It was the most difficult and painful thing I've ever done though but brilliant once we got used to it.

I saw the researchers present their work at a Unicef conference (though the final outcomes have only just been published. One thing that was really interesting was that they were really careful to speak to actual people in the communities where this was being trialled to find out their feelings about this type of scheme. In areas with low bf rates, more people thought an incentive scheme a good idea; in areas with high bf rates, fewer people though the incentive scheme a good idea. All round a vast amount of thought/planning by really capable people went into this study - read the details of it if you can (not just the reports). Seems to me like it's well worth considering as part of an overall bf strategy (which the country desperately needs, and which bf orgs are working towards). The real-life thoughts of the mothers who participated, and the health workers who administered the scheme, are fascinating - one midwife said she was really sceptical, until she saw how proud the mothers were of their achievements (remember, those mums are bf in areas where almost no one does).

I'm going to say this very carefully and clearly so that it is not misinterpreted, but I am donning my tinfoil hat because I am very confident that there are people who will misinterpret it, either intentionally or otherwise.

There are some - SOME, NOT ALL - women who do give up breastfeeding because it's too hard. They have no latch problems, they have no milk transfer problems, they have no supply problems, they have no PND, but the reality of a baby who feeds 20+ times in a 24 hour period is too much. So they give up. If some kind of incentive (my understanding is it's not cash but rather coupons and vouchers) is needed to get this demographic of mothers through the early hell-weeks, then I'm all for it. Support other than 'no, honestly, this is normal breastfed baby feeding frequency' is all that's needed, and you can get that for free off the available helplines or t'internet.

It does become sensitive when women have serious breastfeeding issues and any associated PND, however. I can see how it would rub in any sense of failure. It's a tough one.

Yes good point that breastfeeding is only free if you don't value women's time. Some women will have more practical support and time to breastfeed.

I couldn't really breastfeed my DD. Had support, it just wasn't happening well at all DD was starving and I was at my wits end. I think it's bad enough that all the HCPs around me were so bound by the "breast is best" message that none of them had the decency to help me try formula. Even when I asked for help they wouldn't give it. Even tbough I was crying down the phone. The only one that did was the neonatal registrar who could see how much I was struggling and helped me to feed my baby a bottle and told me what to do at home. If I had had to carry on even longer I honestly don't know what I would have done. If I do ever have another baby I'm not going to try and breastfeed and I don't have to.

This sounds completely impossible to police or monitor properly and cash shouldn’t just be handed out on a promise. It won’t work.

Thequeen

Well exactly good post.

Who would police this? I stopped bf after seven months and would have stopped earlier if it wasn’t for the pressure I placed on myself.

YY how are you to prove you are BF?

No one "polices" it. If the women want to claim the incentive they fill out a form, sign it, and get it counter signed by their midwife or HV.

pemberley

And you know what love, no one will be looking at your lovely child in reception class and be able to point out who was bf and who ff.